Grape Spy: Jean Smullen

2020 The Bend In The River Pinot Grigio

2020 Hachon Ribera del Duero Reserva

2020 The Bend In The River Pinot Grigio

May 01 2022 12:00 AM

A couple of great value wines to help you celebrate the May Bank holiday this weekend; a vegan white wine from Italy made from a very popular grape and great value from Northern Spain from one of Spain’s best-known regions for premium red wine.

2020 Bend in the River Pinot Grigio €8.00

The Bend in the River is named for the beautiful gorge section of the middle Rhine, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the river meanders past the small town of Bingen. The Bend in the River have just launched their first vegan-friendly wine. That means the wine is filtered without using any animal products such as gelatine or egg white.

This Pinot Grigio is made from grapes grown in Italy and is the first from the range to go vegan. This dry white wine has 12% ABV and gorgeous flavours of pears. Widely available from supermarkets and off licences, serve with a Thai chicken curry.

2020 Hachon Ribera del Duero Reserva

2020 Hachon Reserve Ribera del Duero DO Reserva €11.99

Lidl have this fantastic Spanish red on offer at €8.99 until 4th May, a great offer for the Bank Holiday weekend. This wine comes from a red wine region in Northern Spain called Ribera del Duero. It is made from a grape called Tinta del País in Ribero and Tempranillo every-where else. The wine has lots of juicy ripe blueberry fruit, with a lovely raisin and coffee flavour that goes on forever.

Now that summer is here and the Barbeque is out, this is the perfect red wine to match with barbequed meat whether you’re serving steak, burgers or spare ribs!

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