Three top wines to try this week | Alistair Gibson

I often say at wine events that the most important thing to bear in mind with wine is to drink what you enjoy.

However there is so much choice and diversity in the world of wine that now and again, you really should try something different. After all you never know what you might be missing!

Here are a few slightly more unusual wines to try this week.

A good place to start is Leftfield, a producer in New Zealand who in their own words ‘celebrate the individual by making wine as unique as you are, from a quirky little country at the bottom of the world’.

Many of their wines feature grape varieties perhaps not so readily associated with New Zealand.

Leftfield Albariño 2019, Gisborne (Waitrose Cellar £10.79, nzhouseofwine.co.uk £12.99) is a really great take on this grape variety, more usually found in Galicia.

The nose offers peach, apricot and ripe melon whereas the palate is perhaps a little fuller than many Spanish versions, with layers of fresh fruit and some crisp lime acidity before a long, very satisfying finish.

This would work well with simple fresh seafood and also Asian influenced seafood dishes.

Chances are you don’t currently have a bottle of Greek rosé in your fridge, so Nautilus Rosé 2019, Greece (Aldi £6.99) is your chance to put that right.

Made from a blend of Grenache, Syrah and the indigenous grape Agiorgitiko, this is pale in colour, with a bouquet of citrus, orange blossom and apricot. The palate is very fresh with delicate fruit and some crisp acidity and a dry finish.

A plate of calamari and a Greek salad would seem to be appropriate here.

I have reviewed Xtreme Bobal 2018, Manchuela (Co-op £10) before, but I really do like this wine and it is definitely something a little different.

Produced by Bodegas Altolandon for the Co-op, this is organic and made as naturally as possible from the little known, outside of Spain anyway, Bobal grape.

The nose shows some ripe red berry fruit, along with some red cherry, liquorice and dried herbs. The palate is medium-bodied with some crunchy red fruits, ripe tannins and a juicy finish.

This would work well with a main course of roasted vegetables or Spanish chicken and rice.