When you hear the word savoury, you think of cheese, meat pies, or olives and nuts. You rarely think of wine.

Savoury is not a typical definition of wine. It certainly is not as popular as crisp, fruity, full-bodied or zesty. Yet there I was, tasting flights of Marsanne at a Mentzendorff tasting and all I could think of was savoury. 

The kind of savoury like eating buttery popcorn with just enough salt to make your mouth water. Or salt toffee you buy at the beach or find at a fair on a pier. I find this flavour when tasting a fino sherry, Madeira wine or extremely mineral Burgundy. It is not a common description for wine.  Yet here, tasting this single varietal ermitage, savoury was the best word I could think of to describe this wine.

A bit dismayed by my own taste buds I researched savoury wines. Wine expert Robert Parker defines savoury as “a general descriptive term that denotes that the wine is round, flavorful, and interesting to drink.”

Fiona Beckett from matchingfoodandwine.com uses the term savoury when she would use the term meaty, on Syrah or Syrah blends.  Winefolly.com describes savoury as having grassy flavours like bell pepper, white pepper and green beans.

Local wine expert and manager of the Oxford Wine Company's Botley shop, Lee Isaacs, revels in the savoury description. “I love the salty twang of minerality in a wine. That feeling of wet stones bringing to mind a babbling brook, or the rapier like sensation of steel. For something different, try the humble Aligoté. Domaine Felix’s example (£10.99) is full of minerality, its fresh acidity enhancing the slight note of salinity. Another favourite is Jourdan’s Picpoul de Pinet (£9.45). So clean you could bathe in it, the understated tropical notes giving way to an ever so slightly spicy finish but all the time it has steeliness quicker than Zorro’s foil!”

Whether it is a mineral white or meaty red, savoury is an acceptable term. Try it for yourself. Ask your local bodega for a savoury wine. Guarantee they will bring you out something interesting.

 

• My favourite wine of the week is Humberto Canale, 2011 Malbec from Patagonia, Argentina. It is an elegant wine, which is full-bodied and complex with hints of oak, pepper and berries. It is incredibly smooth with a long, pleasing finish. Drink now with beef, lamb or sitting in front of the fire staying warm. £9.88 from exelwines.co.uk or £12.99 from the Oxford Wine Company.