These days, pretty much every wine over £6 has "a story".  Discerning buyers want to hear about the beauty of the local area, the soil and climate, the winemaking tribulations, and most of all, the heritage.  
People like me help spread these stories, and we begin to love wines as much for the story as for how they taste.  
Of course the taste has to be great to keep you coming back bottle after bottle for the next installment. 

When I was invited to visit London Cru, I knew there'd be a story.  I just had to figure out if it had a happy ending or not. Could the wine match the hype?

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then we'll begin...

Once upon a time, there was an old gin distillery/warehouse near Earls Court in London SW6, owned by an ambitious wine merchant called Cliff Roberson.  

An intrepid Englishman called Adam met Gavin, an Australian wine maker, at a wine school for big boys in Bordeaux and they wondered if making wine in London would be possible.

With the help of investment from Will, who also makes rum in The Bahamas, and of course, Cliff, they decided to turn the ginshack into a wondrous place. A place that could make wine in the centre of London. It seemed a little bit crazy, but the magic appeal of the possibilities soon had them under an unbreakable spell...

Now, making wine isn't like making gin or beer. You need grapes, lots of them, and they better be good & fresh. They only come along when they decide to be ready, and that's just once a year. 
Frost, rain or hail at the wrong time can simply mean they completely vanish. And even more importantly, there are no vineyards in London. So our intrepid "cru" set off to find some...

Had our Gavin and his gang of gallant, grapeful guys got through?

Grapes, crushed, fermented, pressed, and secondary-fermented. all that was left to do was taste it. Would Earls Court make wine fit for kings, or was it all tomfoolery?

Purple Teeth arrived. I came, I sniffed. I slurped. I swirled. I spat. (Unfortunately). 
It is wine! 
And it's pretty good wine! 
Will they all live happily ever after?

Wine hits the bottles in a few weeks time, and our cru will be a step closer to their mystical dream.
Shipping starts in September.

The next crop of grapes will be full on the vine by then, and the story will begin again.

Will our London drinkers happily cough up £15 for a bottle of London's premier cru? 

Only you can tell us how the story ends.  

To be continued...

Ultimately, I sense the future here will be in niche, bespoke winemaking. I'm told Marks & Spencer are already planning a cuvée for Christmas and may get more involved in the 2014 harvest and production.

Imagine too, the top London sommelier creating a blend to perfectly complement his Michelin-starred chef's signature dish. Or, for the city boy who has everything, what could be more fun than his own custom barrel of wine? 21 cases of his London blend to dish out to friends and family?

In London, anything can happen.

It might just as easily vanish. However with wine school MBAs, a marketing powerhouse and lots of ambition behind them, plus wines which are more than drinkable, I'm sure London Cru will make it work.

To take a tour, priced £15, go in July before all the wines are sent for bottling. It's a great way to see first hand what goes on a winery without the need to leave the city. Informative, fun and tasty, you'll be encouraged to enjoy food and drink afterwards in the neighboring Atlas pub.

They're also taking bookings to be winemaker for a day, at a cool £125.

You can now pre-order the first batch of wines here, and they'll ship in September when it's settled after bottling. 

Only you can decide if they're worth the £15 a pop, but here's what I thought of them.

Chardonnay:
Burgundian style, restrained old oak usage plus time "on the lees" provides mellow toasty, nutty notes to soften the bright, acidic citrus. The nose has more oak than the palate, and the medium body has lots of fruit, but it's fresh, bright and not over-ripe.  ("On the lees" is wine speak for letting the wine fermented in the barrel stay in contact with the dead yeast for a while.  This gives a bit of body, and flavour.)

Rosé: 
(Go now for tasting or wait next year). A serendipitous result of extra juicy Barbera, this small batch of rosé was produced to prevent over-dilute red wine. Intensely but not unpleasantly acidic, thanks to malolactic fermentation (which softens the acid in the mouth even if it doesn't great change the pH), there's bright cherry, strawberry & lemon sherbet on the nose and in the mouth. Great for getting the party started.

Red #1 Barbera:
It's just waiting to be paired with Italian food. The mouthwatering acidity will stand up to rich tomato sauces, and though there's not much tannin, it's deep color and plummy, cherry flavour will appreciate a tuna steak or veal parmigiana.

