Your Guide to Summer Holiday Wines - This Month's Novel Wines Explorer's Club
Welcome to this month's Novel Wines Explorer's Club, the UK's most exciting wine subscription for the curious drinker. Each month, we will introduce you to a new wine region as part of our promise to deliver no two wines the same for a whole year. Not a member yet? Subscribe here.
Looking for an older guide? See all the Explorer's Club guides here.
What's in this month's Explorer's Club?
We don’t know about you, but after such a wet summer so far, we are pining for a proper summer holiday. But don’t despair if you aren’t able to get away, our explorers' case this month is going to take you to some of the most popular summer holiday destinations in Europe so you can feel like you’re off relaxing the sun but without the hassle of the airports and transfers! Whether you go for Greece, travel to Turkey, or indulge in Italy, our Summer Holiday Explorers case has got you covered – let's take a look inside.
And don’t forget, our team are always happy to answer any questions you have on these wines (and about wine in general!), but also do check out the info below and enjoy your case!
First stop is beautiful Greece. Blue sea, perfect beaches, stunning islands... and of course amazing wines. One of the country's most popular regions is the Peloponnese Peninsula, a large mountainous region to the west of Athens which is home to a whole host of interesting native grape varieties.
Organic and vegan winery, Noema, have taken Assyrtiko from Santorini and helped it thrive on the mainland. Arguably Greece’s most iconic grape, Assyrtiko makes a variety of wine styles including this crisp fresh, minerally dry white wine. Young winemaker, Christos Vavatsis, is the brains behind this exciting and modern wine with a philosophy of championing Greek varietals and helping them express themselves in a clean and pure style.
This is certainly a wine to bring out if there are oysters around, or any shellfish really. Feeling cheesy? Grab some halloumi and you’ll be set.
We all love an Italian adventure – great beaches, wonderful architecture, and of course amazing wines. And while Italy may seem a little too common for Novel Wines, we have gone off the beaten path to the lesser known of the two Verdicchio specialist DOCs of Italys Marche region. Verdicchio di Matelica is a unique valley running east to west, as opposed to north to south in the rest of Marche, making wines noted for their fresh and fragrant character which is slightly sharper that the more known Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi.
The Porcarelli family have owned the Tenuta Colpaola estate since the 70s and their grapes are grown 650m above sea level on east-facing vineyards, organically farmed, and surrounded by beautiful woodland. Made with minimal intervention in the vineyard and fermented in stainless steel to maintain the purity of fruit, this is textbook Verdicchio: floral, fruity and herby. The finish is saline and fresh with bittersweet grapefruit and lemon peel notes, which makes this wine a glorious partner with food or to sip chilled on a summer's day.
If you’ve not enjoyed the Turkish sun on the beautiful beaches on the Aegean sea, then make it your next stop! This light, refreshing, rose is made from only the free run juices from the local Kalecik Karasi grape (the Pinot Noir of Turkey!), cool fermented for freshness giving delicate notes of citrus, orange flower, pink grapefruit and vibrant, ripe red fruits.
These vines are planted at an altitude of 850m in Denizli Anatolia which helps to mitigate the long sunshine hours of the region. Kayra are one of the more modern wineries in Turkey, utilising local grapes to make international style wines. If you’re a fan of pale pink Provence style wines then look no further!
From one side of Europe to the other as we fly to Portugal for the next leg of our summer holiday. And what better way to enjoy the sunshine than with a refreshing glass of Vinho Verde? Well how about a Vinho Verde Rose...
Made with the lesser known Espadeiro grape this wine shows a Fresh, citrus aroma with notes of strawberry and watermelon. The palate has delicate red berry and redcurrant fruit, and a soft and appealing finish.
Vinho Verde's rosé wines share the same spritzy character as the more well-known white wines produced in northern Portugal under this designation. This characteristic is due to the retention of carbon dioxide during the winemaking process, which has become a defining feature of Vinho Verde wines.
Vila Nova have had this land in their family since the 12th century on the eastern border of the region, with the welcomed cooling winds from the Atlantic there is the perfect climate to ripen their Espedeiro and help make this great aperitif style wine.
Now to continue our summer in Sicily with one of the islands greatest success stories – Nero d’Avola. It is found all over the island and can make simple easy drinking reds as well as more top shelf, complex styles. This smooth and fruity style was developed by winemakers Mattia Filippi and Francesco Asaro at Colomba Bianca. They use fruit from a variety of Sicilian organic vineyards to make a reliably delicious red year on year.
This is a brilliant, deep red Nero d'Avola with rich, juicy flavours of ripe plum and black cherries interlaced with subtle violet notes. Concentrated on the palate, the deep fruit flavours are backed by soft, ripe tannins and a spicy character on the finish. It’s soft and smooth enough that it can even benefit from a short time in the fridge for an even more refreshing experience.
It’s a great wine for Italian foods, in particular Lasagne.
And we finish where we started by making a full circle back to Greece, specifically the region of Nemea. Semeli started out with just 7 hectares in 1980 and now have 15 hectares of mostly white grapes, but their main red – Agiorgitiko – is one of the jewels in their crown.
This youthful, ruby red wine is an easy-drinking red that also can be enjoyed lightly chilled. Intensely perfumed with redcurrants and fresh cherry, it also has a soft, plummy palate with more cherries with a juicy finish with lush velvet tannins.
It’s a great wine to enjoy with tomato sauces, ragu, or and more herbal dishes such as lamb kofta or a lovely falafel.
