2008 Quinta de Azevedo, Vinho Verde, Portugal (£6.24, reduced by 20% if you buy any two Portuguese wines, £4.99, Majestic).
Drop sixty quid at Majestic this week and you will have invested a relatively small amount of cash in the unqualified success of your very first summer party of 2009. As investments go I can promise you that this will yield a handsome return – your friends will love you forever, even if your cooking isn’t up to much! It is this positive thinking that keeps me strong in moments of financial meltdown and wines like this often help a little (in moderation, of course).
At only 10.5% alcohol and with the spritziest, zestiest of aromas and palates, this exceptional Vinho Verde (it really is green in hue) is a knockout white wine with a theme that takes ‘citrus’ to a new level. Pour it, ice cold, alongside a massive bucket of ‘shell on’, fresh cooked prawns, drenched in garlic butter, with a home-made mayo dip, and nothing comes close to the feeling of euphoria that will crash over you. At a fiver, there is no white wine that works like this one, particularly when the weather warms up, and if you follow the prawns with fresh, grilled sardines and char-grilled pimentos you will undoubtedly be crowned Gastronome of the Week.