Red #2 Syrah:
In no way resembles blockbuster Aussie Shiraz. The fruit from Roussilon provides a flowery violet note on the nose that follows through on the palate. It's paler than I'd expect from a Syrah too. There's also blackberry & blueberry, and a light, fresh feel that makes this a great summer red - not too heavy for white fans, but with enough tannin to satisfy your urge for red.

Red #3 Cabernet Sauvignon:
It's hard to say quite how this wine will end up. We tried it 3 ways: from old oak, new oak & blended straight from the cooling tank.
Made from certified organic fruit from the Languedoc, even chilled it wasn't unpleasant. . These are tannic, and will probably benefit from some bottle aging, but they drink reasonably well now. One taster described it as "Chanel No5 in a glass". I'm not quite sure what he meant by that, but by the way he cradled his glass, I think he loved it. He must be a fan of cedar and woody tones along with the blackcurrant flavours. I liked the spicy liquorice and spicy notes, but was less a fan of some of the green notes, which may mellow with age.

The other people on my "meet the cru" tour seemed positive. I believe we were all pleasantly surprised. For those who don't get to taste the wine on site though, £15 for a bottle of "EU White" or "EU Red" is a hard sell. Even Languedoc wines which can declare a provenance & grape variety struggle to make it much above £10 a bottle.

Will I buy some? I can probably find other wines I'd prefer at £15. But, just maybe... I did start to wonder if Cuvée Purple Teeth didn't have a certain ring to it.

 Wanna buy some wine?

Cheers!

Let me preface by saying Purple Teeth tries hard to avoid negativity & criticism. That's perhaps not ideal for a site which critiques wine. My general rule is, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all".  There's too much bad news on the internet already, and wine is a pleasure to be enjoyed, and shared socially.

If I don't like a wine, I usually choose not to review it.

If someone sends me a wine for review, I'm hopeful that I'll enjoy it. They're expecting a review, but they don't want a bad one.  If I really don't like it, I'll say so. I try for the balance to swing in favour of positivity, but I also need my readers to respect my opinions. Otherwise, I lose all credibility with my readers and customers.  

It's with regret then, that sometimes I feel I have to write a bad review to "protect the public", or perhaps inspire a change.

For many years, I worked in Customer Experience and this role gave me the opportunity to shape customer service for large companies. As a result of the role, and too much time on business travel, my tolerance for bad service became lower.

Perhaps that's why I stopped going out as much...

When we first moved to Maidenhead some 10 or so years ago, we ended up living pretty close to the Blue River Café (BRC). It was a fun place, decent food, reasonable prices, efficient service.

We spent far too much time and money there, particularly in summer  (our rented flat had no garden).

Many a weeknight was met with spontaneous abandonment of work accoutrements and a brisk walk for one of the delights on their menu rather than face cooking. We even had our pre-wedding dinner for 12 there, the night before our nuptials. We agreed an early dinner would mean all guests could choose their own dish, rather than insisting on a set menu. The service and food were great.

How times have changed.

Years have passed, personnel have moved on and frankly, the service now sucks.

The menu is much depleted with many of my favourite dishes disappearing for lackluster replacements such as £15 for a pork chop, £18 for a duck breast.  Dishes are dully described and without a hint of provenance.

Prices have risen - of course. 10 years have passed. But the quality of food and service just isn't worth this kind of money.

Compare:
I recently wrote about the "daily menu" at Boulters, another local establishment which, in contrast, has improved immensely since we moved here.
For a little over £60, we enjoyed 3 courses each, a lovely Chilean Pinot noir, and a large bottle of mineral water.

So we headed there on Wednesday last to celebrate our 11 year date-iversary. Any excuse.

Perhaps my blog proved too influential. It was full! No tables.

Not fancying the bar food option, we decided to try our luck at BRC. We had had a poor service experience last time we visited. We had been quite tipsy, not in a great rush, and relaxed enough to let it slide, though we did discuss it. We hadn't commented to the staff before we were advised we'd be getting 50% off the meal. This saved the day.  When you get it wrong, accept it, deal with it and move on. They deserved another chance.


Sadly, they've not learned their lesson.

We were promptly seated by, a woman I presumed to be a senior staff member. (She wasn't wearing the uniform of the others.) We were given menus but no wine list. She offered us a drink so I ordered a sparkling water & hubby a pint while we decided. When these arrived we pointed out the lack of wine list.

"I'll just get that for you," she said.

Some 15 or more minutes passed. No one returned with a wine list. Nor had anyone taken our order. Had we not already drinks in front of us we'd almost certainly have left and gone to Thai Orchid across the road.

