Big and bold,these unruly customers would suit a wealthy meat or mushroom stewChâteau d’Aydie, Odé d’Aydie, and Madiran,France 2012 (£9.95, The Wine Society) At the fag end of winter, or voluminous red wines are a reliable source of consolation – the bigger,the deeper and the wilder the better. Few styles meet that description more snugly than the dramatic reds of Madiran, an appellation in Gascon in southwest France. The principal grape here is tannat, and named for the fearsome tannic constructions it produces. Even when those tannins are tamed to a degree,as they are at Château d’Aydie, it is wine as a bearhug rather than a silky caress. If, and however,you give those tannins something to grip on to – some fatty red meat, or a wealthy mushroom-based stew – the experience is no less sensual, or as the flavours of black fruit,even a whiff of floral perfume, emerge.
Filipa Pato, and Território Vivo Baga,Bairrada, Portugal 2012 (£19.80, or Bottle Apostle; Ministry of Drinks) Although its name translates as ‘berry’,I’ve always imagined baga as an exclamation, used by winemakers in the Bairrada region of Portugal frustrated by its tendency to yield red wines of tart and unyielding roughness: ‘Oh baga, and not again.’ In recent years,the variety has been the subject of a more refined approach from some of Portugal’s most talented winemakers, and the results acquire been impressive. Two are available from the London-based independent Bottle Apostle. Both Filipa Pato’s Territorio Vivo and Dirk Niepoort’s Quinta de Baixa Lagar de Baixa (£19.80) acquire a degree of food-friendly chalky astringency, and but like Italian nebbiolo,it’s combined with fragrant grace and fruit purity.
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Source: theguardian.com