An Occasional Tipple: Sunlight on the garden with fine, sparkling wine

Can our dark days truly be over? It’s an absolutely beautiful evening as I write this.

News Letter wine correspondent Raymond Gleug enjoys an easy drinking fizz

I sit in the garden at my lovely home, Rose Cottage, surrounded by beautiful plants and flowers, listening to heavenly music and thanking the gods for their beneficence.

And praying. That it might stay or even develop further into that peculiarly intense Irish heat with which we occasionally must battle.

Naturally, I also need something to slake my thirst. Happily, I have a plentiful supply of superb sparkling wine in the cellar.

First among near equals but just about gaining the nod by no more than the length of a well-smoked cigarette to be sure as today's WINE OF THE WEEK is the elegant, crisp and complex 2022 New Zealand Sparkling Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (£9.99, Lidl). This zingy, expressive, easy-drinking fizz bursts with citrus flavours which mingle with elderflower and gooseberry aromatics alongside mineral backnotes before a clean, tingly, discreetly acidic finish. One for seafood or salads.

Alternatively, for punters like myself who saw their selection, Trawlerman, being so cruelly collared by Kyprios in the final furlong of last week’s Ascot Gold Cup, we may have to settle for a slightly cheaper option.

I swear to the man upstairs- at the two furlong pole we were going so well that I was zipping up my jacket to go out and collect my winnings. I was even thinking of buying a nice bunch of flowers for my beloved wife, the redoubtable Madame G., on my way home from the pub.

As we all now know, I had to take my coat off again, sit down and lick my wounds.

No matter. Today's second recommendation is no second fiddle. Also, from Lidl's excellent range of summer wines, the exceptionally fresh, fragrant, zippy and zesty 2022 Swartland Chenin Blanc (£8, M&S).

A luscious palate full of round, gently spiced fruit flavours with bright citrussy backnotes combines with grassy aromatics and hints of white pepper in this racy, refreshing South African Chenin Blanc which will be an ideal match to mildly spiced Asian cuisine.

Alas, I can’t share my wine this evening with my Madame as she is currently battling with a summer cold.

More empathetic souls than I might find it difficult to get into the party mood at such times. No sunshine or sparkling wine please, they might say.

Take me indoors, they’d dolefully continue, to a dark room and let me curl up with something sombre, brooding and, most importantly, red.

Our final recommendation therefore is the supple, spicy and extravagantly flavoursome 2022 Trivento Reserve Malbec (£8.50, Tesco).

This opulent, judiciously oaked Argentinian drop has a fruity nose with hints of vanilla while its rich palate is dominated by rustic blackcurrant and bramble fruit flavours before a lingering, peppery finish.

Which is also where I must finish today. Glad of your company as we watch the sunlight on the garden harden and grow cold.

Alas, we cannot cage this minute within its nets of gold. Nor even beg for pardon. Till next week, tipplers, sante!