Eventually we managed to make someone see us. Several staff were busy cleaning tables rather than waiting on us or looking around to see if anyone needed service. We asked for the wine list.   

A few minutes later, a somewhat shabby looking plastic folder containing some badly photocopied A4 sheets arrived purporting to be the wine list.

The "by the glass" selection has not improved with the demise of the properly printed wine list. It would have to be a bottle.  I opted for the Chilean Chardonnay, at £28, one of the most expensive whites on the list and probably the only one I could imagine drinking from the pitiable selection. (The Veramonte Reserva Chilean Chardonnay is approximately £10 retail).  We ordered our food.  

The appetisers seemed more appetising than the main courses.  It was getting late.  We chose 2 starters each.  This seemed to confuse the waitress who eventually took our order, especially when I asked to add a garlic bread side dish to one of mine.

Finally, after spelling it out in words of one syllable, we got our order placed, some 35 minutes after entering the restaurant.  We saw the original staff member return and my husband asked to speak to her.  Her "I'm really sorry, I had to sort something out at reception" left us both dissatisfied.  We were onto our 3rd staff member now, and the apology felt insincere.  Nor did we have any offer of how this was going to be turned around.

Fairly quickly, our scallops arrived.  Hurrah!  They were reasonably tasty, though the pancetta was a little flabby and could have benefitted from being crisper. (Side note: please, bistro chefs of Britain, note that rocket will drown out a delicate flavour like scallop.  Rocket is so last season, do you have to put it on every dish?)
Sadly, our wine had not yet arrived.  Of course, we'd ordered a bottle to complement the meal.  Another request made, and the friendly response: "oh right". Now, I'm not a fan of the "no worries" trend that has swept Britain's service culture but suddenly, I yearned for it.  

When did "you're welcome" or "I'll get that for you now" go out of fashion?  I must have missed the memo.

At last the wine arrived, when I was half way through my starter.  Luckily, it was as good as I'd expected it to be.  At last, things were looking up, though the very cheap wine glasses with thick rims did it no favours.  The glasses were also too small for a wine like this, which needs room in the glass.  However, let's not get all wine snob.  It was a decent wine.  And, I finally had some, a "mere" 45 minutes after sitting down.  Relief.

When our second starters arrived, neither of us was impressed.  The goat cheese on brioche with a poached egg really disappointed my husband.  It looked all the same colour and very unappealing.  My risotto was dry, tasteless and required a LOT of extra black pepper and so-called parmesan to give it any oomph whatsoever. Luckily they handed me the pepper mill and walked off.  I think I emptied it. Underdone and under-seasoned, at least the garlic bread (£3.25 for 2 slices of ciabatta) added some flavour, though I probably didn't need any more carbohydrate.
Mr Purple Teeth needed a dessert to improve his mood.  The homemade brownie was recommended, so being a chocaholic, he went for it.  It was just ok.  Drowned in "lashings of chocolate sauce", it was a bit sickly and didn't really have any brownie texture.    Total bill, £77!  4 starters, a pudding, and drinks.  Take off the wine and you're still looking at over £50, whereas a decent, well presented 3 course meal at Boulters is available from £20.  I overheard another diner complaining about the lack of a vegetable with his dish.  Again, it wasn't handled that well.

The restaurant's own website begins: "One Of The Best Restaurants By The River Thames The Blue River Café".  I don't think The Waterside Inn is quaking in it's boots just yet.  Jenner's Cafe isn't either!

Perhaps I wouldn't have minded so much if I hadn't recently written to them with an offer of some customer experience consultancy (which received no reply).  I really don't mind not being hired to help them fix the problems they face.  But they need help. And fast. Get some sort of zoning system organised for the staff, and teach them decent manners. It's really not that hard.

This kind of experience isn't perhaps enough to raise loud complaints, but it is the sort of thing that kills loyalty, and leaves punters going somewhere else next time.  At the moment, they're winning on location alone. 
My advice: avoid.

Group G deserves it's own post. Three great wine-producing nations,  perhaps not all of them featuring in your fridge or wine rack very often.  Ghana sadly isn't invited to the wine party.  Sorry folks!

