While others opt for rosé, beer or cider, for me a glass of sparkling wine is the perfect summer drink. Our three favourites in this market are Prosecco, Champagne and Cava, from Italy, France and Spain respectively. But they are far from the only sparkling wines. I have featured Crémant, which can offer great value for money, but there are plenty of other options. This week I include one “normal” sparkling wine from Portugal made by the traditional bottle-fermented method alongside three rather different wines.
Lambrusco lost its way in the late 20th century, when the market was flooded with cheap, sweetish sparkling wine. But there have always been plenty of quality producers and they seem to be enjoying a renaissance. Chilled sparkling red wine does sound a bit weird, but it can be a delicious and refreshing low-alcohol summer drink, as anybody who has visited Bologna will know. The surrounding Emilia-Romagna region has a fantastic food tradition too, with Parma ham, salami, Parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar, as well as various forms of pasta. Lambrusco, which comes in red, white and rosé, is a perfect partner for all of these.
Filipa Pato and her husband, William Wouters, make a fantastic range of red and white wines as well as the featured sparkling rosé, produced from baga and bical grape varieties, all from the north of Portugal.
I have featured the Integrale Rosé here; it is a tasty, well-priced wine that sings of summer.
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The Gaz’bonne has not been disgorged and therefore has a light deposit, which adds to the flavours of the wine.
Medici Ermete Lambrusco Reggiano DOC NV Italy
11%, €14.95-€15.95
Lightly fizzy with clean, vibrant, crunchy blackcurrant and blackberry fruits finishing dry. Enjoy chilled with charcuterie, pizza or before dinner.
Baggot Street Wines, Dublin 4; Redmonds of Ranelagh, Dublin 6; Jus De Vine, Portmarnock, Dublin 13; Firecastle, Kildare; La Touche Wines, Greystones, Co Wicklow; Cooper’s, Dublin 3 and Sutton, Dublin 13; The Coach House, Dublin 16; Blackrock Cellar, Co Dublin; JJ O’Driscoll, Co Cork; Barnhill Stores, Dalkey, Co Dublin; The Drink Store, Dublin 7
Integrale Rosé Frizzante NV Organic, Italy
10.5%, €19.95
An unfiltered Pét Nat with delicious, snappy crisp raspberry and redcurrant fruits with a yeasty touch. Perfect summer drinking.
Mitchell and Son, Sandycove, The Vaults, Dublin; Avoca Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow and Dunboyne, Co Meath; Barnhill Stores; Wicklow Wine Co, Wicklow; 1601, Kinsale, Co Cork; Ardkeen, Waterford; Centra, Cabinteely, Co Dublin; The Vintry, Dublin 6; Hughes Foodmarket, Gorey, Co Wexford
Chateau Cazebonne Petnat Gaz’bonne, Pét Nat, Vin de France
11.6%, €20.50
Bready with piquant redcurrants, cider, a touch of honey and a mouth-watering acidity. Different but tasty.
Wines Direct, Mullingar and Athlone, Co Westmeath, winesdirect.ie
3B Rosé sparkling NV, Método Tradicional, Portugal, Fillipa Pato
12%, €28.95
Gushes with delicious lip-smacking raspberry fruits and a long dry finish. The perfect aperitif or posh party wine.
Baggot Street Wines; Loose Canon, Dublin 2; 64 Wines Glasthule and Mount Merrion, Dublin; Delgany Wine Cottage, Co Wicklow; BaRossa, Dublin 4; Pinto, Dublin 9; Lilith, Dublin 7; Martins, Dublin 3; Fion Eile, Dublin 7; D-Six, Dublin 6
