Taste these six drink-now wines under screw cap
These six wines are good to go, both because they’re already at their best and are as easy to open as ketchup. Hold back the corkscrew and raise the glass to six wines under screw cap.
Saint Cosme, Little James’ Basket Press White 2018
The French do screw cap worth wines just as well as their New World peers and this Rhone valley white is a good example. This white blend from feted Rhone producer Saint Cosme marries two of France’s finest varietals – ripe Sauvignon Blanc and intensely aromatic Viognier. The wine when chilled delights with fresh tropical fruits like mango, lychee and grapefruit as well as floral and limestone notes. So twist the screw cap and pour of the Saint Cosme alongside salads , grilled fish and shrimp.
Colterenzio, Lumo Pinot Grigio 2018
Pinot Grigio is Italy’s most ‘screw capped’ wine. This one from the cool, northerly Alto Adije region is easy drinking and full of peach and citrus fruit and fresh burst of acidity. Colterenzio, a relatively new producer big on sustainable farming produces this Pinot Grigio that would go rather well with a cheese and olive platter, pesto salad and grilled mushrooms.
Kesselstatt RK Riesling 2018
The German’s don’t hesitate to put their good stuff under screw cap. For confirmation, here’s the Kesselstatt, RK Riesling 2018, a great value for money Riesling that best represents the vineyards banked by the rivers of Mosel, Saar and Ruwer. This elegant, sweet Riesling is veritably tailor made for the Indian palate with a bouquet of white peach, currant, guava and a whiff of slate minerality. The Kesselstatt is an ideal early evening party starting aperitif and can be paired with cold cuts, sushi and mildly spiced curries.
Thelema Mountain Red 2016
Thelema raises the stakes for this screw cap weekly special with a big ripe red wine that’s been barrel aged — gotta hand it to the South Africans for their modern approach! The Thelema Mountain Red is a heady blend of five grapes including Shiraz and Merlot, and is smooth albeit full bodied. Ripe flavours of mulberries, plums and spice abound on this wine that’s also had 18 months in barrel so the tannins are soft. This whopper of a red blend calls for a generous helping of meats. If you’re thinking lamb shanks and tandoori chicken, go for it!
Dominio Del Plata, Crios Malbec 2018
Think Argentina, think Malbec and Dominio Del Plata in that order. Produced by one of Argentina’s most noted wine makers, also the country’s first woman winemaker Susana Balbo, the Dominio Del Plata Crios Malbec is medium bodied and is a great example of the classic Argentine style. The reddish purple wine produced in the Mendoza region, expresses floral characters with flavours of cherries, blackberries and spice and finishes long. This universal pleaser can be washed down with margherita pizza, Bolognese pasta and chicken steak.
Saint Clair, Pinot Noir 2018
Delicate, silky tannins are the foundation of the Saint Clair Pinot Noir that expresses flavours of raspberry, strawberry, blackberry and layers of coffee with a whiff of vanilla that indicates oak ageing. It’s a family estate produced red from Marlborough – the soul of New Zealand’s Pinot Noir phenomenon – and its taste inevitably forms into delicious memory. A great wine to appreciate by itself, this Pinot Noir also shows nicely with white sauce spaghetti and rosemary lamb shanks.