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DRINK<br />
Kate Hawkings on<br />
NATURAL WINE<br />
WHERE TO BE SEEN<br />
Kate Hawkings is a food and drink writer and consultant with a special<br />
interest in sniffing out wines from lesser-known regions and grapes. Kate<br />
is also a restaurateur; she co-owns Bellita in Bristol. @KateHawkings<br />
Talli Joe, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the heart<br />
of London’s theatreland, opened in May this<br />
year, as part of a wave of new Indian small<br />
plates restaurants. What’s different here,<br />
though, is a cocktail list that spans the<br />
continent – talli refers to the ‘happy<br />
intoxicated state of being, often rendering the<br />
legs useless’. The menu covers the four main<br />
regions of India and each drink (all of them<br />
under a tenner) has been designed with food<br />
in mind. They’re mostly tall and fizzy to keep<br />
things fresh, with aromatic flavours such as<br />
turmeric in a Madras gimlet and saffron in the<br />
Badnam Milk punch. The bar has also just<br />
launched six pauwa (bottled cocktails) to go<br />
alongside a chakhna (bar snack) menu.<br />
tallijoe.com (Words by Laura Rowe)<br />
Brighton has always been a trendsetting city,<br />
and its now also home to Brighton Gin ‘distilled<br />
beside the seaside’. Whether you’re staying in<br />
one of the boutique hotels, or simply heading<br />
down on a train from The Big Smoke, you<br />
can’t beat a drink at The Cocktail Shack.<br />
Hidden in the walls of Regency Square (look<br />
out for the pink door of the Artist Residence<br />
hotel), the bar is made from driftwood. The<br />
cocktails are just as creative with names such<br />
as Cachaca In The Rye (cachaca, Chase<br />
elderflower, mango, scotch bonnet and lemon)<br />
and Lest We Fernet (rum, cinnamon, lime and<br />
Fernet Branca). With cocktails at around £9<br />
each, it’ll leave you with enough money for a<br />
taxi back up the hill to the railway station at the<br />
end of the night. cocktailshackbrighton.co.uk<br />
(Words by Joel Harrison)<br />
Everyone seems to be talking about<br />
natural wine right now – the pros,<br />
the cons – it’s become something<br />
of a controversy. Although there’s no legal<br />
definition of natural wine, it’s generally<br />
considered to be made when grapes are simply<br />
pressed and fermented with natural yeasts then<br />
bottled with little or nothing else added.<br />
Conventional winemaking, especially when<br />
done on an industrial scale, often deploys all<br />
manner of trickery to maximise yields,<br />
minimise spoilage and make amends for<br />
below-par grape juice. Pesticides, fungicides<br />
and fertilisers are sprayed on vines, while<br />
synthetic yeasts, powdered tannins, flavour<br />
enhancers and phosphates are just some of the<br />
50+ additives permitted in the winemaking<br />
process. If wine labels had to list ingredients,<br />
you might be in for a shock.<br />
Natural wine lovers contend that these wines<br />
are lifeless products of the agro-chemical<br />
industry, while natural wines are wholesome,<br />
living liquids made in harmony with nature.<br />
Others think ‘natural’ is just a term used to<br />
disguise faulty wines, something more akin<br />
to rough cider than fine wine.<br />
I can see both sides of the argument. Some<br />
natural wines are clean as a whistle and<br />
indistinguishable from well-made conventional<br />
wines; others are wildly farmyardy and funky<br />
and could be best described as challenging. But<br />
while some may take you out of your comfort<br />
zone, natural wines deserve the attention of<br />
adventurous drinkers.<br />
Wheretobuy<br />
Supermarkets shy away from natural wines so<br />
you’ll have to seek them out from independent<br />
merchants or online. Les Caves de Pyrene has<br />
been importing natural wines for decades and<br />
has a mesmerising list. Until its online shop is<br />
up and running, the team happily sell to retail<br />
customers by phone or email. lescaves.co.uk<br />
BUY THESE…<br />
Clos de Gravillas Muscat de St Jean<br />
de Minervois 2014 (£13/50cl,<br />
highburyvintners.co.uk). All the wines made<br />
by this husband-and-wife team in the<br />
Languedoc have a distinctive intensity<br />
and clarity. Sweet with pineapple and<br />
honey notes, this would be great with<br />
the Spanish flan on p34.<br />
Marcel Lapierre ‘Raisins Gaulois’<br />
Gamay 2015 (about £13,<br />
noblefineliquor.co.uk,<br />
ewwines.co.uk). Making wines<br />
this way for 35 years, the Lapierre family were early<br />
adopters of the natural wine ethos and are now<br />
shining stars of Beaujolais. Light and fresh with<br />
crunchy fruit, this wine is best slightly chilled.<br />
Alfredo Maestro ‘Lovamor’ Albillo (about £16,<br />
thewinescouts.co.uk). Made in the Ribera<br />
del Duero region of Spain, more commonly<br />
associated with red wine, this is made from the<br />
nearly extinct albillo grape and is wonderfully<br />
fragrant and textured. It would drink very well<br />
with the cauliflower sformato on p40.<br />
Ca’ di Rajo ‘Lemoss’ Prosecco<br />
(£12.99, £9.99 during September,<br />
redsquirrelwine.com). So much prosecco is made<br />
industrially and offers simple, affordable fizz with<br />
little else of interest about it. This is something<br />
very different – slightly cloudy with gentle<br />
bubbles, it reminds me of lemon curd on toast<br />
but is bone dry and incredibly refreshing.<br />
September 2016 Omagazine.com 99
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