Wine of the week
Dec 8 2006 By The Journal
* Brown Brothers Moscato 2005 £4.99 Tesco Light (just 5.5% alcohol), sweet, and lusciously grapey - with a hint of grapefruit, there's nothing sophisticated about this Aussie tipple, but it's quite delicious. No food needed - just a bit of relaxing telly, preferably Strictly Come Dancing.
* A lot of bubbly, including champagne, is made from black grapes. Given its popularity, it surprises me that more pink fizz isn't made, but keeping it pink through the long second fermentation (in the bottle for the best wine) is tricky. Some wines emerge a rather horrid, tired, old brown colour. That's why pink sparkling wine is more often than not a last-minute mixture of white wine with a dash of a deep red to colour it up.
* I'M not sure how Codorniu Pinot Noir Cava Rosé was made, but it certainly has a very pretty colour and a lovely smell of red fruits. It may not have the racy delicacy of champagne, but it's a very good drink at £7.99 from Majestic - or £5.99 if you buy two.
* BROWN Brothers have been keener than most in Australia to experiment with new grape varieties - crossings like Tarrango designed to create a softly fruity but refreshing Beaujolais-style red. Rather more to my taste, a winning and probably unique combination of rare grapes - Orange Muscat and Flora makes one of their most successful sweet wines. The 2005 (half bottles cost around £5.99 and can be found in most supermarkets - though not Tesco) has a wonderfully heady, scented orange smell and a lingering, spicy orange taste. It's great.
