A summer white for guilt-free glugging
Matthew Jukes tastes the most bizarre but thirst-quenching white wine imaginable.
2015 Alaia Txakoli, Getariako Txakolina, Basque Country, Spain (£12, Marks & Spencer).
After last week's bright and breezy Portuguese vinho verde, I thought that I would stick with this feather-light, summery, white-wine theme and leap over the border to Spain. In the north-eastern Atlantic corner, you will find the most bizarre and yet thirst-quenching style of white wine imaginable.
As you know, wine is not the sort of drink that one glugs unlike an ice cold Coke or a beer! Having said this, and only on particularly hot summer days, I have unwittingly glugged (ie, linked a few swallows together) the odd glass, but then immediately felt horribly uncouth and borderline criminal!
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I have to admit though that Txakoli, madefrom the even more quirky sounding hondarrabi zuri grape, must be a legal glugger because it is water white, faintly spritzy, sea-spray and wild-flower-scented, mildly lemony on the mid-palate and also bone dry. It is the vinous version of an isotonic sports drink! It is also an utterly delicious companion to sushi, sashimi, crustacea and fragrant Thai and lighter Malaysian dishes.
There is one hard and fast rule to follow you must pronounce it correctly. I was taught long ago and this knowledge even won me a table at a fully booked Basque restaurant because the owner was so impressed when I asked for a glass of this wine while standing at the bar. Txakoli is pronounced tksa-koli (officially) or cha-kolly (in Jukes-speak) now go get em!
Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).
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