A vine romance

One wine will appeal above all others. It will be the one that, once tasted, you will look for on every list, you will take cartons of it back to your villa and sip it in sunshine, with a barbecue or by the pool and then you will probably decide to fill up the boot so you can continue this love-affair back home.

And that is when the trouble starts. Like any holiday romance, there is every chance your love-affair will fizzle out once you pour your first glass at home. Even if you fly back and track down the wine you drank by the pool, I guarantee it won’t taste the same.

The light, crisp white or the easy-quaffing red that went so well with grilled sardines by the sea will probably taste thin and acidic at home in Yorkshire. There used to be an expression that “good wine doesn’t travel”, but the truth of the matter is that tastebuds change when you are on holiday.

Maybe it is the sunshine or the different food on offer but frequently it is just the sheer relaxation of a good holiday that makes everything enjoyable, including wine. And the temptation of a bargain means you might be drinking below your usual price point, which definitely won’t translate to the back garden.

So how do you make the most of your holiday drinking? The first rule of thumb is to drink local. Don’t go to Spain and expect to find your usual Chilean red on the shelves. Every wine producing region is immensely proud of its own wines and there will be a huge range from tiny growers whose wines don’t travel beyond the locality. Prices for these wines will be comparatively cheap since transport costs are lower and the flavours will be the most authentic.

Secondly, do a little research. If you are heading for a chic little village in Tuscany, check out a few growers before you go and look for their wines when you get there. Alternatively, ask in local restaurants about wines from that region. Choose your everyday wines from the local supermarket but don’t expect to find the top wines there. You should go to the serious wine shops or even head to estates to find good bottles and that’s where the third rule comes in. By all means take full advantage of the lower tax regimes you will find in France, Spain and Italy, and spend less on your everyday drinking wines, but bizarrely, top name wines may be the same price, or even slightly more expensive than at home. Be prepared to pay for quality.

If you are driving through France, then it makes sense to pick up wines to bring home. You could trawl round Bordeaux, tasting and picking up cases of wine from various châteaux and I can think of no better holiday activity, although I do remember my children feeling less enthusiastic. For a quick, one-stop shop in familiar surroundings head to Majestic Wine and Beer World in Calais and Cherbourg (www.majesticinfrance.co.uk). Prices are guaranteed to be at least £2 a bottle lower than in the UK and the clutch of wines at £2.99 makes a visit seem like a step back in time. Pre-ordering makes the whole process quicker and cheaper.

The Wine Society (www.thewinesociety/montreuil) also offers the chance to save money on your usual wines. Their French base, south of Boulogne, has about 200 wines available for on-the-spot purchase, but the whole list of wines becomes available when you pre-order. Prices are generally £19 a case lower than in the UK, but you must be a member before you get there. Lifetime membership costs a one-off payment of £40.

Once you get home how can you re-capture those tastes of summer? If you went to Spain you will have encountered the wines of Torres and the whole range, including the rosé, which is featured in this week’s Grapevine, is available locally. Try Sangre de Toro (Waitrose £7.19) for warm, bramble Garnacha flavours. Alternatively head to Rioja for the more restrained, strawberry and vanilla notes of Rioja Reserva 2005 from Viña Eguia (£5.99 Majestic on multibuy).

Anyone lucky enough to have spent their two weeks in the sunshine of Provence can bring back the scent of that glorious region with the delicate, dry redcurrant and thyme notes of Mirabeau Provence Rosé 2010 (Waitrose £8.99), made by an English family who decided to up sticks and move to France permanently. Those who spent their time cruising the Canal du Midi might have passed by the magnificent Chateau de Pennautier which was built in the 17th century by a tax collector who financed the canal. Now you can drink the deep, spiced raspberry fruit of Pennautier (Majestic £6.49 on multibuy) and imagine you are back on your boat. Holiday hotspots such as Croatia and Slovenia present more of a challenge, but it won’t be long before you can indulge in the flavours of a robust Plavac Mali or a crisp Pošip.

If you are heading to the sunshine and would like to know where to taste good wine, let me know and I’ll try to help.