Drink - Victoria Moore prefers excess to restraint
Published 06 January 2003
An anthology of favourite wines is a perfect antidote to resolutions of restraint
January has an austerity that militates against enjoyment of any sort. The hollowed-out days are just as grey as in December and seem to coalesce into a kind of interminable arctic drabness. The wind is even colder. And the wintery treats that so illuminated the pre-Christmas months now feel tawdry and tarnished, like hangers-on who stay although the party has finished.
A famous chef once told me his solution to New Year malaise was to make his menu an anthology of the year's favourite dishes, the perfect antidote to tiresome resolutions of restraint. I find this approach also works very well with wines. The earthy, savoury reds to which I find myself drawn all year round make sturdy companions throughout January. I mention particularly the Greek Naoussa Boutari 2000 (Oddbins, £4.99), which has a pleasingly grainy texture and is measured but unstinting in the way it relinquishes its smoky red fruit and spice. I am also very fond of Chateau de Villenouvette Cuvee Marcel Barsalou 1998 (Safeway, £7.99), a complex, rich wine from Corbieres made from old-vine Carignan. It achieves wonderful richness without yielding to the fashionable desire for a rush of fruit. I always fancy there are herbs and soil in its depths.
Sometimes, though, it feels good to cock a snook at the season with a defiant spritz of white. Cold white wine with a hearty fish dish makes for a very poised winter meal. It is unfashionable, but I have always been seduced by the robust, tongue-tingling freshness of a good Muscadet sur Lie. I drink it with a rice dish made with sweet potatoes, saffron, artichoke hearts, monkfish and prawns. Anselmi San Vicenzo, together with Roquefort and pear salad, will also be lending its luxuriant nuttiness to get me through the bleak month.
As for rose, you can do this in January, but only very sparingly, or the pale shoots of its blithe hope will catch frostbite and wither. Try a glass as an aperitif and then move on to red. Last year, we drank too much Chateau de Sours 2001 (Corney & Barrow, £7.99). It is a dashing lipstick pink and off-dry. The sweetness has the same effect in exaggerating the flavour as white sugar in a bowl of strawberries. It is quite delicious.
Lastly, I urge you to drink some cool (but not cold) red Sancerre, which comes, I feel, closest to being a dedicated January wine. In this incarnation, the Pinot Noir grape carries a kind of silky optimism. The summer berry flavours transmit the determination and glee of tulip points beetling out of the ground. I like it with coquilles St Jacques, a dish I am completely unable to cook, although everyone says it is perfectly simple. Perhaps I will learn this year.
Post this article to
We want to encourage people to comment on our content and to exchange views with other readers and hope this will be done on a courteous basis. However, if you encounter posts which are offensive please let us know by emailing comments@newstatesman.co.uk and we will take swift action where necessary.
