Each month, we will be bringing you our top picks of seasonal ingredients, our wine recommendations and important dates for your calendar.

Plaice – Eat with the seasons

As the days get longer and, hopefully warmer, a sunny plate of fish and chips enters our consciousness. Plaice (and haddock) are good options at this time of year and would be well backed up by a crisp Italian white like a Grillo or Soave. We are big fans of the Musita Grillo from the sun-kissed slopes of Sicily but if you want to keep it ‘British’, go for the Classic Cuvee from Bluebell Vineyards. 

Cricket World Cup – 30th May

The cricket world comes together at the end of May for six weeks of calypso entertainment and hopefully some home success. Expect a tussle for bragging rights especially amongst the wine producing nations likely to be going head-to-head at the business end of the tournament; South Africa and Australia are obvious but what about England and even India? With our Botham Merrill Willis Black Label Shiraz you can toast cricketing royalty and a ‘fair dinkum’ Aussie winemaking legend at the same time.

English Wine Week – 26th May

Many areas in the south of England and parts of Wales are blessed with a combination of soil and climate not unlike that of Champagne. Whisper it quietly but you could argue that, with the advent of climate change, these terroirs are perhaps in a better position in the medium term, to produce the very highest quality of sparkling wine than their more illustrious French cousins. English Wine Week is a great way to get behind both sparkling and still domestic wines. We took a trip to see our friends at Bluebell Vineyards, see our short video here.

Asparagus Month 1st – 31st

One of the great delicacies of the vegetable world and more than capable of being the leading light of a dish. The herbaceous flavours of asparagus work wonderfully with Sauvignon Blanc and we have a regular award-winner in Wairau River’s Reserve example from a single vineyard site. If however you want to serve it with a hollandaise or similarly buttery sauce, you’ll be better off with a white Burgundy or a good New World Chardonnay. The buttery richness of a good Macon like the Domaine Luquet ‘Clos de Condemine’ would really hit the mark.

National Barbecue Week – 27th  – 2nd

BBQ culture is readily associated with countries such as Australia and South Africa and has left its mark with perhaps the more recent addition of the Argentine ‘asado’. It is perhaps a coincidence that the fruity, powerful wines of these countries match perfectly with the cuisine. Match a Chardonnay like Hamelin Bay’s ‘Five Ashes’ with chicken and salads and a classic Shiraz such as Backsberg’s ‘Pumphouse’ with sausages, burgers, chops and steaks.