Germany is most famous for Riesling. It's produced in a variety of styles from bone dry through to sticky sweet dessert wine.  It ranges from fairly inexpensive for mass-market styles, through to eye-wateringly expensive for the late harvest and ice-wines (Eiswein), made from grapes that have hung, un-rotted on the vines until they freeze.  Chances are, in your local supermarket, you'll find only the affordable lighter styles. 

I reviewed a selection of Rieslings last summer, only one of which was German: Dr L isn't showing up on my Asda web-search at the moment. Good luck tracking that down, as it's light, inexpensive and easy-drinking.

In all Rieslings, sweet or dry, you can expect "screaming acidity".  Don't panic. That's wine-speak for zingy, zesty,  & mouthwatering, though some people do find it a bit tart. You'll generally find lime in abundance, and candied lemon peel. You might find honey, red apple and "mineral notes", which sound rather unappealing when described as "wet stones" or "petrol", but actually add delicious complexity.  Trust me on this.

For the budget concious (and those worried about the intense acidity of Riesling), you might go a bit retro and pick up a Piesporter-Michelsberg.  I remember this blend of Riesling and Muller-Thurgau was the height of wine chic among the unsophisticated wine drinker of the early 80s. Surely it's better than Blue Nun?  £4.50 at Tesco  or Sainsbury's will get you a bottle and £5.29 at Waitrose, all medium-dry, they'll seem sweet if you've been drinking Sauvignon Blanc all summer.  One advantage of the sweetness is they're slightly lower in alcohol.  

Sorry to keep going on about it, but these late night matches mean we have to think of such things. I have to admit I was a bit too embarrassed to put a bottle of this in my trolley along with my Catena Malbec & Hedonist Shiraz.  In these days of "loyalty cards", I'd have suffered from low wine credibility for years.

For a pure German Riesling at the lower price point, try the Kendermanns Special Edition at £7.49 (Waitrose).  It's perhaps a bit too tart for some, but if you like a good squeeze of lemon and don't make a face, then this could be the wine for you.  

Explaining how to decipher German wine labels will take longer than this post will allow, so if you don't want a sweeter style, look for Trocken, which means dry.
Red wine fans won't find anything affordable from Germany in our supermarkets, so it's time to head to our next Group G destination. 

Portugal

Portugal's red wine grapes have been going into Port production for hundreds of years.  These sweet fortified wines are built to last, and that means the grapes going into them have a good structure for making dry red wine too.  Port might seem a little heavy for summer, but with chilling, there are a number of styles that will satisfy with one glass after dinner.  I like the Tawny styles, full of rich caramel flavours.  The Ruby styles are more like fresh, fruity young reds with some sweetness.  They can be appealing as an aperitif.  You'll even find pink port such as Offley Rosé Port (£11.99 at Waitrose) so there's plenty to try if you've only ever had vintage styles with Stilton at Christmas.

If you fancy a more traditional red, I don't have a lot of experience of the supermarket offering, but the medalling Tesco Finest Douro Red looks worth a punt, at a fiver.  A blend of 3 grapes, including the Portuguese version of Tempranillo (Tinta Roriz) it will need to be served with a meal.

The famous white of Portugal is Vinho Verde. While there are plenty of other styles around this light, medium, slightly spritzy white is worth a fiver of your summer wine spend.  There are plenty around, and I'm sure there's one in a supermarket near you.  Expect citrus flavours.
According to the Guardian, the top Portuguese value white on your list should be Vale da Capucha Fossil Branco, 
(£8.50, Asda Wine Shop) from the Lisbon area.  Topping the polls at the recent Asda press-tasting (where was my invite?) this blend should have powerful peach and quince flavours, good body, & zingy acidity. I may just give it a go myself.

An early Purple Teeth blog covers a Portuguese red, here, as well as a German Mosel Riesling, a Chilean white, an Australian Shiraz & an Italian Fiano.  It's like a prequel to the World Cup series, though I'm not sure of current availability.

America
Land of the free and the home of the brave.  And also producer of millions of litres of wine every year.  97% of the production is from California, and while I love Viognier from Virginie and Pinot Noir from Oregon, you won't find those at everyday prices on Britain's supermarket shelves this summer.

So, it's to California we go in search of your final World Cup Winners. 

Californian wines range from two-buck chuck (factory produced table wine) through to icons that are virtually unobtainable at any price.  While we might dream of Opus One, Screaming Eagle or whatever else is hot this season, we return to Tesco in search of wines we can all afford.

