With the World Cup looming large on the horizon, the world’s eyes are on host nation South Africa and that includes the critical eyes of the wine world. South Africa is well known for its high quality white and red wine and football fans heading over to the sun-baked country will have plenty of opportunity to sample the best of South African red wine as they cheer on their team.
For those who are going to be viewing the games from the comfort of their own homes (or, indeed, their own pubs), indulging in a little World Cup-based wine drinking can be a fun way to exercise both your passion for the beautiful game and your passion for the beautiful beverage.
With the automatically-qualifying South Africa as your starting point, how about accompanying each game with a classic red wine from one (or both!) of the teams playing.
Of course, this could easily spiral into a wine-buying free for all, so let’s keep it simple and stick to those countries that are as famous for their wine as they are for their football.
Starting with South Africa itself, football and wine enthusiasts will have little trouble selecting quality red wines to watch South Africa’s games. The country has a long history of producing top-notch reds and today is perhaps best known for its Cabernet Sauvignons. A good, relatively affordable example of a South African wine of this genre is the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Jordan winery. At around £10-12 a bottle this is very drinkable, with a deep red colour and bold tannins. There are notes of vanilla and cassis, but at 13.5% a bottle you’ll want to pace yourself with this one.
Next up, Brazil. OK, so Brazil is not regarded as one of the world’s greatest wine producing nations, but no article on World Cup wines would be complete without paying homage to the masters of the game. The country is gradually starting to build a reputation for its wines, built largely around the vineyards of the Serra Gaucha, in the mountainous far south of the country. Again, Cabernet Sauvignons are a good bet here and Salton, Miolo and Casa Valduga are long-established wineries producing some very respectable red wines. The artisan wine producers of the Serra Gaucha are producing some genuinely fine red wine, but as yet these are hard to source and invariably expensive outside of Brazil.
Next, let’s turn our attention to Brazil’s arch footballing rivals and next door neighbour, Argentina. Whilst Brazilians will argue that Argentina is the inferior country in terms of football, the same can’t be said of the country’s wines. Of all the world wine-producing countries, Argentina has been one of the most successful and has gained a world-wide reputation for producing high quality yet affordable wines. Mendoza is the most famous of Argentina’s wine growing regions and the country’s signature wine is Malbec, which is widely available on supermarket shelves and in wine stores, often for as little as £5. Whilst wine buyers should of course never judge a bottle by price or label, anyone spending over a tenner on a bottle of Argentine Malbec can generally expect a very rewarding drinking experience for their money.
Of course, much of Argentina’s success in the wine-growing field is due to the influence of the Spaniards who colonised the country. And with Spain a great footballing nation as well as a great wine nation, let’s look at the best bottles to accompany a Spain World Cup match. Of course, if the sun is shining, you might want to go for the full Spanish drinking experience and mix up a jug of Sangria – this is a good bet for groups of friends watching the match together, as well as for those on a budget – cheap and cheerful Spanish red wine will be just the trick for putting together a pitcher of this fruity but powerful punch. If you had something a little more sophisticated in mind, how about a bottle of that classic, sultry Spanish red, Rioja. This famous wine growing region has produced some of Spain’s best bottles, but be aware that not all Riojas are created equal and there are some fairly poor examples of this wine on the market. Look out for bottles labelled Denominación de Origen (DO) and also for those labelled as Crianza (two years old, with at least a year in cask), Reserva (three years old, again with at least a year in cask) and Gran Reserva, which will be at least five years old, at least two of which will have been spent in cask and two in the bottle.
Let’s not forget Spain’s neighbours of course – a bottle of robust Italian Barolo red wine will make a fine companion to an energetic World Cup match, while a French Burgundy will also make a great match-watching drink. For Portuguese matches, how about going for something a little different and opting to sip on a fine Port wine, one of the country’s most famous red wine exports.
