Helen McGinn I’ve been drinking quite a bit in the mornings lately. For work obviously, most recently with Holly & Phil on This Morning. And one of my favourite wines in the line up was an organic red blend from Puglia that comes in what looks like a giant paint tin. It’s basically bag-in-box reimagined, holding three bottles. And it’s the kind of red you need on tap at a time like this so I’ve included it in this week’s recommendations below.
I’ve also been sent the ‘can anyone recommend a good breakfast wine?’ quote approximately 874 times since lockdown. The answer is, mostly, something fizzy. But it does depend on mood and food so I thought I’d ask a few of my favourite sommeliers and winemakers for their thoughts on the subject and they answered generously.
Laure Patry, executive head sommelier for Jason Atherton’s The Social Company suggests egg & bacon rolls with Pet Nat (basically, natural sparkling wine). She particularly loves this one. Winemaker Katie Jones has (understandably) got a match for every one of her lovely Domaine Jones wines but her favourite is fruit salad with her Muscat (available here). Victoria Moore, wine writer and author of The Wine Dine Dictionary has done every food and wine match in the book, literally. No messing, she went straight for Eggs Benedict and Chablis. Elly Owen, group sommelier for Paul Ainsworth suggests pastries or panettone (love her for that) with Moscato d’Asti or Brachetto d’Asti (the red version of this style) with overnight oats. And Fikayo Ifaturoti, sommelier at the scarily smart wine club 67 Pall Mall, suggests Champagne Bollinger RD 2002 with hash browns, poached eggs and mushrooms. Girl after my own heart.
Right, I’m off to find the tin opener.
Current white in the fridge: La Fortezza Vermentino
Price: £7.00 - Buy From M&S
If you like lime cordial, you are going to love this. Made from the Vermentino grape, it’s so bright and fresh with bags of citrus fruits and a touch of the florals too. From Sicily, it’s one of those wines that asks for nothing more than a handful of salty snacks to bring out its best side. Works for me.
Current red on the side: Terre di Faiano Organic Rosso 2.25l
Price: £25.99 - Buy From Waitrose
This brilliant organic red from Italy’s heel, Puglia, comes in what is best described as a giant paint tin. Basically it’s a bag in box except in a tube so it’s fully recyclable. A juicy, fruit mash up of local grape Negroamaro along with some Primitivo and Cabernet Sauvignon too, think black cherries and spice and you get the idea. Gorgeous.
I miss being able to wander around the wine sections of local supermarkets (four weeks of Shielding down, eight to go!), so it’s even more infuriating when a good review catches my eye and I want to add the wine to my next home delivery – only to find it not listed! The Terre Di Faiano Organic Rosso sounds right up my street…but neither Waitrose nor Ocado seem to have it available for delivery! 🤷🏻♂️ When in doubt, try using a search engine…and, sure enough, up it pops! Well, sort of: Waitrose has dropped a vowel, turning it into Terre di Faiano Ross IGP Puglia Organic! ‘O’ dear… 😂
Added to my basket… 😉
Glad you found it! Definitely worth a try, hope you like it…Hopefully you won’t have to shield yourself for too much longer. Take care.