Red Fox Wines L'Atzar Brut Reserva Cava - Premium, Spanish Sparkling Cava Wine With Fruity and Citrus Notes - Made From Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo Grapes - 75cl Single Bottle, 11.5% ABV

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Rioja goes really well with the paprika-spice of chorizo, and you could also serve it with almost any dish in which chorizo is a strong flavour, for instance: cod with butter beans in a chorizo and tomato sauce; squid, chorizo and red pepper stew; or just chorizo sausages cooked in red wine and served with chunks of fresh bread. What I find fascinating now is how cava is escaping from decades of torpor. Gone are the years when cava was the cheaper default from Champagne. Prosecco holds that prize now. Thankfully, many producers are now looking to compete on quality, since they cannot compete on price. For some, that means reducing yields in the vineyards, aiming to get the best out of the local varieties, and giving the wines longer than the minimum bottle age. With dishes such as chilli con carne or red meat cooked in a spicy marinade or rub, red wine can be good but choose one that is generously fruity because the chilli will effectively turn down the volume on the fruit and you want to have some left. Mind you, these bubbles make me think of sitting on a beach with an impromptu picnic and watching the world go by. However, I am sure that you can come up with your own ideas.

This is partly a mood thing. It’s also about the fact that what you’re eating has the power to change the perception of the wine you are drinking. For instance, salty food makes a wine taste less refreshing, a big steak seems to soften the tannins in a red wine, and so on. There are two ways to go here. You can look for reds that have generous fruitiness, such as Portuguese reds, southern Rhône blends, Australian cabernet-shiraz blends and also reds from South Africa: Cape blends (which contain some pinotage), Rhône-style blends or Bordeaux-style blends.Rioja is really good with both pork and lamb. For the pork, think pulled pork or meltingly soft, slow-cooked pork shoulder (you could serve this with a date and almond couscous); lamb could be a classic roast leg of lamb studded with rosemary and garlic or a slow-cooked joint. Pinot noir is so often a possible answer to the “what shall I drink with this?” question. It is very good with the earthy flavour of mushrooms – think garlic mushrooms on toast; mushroom risotto; monkfish with ceps and artichokes; macaroni cheese layered with mushrooms.

Matching every course with a wine can feel fussy, detracting from the fun rather than adding to it. I make an exception if lunch or dinner is simply a main then a pudding, when a dessert plus a good wine turns it into an event. A few good combinations: strawberries and moscato d’Asti; orange salad and cream sherry; tarte Tatin and sweet riesling or Coteaux du Layon (sweet wine made in the Loire from chenin blanc). Basil Grillo is a Sicilian grape, a natural crossing of cataratto and zibbibo. This one is glossily viscous and tastes of yellow peaches with a faint tropicality (like mango) and floral notes. I love it with pasta con sarde, the pasta dish that is ubiquitous on Sicily. Somehow, it just goes with the wonderful Arabic-European blend of fragrance and fruitiness of the olive oil, pine nuts, raisins, sardines and fennel fronds. Of course it’s also a great wine to drink with tapas; there’s an affinity with almost every dish from pan y tomate to fried prawns with garlic. Quinta do Noval 10 Year Old Tawny NV And yes, if you’re wondering about the first two dishes on that list, this is a red wine with fish situation – the Spanish put Rioja with fish all the time. Palataia Pinot Noir 2020 The palate is refreshing, the sparkle balancing the green and citrus fruits. It is light but long and elegant.

The L’Atzar Reserva has had 15 months in that second ferment phase, resting on dead yeast to give a bready character to the soft mineral talc, floral and pear and lemon fruit. It is dry and those flavours last around for a long moment making this cava a versatile choice. Me … it makes me think of sitting on a beach with an impromptu picnic and watching the world go by. However, I am sure that you can come up with your own ideas. Of course, there’s no such place as cava. It’s the only Spanish denomination not to have its own geographical home. Cava is produced in as many as 159 towns and villages across the country, including in Valencia, La Rioja and Extremadura, as well as Catalonia. However, the vast majority of cava is made in Catalonia. So when talking about holidaying in cava country, that does mean Catalonia, and specifically the region of Penedès. For some people, wine is just a drink. For me, it’s as much a part of dinner as whatever is on my plate. And just as a cook might say, “this is good with French beans or a green salad”, or think about how the different parts of a meal might sit together to satisfy the appetite, I think about the place of the wine, its taste and perfume, on the table.