Yugoslavia’s Lutomer Riesling was one of the great party wines of my younger days, and something to drink convivially by the bottle in restaurants that stocked it. Its red equivalent, a good deal heftier,was Hungarian Bull’s Blood, but Lutomer Riesling, being light and quaffable, did very nicely, or so I thought at the time.
I have not seen it for years, and what Marks & Spencer are selling in its place is something which memory tells me is very different as well as very much better - and so it should be, you may feel inclined to add, considering that it costs £10 a bottle.
Made from a blend of Furmint, Traminer, Pinot Gris, and Riesling grapes, it may be expected to have a certain taste of Alsace about it, since three of these four grape varieties are closely associated with that part of Europe. But as the twelfth-century vineyards from which it comes - the wine has what looks like a fundamental identifying date, 1139, though the M&S vintage is reassuringly 2013 - lie close to the Austrian border, we may also expect the flavour to have something slightly Austrian about it.
This, at any rate, was what I thought I tasted in it. Though described as a dry white, there is a touch of sweetness about it, deriving no doubt from its riesling content. There is also, when the bottle is first opened, a slight prickle on the palate, which adds to the pleasure of drinking it. On the whole I think I would prefer to savour it without food, though veal or creamy cheese would not go amiss.
It is certainly something worth trying.The label suggests that M&S bottle it themselves. If so, the result is a coup for the supermarket, even if the name may seem too like a phone number - are we expected to ask, in our local branch, if they have a bottle of the 2013 1139?
14 March 2015
I have not seen it for years, and what Marks & Spencer are selling in its place is something which memory tells me is very different as well as very much better - and so it should be, you may feel inclined to add, considering that it costs £10 a bottle.
Made from a blend of Furmint, Traminer, Pinot Gris, and Riesling grapes, it may be expected to have a certain taste of Alsace about it, since three of these four grape varieties are closely associated with that part of Europe. But as the twelfth-century vineyards from which it comes - the wine has what looks like a fundamental identifying date, 1139, though the M&S vintage is reassuringly 2013 - lie close to the Austrian border, we may also expect the flavour to have something slightly Austrian about it.
This, at any rate, was what I thought I tasted in it. Though described as a dry white, there is a touch of sweetness about it, deriving no doubt from its riesling content. There is also, when the bottle is first opened, a slight prickle on the palate, which adds to the pleasure of drinking it. On the whole I think I would prefer to savour it without food, though veal or creamy cheese would not go amiss.
It is certainly something worth trying.The label suggests that M&S bottle it themselves. If so, the result is a coup for the supermarket, even if the name may seem too like a phone number - are we expected to ask, in our local branch, if they have a bottle of the 2013 1139?
14 March 2015
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