Reisling, Verdicchio, London Underground, Biodynamic Italian Rose

Picture a jar crammed full of pennies. Now picture Interwined stuffed at the bottom of that jar. Also, put that jar out in the sun, surrounded by rotten eggs. That is about a close as one could get to imagining a journey on the London tube during rush hour last week.

What's worse is that the cost of the journey is about the same price for a nice bottle of wine!

Interwined likes to pass the time on the tube thinking about wines, of course, and pairing food and wine, and cheese and wine, if it's late in the evening, pairing chocolate and red wine, etc. But what sort of wines pair well with a packed subway car?

Oddly, summer wines!

(TIP: Don't overuse exclamation points, the point becomes diminished when you do!)

A 2004 Riesling from the German winery, Schloss Schonborn, in the Rheingau proved to be the perfect pair. This wine had a slight greasiness with a flinty aroma. The body is soft and easy and swirling is unusually fun. Hint of apricots and a lower than average ABV means you can have two glasses before flinging yourself headfirst into a wall of stinky flesh and not lose your cool.

Forget the pennies imagery, come to think of it. Getting on a packed tube feels more like you're a rusty key being sunk into a bucket of cream cheese. German Riesling with packed public transport: 8.8 points.

Other runners up include a Verdicchio from central Italy. Verdicchio oftens look like a chardonnay, but tastes better. In this case the clear, hay yellow hue of the wine was tinted with light green (thus the use of 'verde' in its name). The first day it was opened it was crisp and lively, if too tart. The second day all had balanced out. By the fourth day, a day that most Chardonnays would spoil by, this Verdicchio tasted like a chardonnay!

!!!!

A great grape to look for and experiment with.

There is a biodynamic rose on the go right now… so check back this week for a review.