Home of the branded wines Barefoot, Echo Falls, Blossom Hill, Gallo etc, you probably don't need me to recommend you an American wine.   I reviewed the Gallo Cabernet Sauvignon in October and found it drinkable as well as affordable.  I also picked out some special wines for the July 4th celebrations last year. They are very good, but you'd probably have to get them by mail-order, or from a specialist wine merchant.

Napa Valley has a reputation for Cabernet Sauvignon, and there's plentiful, plummy Merlot produced across the State, along with other varieties. But when I think of Californian wine, the grape that  springs to mind is Zinfandel.   

White Zinfandel is a rosé wine, sometimes known as blush.  I had a glass by accident a couple of weeks ago, and it's even sweeter than the Mateus. You have been warned. A plea from all Zinfandel drinkers: "please don't bring me a bottle of white zin".  It's no longer the 80's and wine drinkers grow up.  However, it's cheap and cheerful and lots of ladies love it.  Go right ahead if sweeter styles are your thing. 

I love the deep, dark, over-ripe red wines from this Californian gem. It's usually a whopping 15% alcohol, yet still with a hint of sweetness.  It is worth spending a little more to get good examples, as under-ripe Zin is much less appealing.  If you can find it, look for "old vines" on the label.  This should mean lower yields which, in turn, means a higher concentration of flavours.

In the past I've reviewed several Zins, including Brazin, and Ravenswood Old Vines among others.  These are both available at The Wine Society, and the Brazin is stocked at Waitrose too.  For the Tesco shoppers, there's a £9 Ravenswood Vintner's Blend, and a £9.99 Ravenswood Lodi Zin.  I'd probably splash out the extra 99p since Lodi is among the best areas for Zinfandel in California. For once, the selection at Asda is even more expensive.  The cheapest supermarket offering is Sainsbury's Turning Leaf Zin at £8.

You can expect dark fruit flavours like blackcurrant, blueberry and prune, along with cocoa notes, hints of raspberry or black cherry, and some spiciness, all wrapped up in vanilla oak smoothness.  Why you'd swap that for sickly sweet blush wine, I'm not sure!

If money is no object, I'd choose a Ridge Vineyards Zin.   And if you really want to support Croatia, there's new evidence to suggest this grape originated there.  Problem solved.


When it comes to whites, California grows pretty much every one of the common white wine grapes.
I opt for Chardonnay.  Some incredible (& incredibly expensive) bottles are produced by people like Stag's Leap.  The one that makes it's way into Purple Teeth HQ most frequently is most like the Bonterra Organic Chardonnay from Mendocino County, which I reviewed in my first month of wine blogging. At around £12, it's not  exactly entry level, but it's worth splashing out if you're looking for something to accompany your roast chicken.

Bargain conscious shoppers should head to Sainsbury's where the entire "Barefoot" range is currently reduce to £5.25, allowing you to sample Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Moscato (sweet style), and Sauvignon Blanc.  If you don't normally drink Californian wine, I'd be keen to hear if you notice a difference in style from your usual whites.

I really hope you've enjoyed reading our supermarket world cup wine series. You'll find the other 5 parts by visiting our June 2014 archive.  If I've done it right, I've encouraged you to go more confidently to the wine section and select something new that you should enjoy.  Do share your experiences on our Facebook page.  
I'd love to see photos of you enjoying our recommendations, or photos of what you've chosen instead.  

Tell me a little about what you're drinking and why. It'll help me tailor future blog posts to your tastes. Meanwhile, whoever you're supporting this  Wine World Cup 2014, enjoy! (...responsibly, of course)
Cheers!

Group F.  It's got to be Argentina when it comes to the World Cup of Wine...  

Nigeria has it's mind on other things right now, and I don't think wine was ever up there among it's priorities anyway.

Iran?  I'm not even sure alcohol is permitted.  Certainly, they have less frivolous matters on their minds.

Bosnia...  well, there is some production, but let's just say it hasn't hit our shores yet.  If the Balkans are all friends again nowadays, perhaps they'll partake of some of their former Yugoslav colleagues' wines.  The Sainsbury's basic Pinot Noir is from Macedonia and only £4.50, but given the choice , I'd choose the wines from my good friends at the DiBonis winery in Serbia.  They were a big hit at one of my multi-country tastings.  Stay tuned as I hope to offer these wines to my followers very soon.

Argentina.  As a Scot, memories of the Tartan Army heading South with high hopes are never far away.  The English will surely never forget the Maradona Hand of God.  It's lucky they make amazing wines.

