Wines that are ‘off beaten track’ with our Downham Market-based columnist Giles Luckett

In his fortnightly ‘Wine O’Clock’ column, Giles Luckett looks at wine gems that are “off the beaten track”…

As a wine lover, it’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut, to visit and revisit the same old wines or the same old styles.

When I was at Laithwaites, I once spent a year drinking pretty much nothing but Bruno Paillard champagne (happy days…) only for a customer to remind me that I had an Aladdin’s cave of wine gems around me.

So, now and then I like to seek out something new and off the beaten track and here are four of my latest finds.

First up, the Spier Albariño (Majestic £10.99 on a mixed six). Spier is one of South Africa’s oldest estates having been established in 1692, but their Albariño was a new wine to me.

Albariño is most often associated with Spain’s Rias Baixas region where it produces fresh, tangy whites.

Spier’s shows the best elements of this fine variety by offering plenty of yellow and green citrus fruit, but it also has apple, tangerine, green grape tones, and dusty minerals that add interest, and depth and make it food-friendly.

Next up is a rosé, nothing unusual about that except this is made from Malbec.

With its ample colour and generous blueberry and plum fruit, Malbec lends itself tremendously well to making full-bodied red wines, so much so that rosé Malbecs are uncommon.

If the Trivento Malbec Rosé (Tesco £8.50) is anything to go by, then it’s a shame we don’t see more.

Pale pink, you might expect it to be something of a shrinking violet, but while it has a soft, easy-going style with lots of raspberry, damson and strawberry notes, there’s intensity here too, with blackberry and cherry flavours lending interest and weight.

And so, to the reds. Argentina has established an almost peerless reputation for Malbec, but innovative producers are looking to other classic grapes to create new, exciting wines.

I recently tasted (and quickly finished) Domaine Bousquet’s Finca Lalande Cabernet Franc (Waitrose £10.99).

Too often I find Cabernet Franc a little green, weedy, and sharp, but this was full, rich and rounded.

Packed with leafy blackcurrant fruit with hints of earth, green peppers and tobacco, it was excellent on its own, but I suspect with red meats or pasta in a tomato ragu it would be even better.

I’ll finish with a barnstormer of a red, the Santa Tresa Cerasuolo di Vittoria (The Wine Society £12.95).

This is just the latest in a long line of brilliant Scillian wines that have crossed my palate over the last year or so.

Made from a blend of Frappato and Nero d’Avola, this sumptuous wine flows with flavours of Morello cherries, black figs, raspberries, wild herbs, olives, almonds and warm spices on the full, long finish.

This is one of the best value reds I’ve had in a long time and having bought a case I can tell you it’s the perfect partner for everything from a mid-week goats’ cheese pizza to a Sunday leg of lamb.

Next time out I’ll look at some lively spring reds.