2007 Cotes du Rhone Villages, Rhone Valley, France

2007 Cotes du Rhone Villages, Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference (M Chapoutier), Rhone Valley, France, 14.5% abv

2007 Cotes du Rhone Villages, Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference (M Chapoutier), Rhone Valley, France, 14.5% abv

Sainsbury’s, £5.99

Someone must have put something in Michel Chapoutier’s breakfast tisane during the 2007 vintage. His expensive wines have always been good, but in 2007 his basics excelled themselves. This is really serious Côtes du Rhône – rich loganberry and strawberry fruit, deepened by sloes and rosehip syrup, freshened by herbs and toughened with bitter bark tannin. Add to that 2007’s piercingly pure acidity and this is worth several pounds more.

Oz’s tip: decant it for 2 hours before you drink it to maximize its fruit and scent.

Italian Sausages with Turnip Tops or Spinach

Italian sausages should be made of 100 per cent meat, with no cereal. The meat – either pork or turkey – should be coarse-cut and seasoned with herbs and spices. The type of seasoning varies from village to village, but the base should be salt and pepper.
At home, we used to make our own sausages and preserve them
in olive oil or lard so that they would keep all year round. Turnip tops or spinach are the usual alternative to beans as the vegetable accompaniment to sausages.

Serves 4
500g/1lb 2oz turnip tops or spinach
3 tbsp olive oil
500g/1lb 2oz salsicce (Italian sausages)
90ml/3fl oz/scant 1⁄2 cup hot water
2 garlic cloves, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash the turnip tops or spinach, then cook in the water clinging to the leaves, just until wilted. Drain and squeeze to get rid of the excess water.
Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole over a low heat and cook the sausages for 5 minutes. Pierce them with a fork to let the fat ooze out and sprinkle with the hot water to prevent them from sticking to the pan. When done, lift them from the casserole, reserving the fat, and keep warm.
Add a little more oil to the fat of the sausages if necessary,
add the garlic, and fry the turnip tops or spinach until done.
Add salt and pepper to taste, stir well, add the sausages, cook for a further 10 minutes and serve.

Taken from Mamma Toscana