Visiting Argentina 4 years ago, I was lucky enough to spend time in Mendoza, even stayin on the Tapiz Winery.  I tried many Argentine wines there, and am ever more impressed by the quality of what's coming out of these high altitude vineyards.  

Poor Group H.  All dressed up and no place to go, at least when it comes to wine.  

Islamic Algeria isn't likely to go into massive wine production any time soon.  

Belgium is ALL about BEER!  If you've never tried a fruit beer, it's as good a time as any.  Many of the Belgian beers are super strong, though, not least, Delirium Tremens. Do bear this in mind if it's a late game and you've got to drive in the morning.

I've only experienced the Korean alcohol "Soju" once before at Bibigo restaurant in London (which comes highly recommended).  Their wine list features a few of myFrench selections: Picpoul, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, so there's no Korean wine to speak of.  

As for Mother Russia, there is Russian wine, and I've even been promised a bottle of their fizz one of these days (I'm not holding my breath). Russia is all about Vodka.  My favourite is flavoured with birch sap and the name is only printed in Cyrillic, so I can't even begin to tell you anything except it's smooth and delicious.  Sorry Group H.  Game Over.

You'll find all my supermarket wine picks to match your world cup watching on the blog.  Just one more group to come. Please share your bargain bucket beverages on our Facebook Page.
Cheers!

Group E looks like being all about France.  Ecuador may give them a run for their money on the football pitch,  but for those who followed our Facebook page throughout May, you'll know that wine is really not Ecuador's specialist subject.  The Aguardiente raw spirit made from sugar cane is tasty, but not widely available in the UK.
Honduran wine?  I don't think so. 
Swiss wine is dear to my heart, since I first found my passion for wine in that country, but supermarket availability is even less likely than these minnows picking up the trophy. Stick to the cheese and chocolate if you're a Switzerland fan.

So, France wins the Group E wine award by default.
Trying to pick a few highlights from the biggest wine-producing country in the world is like trying to pick your friend out in the crowd at the stadium on TV.  But, my mission is to help you drink your way round the world, so here goes...

You'll surely know you're way around French Rosé if pink wine is your tipple, but if not, start with those from Provence.  If you're looking for fizz, but can't justify spending out on Champagne just yet, never fear, because the "Cremant" wines provide a great alternative. Generally cheaper, you'll find versions from Loire, Alsace and Bourgogne fairly widespread, made from Champagne grape Chardonnay among others. 

There's so much more to French wine than this cursory glimpse at the supermarket bargains can possibly offer, but I hope that those who're supporting Les Bleus will be shouting "Vive La France" as they sample some of these wines.  Do share your findings on our Facebook page, Twitter or here in the comments.
Santé!

PS you'll find all our wine picks for the World Cup on our main blog page 

Continuing my series of recommended wines to accompany your World Cup fandom, Group B is a stonker!
The Netherlands may have a good football team, but when it comes to growing things, tulips take precedence over grapes.  Stick to lager.  I like Oranjeboom if you can get a hold of it. The other countries have got wine sewn up.

Chile is a blossoming wine producing country and we Brits are drinking more and more of their wine.  My notable white at the lower price end of the spectrum, is the Cono Sur Bicicleta Viognier (shop around as prices vary from £5 - £8.50 across the supermarkets).  It's voluptuous texture and floral notes are a great accompaniment to your exotic Asian takeaways. I reviewed it last year and I'm still drinking it fairly regularly, and it now has an IWC Bronze medal. The Cono Sur brand is reliable across the range if you want to try something else.
Chilean Sauvignon Blanc is widespread and available at many price points.  I find it less green, grassy and more peachy than New Zealand SB, and that, for me, is A Very Good Thing.
If you're a red wine drinker, the signature Chilean red is Carmenère. Known for a deep plummy flavour, it might appeal to Merlot drinkers.  Asda stock 57 different Chilean wines, and other supermarkets will have an equally wide range.  Experimentation is good here, since the wines are usually very good value.  The Errazuriz brand is reputable although prices are closer to the £10-12 mark. Their Max Reserva Carmenère is £12.49 at Asda, while their Decanter Silver medal winning Cabernet Sauvignon Max Reserva is £12.99 at Waitrose (25% off any 6 wines till June 17).

