When I find myself frustrated by the wall-to-wall sauvignon blanc and malbec in supermarkets, I have to remind myself that I, too, often reach for the same product time after time. Like many people, if I find a drink I like – coffee, beer, gin, whatever – I tend to stick with it. And, for many, it’s too much of a risk to experiment with wine – after all, why spend a tenner on something you’re not sure you’ll like?
On the other hand, how do you ever discover something new to love if you don’t keep trying new things? There was a time, presumably, when you weren’t drinking malbec and were more likely to be drinking shiraz. Or, pre-sauvignon blanc, when you used automatically to reach for a bottle of chablis instead (mind you, it’s hard to remember a time when sauvignon blanc didn’t dominate our white wine drinking habits). Things change, though, and that’s often driven by price. Picpoul, for instance, used to be a cheap option for those who loved crisp, dry whites – I love Ormarine picpoul, which we used to get for about €6 on holiday in the Languedoc, but nowadays that costs a tenner at Sainsbury’s (for a cut-price alternative, try the same store’s jurançon sec in today’s pick).
