THE drinks industry is a wonderfully inventive one with new ideas and sometimes completely new styles coming out every year. However, as I rarely write about them, I thought I should change as well, so here’s to the new styles of wines and whiskies that have caught my eye in recent years.
One of the most fun products is called Fresita and originated from Chile. Fresita is a sparkling chardonnay with a couple of inches of crushed strawberries in each bottle and the combination is just superb. Seriously, I’m a fine wine snob but this wonderfully weird creation is just so much fun on a hot day or when you have friends around. It’s always a good conversation starter when you have to explain to guests that, unlike any other wine, you drink the sediment in this one.
Then there’s a fabulous Italian cabernet called Le Agrille which is produced with no oak influence, aged in concrete vats and then the bottle is encased in cement. The concept is interesting to say the least, the product design is awesome and thankfully the cabernet is just gorgeous.
The world of whisky isn’t immune to fresh ideas either and one of them, a new concept called Woven crossed my desk this week. Woven is a brand focussing on blends rather than single malts and, like all new concepts, they have a lot of words to describe their product and why it’s so different. Thankfully, Woven seem to be good for theirs and have launched what they describe as four new ‘experiences’ ranging from £40 to £145. As a lifetime fan of decent blended whiskies, this was always going to appeal to me.
Anyway, it’s time to try some new experiences, folks, because life is far too short.
Woven Experience No 2, The Smiling Whisky
The name alone, never mind the really attractive, simple design of the bottle, made me smile. Soft, rounded and youthful with a sweet touch, presumably from the cognac cask finish
Woven Whisky £65
Cape Mentelle Shiraz Cabernet, Australia
I’ve long been a fan of their wines so imagine my delight at coming across a new blend, albeit a well worn blend from Australia. Rich, plummy and spicy with hints of chocolate. Everything I expect from the vineyard and much more.
Majestic £21.99 or £18.99 mixed six
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