Despite Chile's great reputation for value and quality, for me, it's a straight fight between Spain and Australia.  Can I pick a winner? Two of my favourite wines come from these two countries, but Vega Sicilia Valbuena and Penfold's Grange aren't likely to be the wines my readers choose to accompany their football viewing.  Frankly speaking, it's a long time since I had either wine, and the chances of buying either one any time soon look about as slim as Scotland winning the World Cup.  Hint: Scotland aren't at the Brazilian finals!

Remember, you'll find our recommendations for England's group in Part One of World Cup Winners, while Part 2 covers group A (Brazil's group) and group C.  I'll be publishing my tips for the rest of the group over the next few days.  A friendly reminder too, that if you're drinking while watching late night matches, do be careful of being over the limit if you're driving early the next morning.  Enjoy your wine sensibly, whoever you're supporting. I'd love to hear what you're drinking, so please to share your favourite wine from each country on ourFacebook page.
Cheers!

It's a beautiful summer evening, there's more football on than you can shake a stick at.  Love or loathe the World Cup, it's a perfect opportunity to try wines from new places, experiment and join in the worldwide fun!  And with many supermarkets offering great deals at the moment, don't miss out on the chance to save anything from 5% to 25% by buying 6 bottles at a time.  You know you'll drink them before the fun is over.

You can read my Group D English wine picks here.  I'd love to hear what you're drinking to support your favourite team.  Feel free to share on our Facebook page, Twitter or via the comments form.
Cheers!

I don't know a lot about football, but I know a lot more about wine.  And I also know that with super late night fixtures, Brazil 2014 is going to be a challenging time for employers expecting bright and breezy staff in the mornings.  To add insult to employers' injury, here's my pick of the wines to drink along with your football.  I've tried to stick to supermarkets, since that's where most of my readers buy their wines...

I'll be along with another set of "group recommendations" shortly.  Meanwhile, whatever you're drinking to accompany World Cup Fever, do so responsibly, and make sure you turn up for work in the Morning!

Cheers!

There's a tradition that Tuesday night in our house is "date night".  Between running Purple Teeth events, coaching, dancing, friends and so forth, it's becoming rarer and rarer for Mr Purple Teeth and I to be home alone together during the week.  So, we try to keep Tuesday nights clear.  And, if I can remember how to cook, I usually rustle something up to match whatever wine I fancy drinking.  Quite the opposite to how most people plan their food and wine matching, I'm sure!

Now and again though, it's nice to go out. Though I often bemoan the wines by the glass in local hostelries.  Perhaps I'm getting old.  
So we found ourselves in Boulters Riverside Brasserie just before we jetted off to Ecuador and were delighted to find that the restaurant has introduced a new concept called the "daily menu".  It's a completely set menu, so the only choice is 2 courses (£15.95) or 3 courses (£19.95).  The temptation for a 3 course meal on a Tuesday night was too much, and all the dishes sounded delicious so we jumped straight in for the 3 course deal.
Mr Purple Teeth is a huge fan of mackerel and we both really enjoyed the medley of different beetroots served alongside the super-fresh fish.  The horseradish added a real zing and we became even more excited about the rest of the menu.

As usual, selecting the wine was up to me.  To pair with an oily fish and a confit duck leg, I selected a Chilean Pinot Noir from Terra Andina.  From memory, it was about £23.  I seemed to recall that we'd enjoyed this wine in another restaurant some months before.  It fit the bill, being ripe, fruity and fully of enough juicy acidity to cut through the somewhat, let's call them "non-low-fat" dishes we had coming. 
The Confit Duck Leg, Salardaise potato and spinach with Confit Garlic was, perhaps a tiny bit over-seasoned, but eating a full head of garlic was a delicious treat (it's okay to eat garlic on date night if you're both having it.) The duck was crispy and moist.  Again, a hit with both of us.

Finally, the dessert.  How could we resist a soufflé?  And the combination of orange with a warm chocolate sauce and chocolate ice cream just added to the temptation.
I've had lesser soufflés in Michelin starred restaurants.  We were glad we'd given into the third course.  Light, fluffly orange melted as the sauce was poured in creating a hole just the perfect size for the ball of ice cream.  Of course the Pinot Noir didn't pair well with this dish, so luckily we'd polished it off.  A glass of something sweet alongside may have made the whole experience even better, but then, even if it was "date night", it was a Tuesday.  We saved the dessert wine for another day.
Overall verdict, good value for money, decent wine, local establishment, nice surroundings = we'll be back.