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A Taste of the World's Unexplored Wines

Thursday 28 September 2017

Unexplored wines gordon ramsay restaurants

Treat your tastebuds to a holiday away from the Autumn chill and explore the grapes of Greece, Japan and other underrated wine producing countries around the world.

We know: it’s great to find a wine you love, one you can rely on. But if you always turn to the same French, Italian or Antipodean bottles, you’re missing out. Here are five lesser-known wine producing countries we think should be on your to-tipple list.

 

Greece

Gerovassilou might seem a mouthful but it’s the name to watch in Greek wine making.

Company founder Vangelis Gerovassilou trained in Bordeaux and has returned to Epanomi, near Thessaloniki, to produce exciting wines combining high-tech methods with traditional native grapes.

He’s worked hard to save the Malagousia variety from extinction and the happy results can be tasted at Heddon Street Kitchen or Union Street Café.

Worth clocking, too, are the wines coming out of Santorini. Assyrtiko is the island’s native grape and a great alternative to Pinot Grigio.

Light, bright and very dry Gaia Assyrtiko Wild Ferment, which we serve at maze and maze Grills, is made with natural yeasts produced in the Gaia vineyard. This wine is citrusy, oaky and minerally all at the same time.

Or treat yourself to a bottle of sweet Gaia Vinsanto at Savoy Grill. This rare wine is also made on Santorini from Assyrtiko and just perfect with dark chocolate desserts.

 

Greece unexplored wines gr

 

Japan

Katsunuma province is the heart of Japan’s wine industry, and purple-pink Koshu is the signature grape. Wines made from it are light, crisp and often likened to Sauvignon Blanc.

The highly regarded Grace Winery makes six different wines from this one grape in different vineyards and regions.

Maze Grill Park Walk has Grace Koshu from Hishiyama, Yamanashi, which takes on the mineral qualities of the granite soil in this corner of Japan. This wine’s one to try if you like Albariño or fine Chablis.

By contrast, Grace Koshu Kayagatake is lighter, with citrus, floral and smoke accents. Different again is Sol Lucet Koshu, which comes from the foothills of Mount Fuji and, like all wines made from grapes grown on volcanic soil, is earthy and crisp.

 

Japan wine unexplored gr

 

Lebanon

Château Musar Red, from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, is very often mistaken for Bordeaux in blind tastings.

In fact, with its lovely breezes and shade from the sun, the Bekaa Valley has a climate very similar to Bordeaux.

Château Musar, which we sell at Petrus, was Lebanon’s first wine producer to be certified organic and also produces creamy, citrusy, honeyed white wines – a good choice if you want a white that tastes full but isn’t Chardonnay.

Another prestigious Lebanese winery is Chateau Ksara, founded back in 1857 by Jesuit priests. Bread Street Kitchen stocks their Réserve du Couvent, a fruity, light-to-medium bodied blend of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

At Union Street Café we have the lovely Massaya Rosé, also from the Bekaa Valley, and most similar to Provençal rosé.

 

BSK Lebanon wine gr

 

Canada

This chilly part of North America is best known for ice wine but Canada has a perfect climate for Pinot Noir too, with outstanding examples coming from Ontario and British Columbia.

Le Clos Jourdanne is a key name to look out for, producing amazing Pinot Noir and great minerally Chardonnay too.

The Canadian climate has also brought out the best in Cabernet Franc, a grape widely used in France but rarely promoted as a single varietal.

On the Niagara Peninsula, however, the fabulous Peller estate is making red ice wine from it. Petrus has this, and an ice cider from Quebec too.

Among Savoy Grill’s luxurious choice of 26 dessert wines, you’ll find Peller’s Vidal Blanc ice wine made in Ontario from a hybrid of Tempranillo and Ugni Blanc grapes.

 

London House Wine

 

Hungary

Like Canada, Hungary has die-hard fans of its sweet, sticky wine Tokaji. However it also produces light, crisp whites using the native grape Furmint.

Some experts even suggest Furmint is the on-trend grape for 2017. Have you tried it?

At London House and York & Albany you’ll find The Oddity Dry Furmint – a complex, elegant and balanced wine with big fruit aromas.

Bread Street Kitchen and Maze Grills have Mád Dry Furmint from Szent Tamás Winery – a great mix of mineral and pear flavours with floral notes.

Just so you know: Hungary also makes red wine. At Petrus we have a Syrah from esteemed producer Weingut Weninger, the oldest Syrah winery in Hungary, set near the border with Austria.

This is just a little taste of the world’s lesser-known wine producing countries. Our restaurants also have bottles from Armenia, Croatia, Slovakia and more.

If all this has whet your appetite, join us for #WineWednesdays at London House, The Narrow, and York & Albany. That’s the day we offer all bottles of wine at retail prices – a great excuse to try something new, or trade up from your usual tipple.

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