Wines made from Garnacha grapes

According to lifestyle and happiness guru Gretchen Rubin, you ‘bring your own weather to a picnic’. Ms Rubin, I’d suggest, has never shivered under a tree watching raindrops turn her fish-paste sandwich to mush because the weather forecast was wrong. There are, it’s safe to say, picnics and Picnics. It’s a term that takes in everything from a rubber baguette in a French ‘Aire’ off the Autoroute du Soleil to a four-course spread while listening to opera at Glyndebourne. What’s definitely true is ...

In a year when travel was almost impossible, wine has been a fine companion. In terms of varieties I have been drinking a vinous A to Z: everything from Albillo (Cebreros) to Zibibbo (Pantelleria, Italy). Specifically I have been enjoying Cariñena from Priorat and Rioja, plus Garnachas – white, red and hairy – from Terra Alta, Rioja and Gredos, as well as Greek Xinomavro from Naoussa and Xarel.lo from Catalunya. Scroll down for Sarah Jane Evans MW’s top 10 wines of 2021 Not forgetting Menc ...

If you’re looking for punchy, muscular Grenache, look no further than Rasteau. It’s a wild terroir with an abiding heat haze that only rarely struggles to ripen its crop. A series of scorching vintages in the southern Rhône however have occasionally pushed some wines from handsomely well-built to something you’d see on the cover of Iron Man magazine. That’s no bad thing if you’re looking for wines that are shredded, jacked or swole. But if you’re looking for balanced, drinkable bottles that are ...