Red wine that any self-respecting Viking would surely have drunk (From York Press)

Red wine that any self-respecting Viking would surely have drunk

8:30am Saturday 13th February 2010 in

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THIS is a toast to Odin, the chief god in Norse mythology. Odin, bless his little wool socks, consumes nothing but wine in Valhalla, as he gives all his food to his two wolves, Freki and Geri. The old city of Jorvik, where I scratch these runes, will for the next week once again be thronging with Vikings. A few years back, the Jorvik Festival and my understanding of Odin’s drinking habits started me thinking. Did the Vikings drink wine? This in turn prompted some historical research: I found out that posh Vikings did enjoy the odd goblet of vino, most probably sourced from the Rhine, where they traded.

Later, I recommended some modern-day German wines. These, I thought, would be the nearest latter-day equivalents to the vino Vikings enjoyed.

This time around I’m going to suggest a trio of reds. Only because I think any self-respecting Viking would appreciate the winter-warming qualities of these wines, be it rowing their longship down the River Ouse or along a Norwegian fjord.

Supermarket own-label wines can offer good value for money. This is certainly the case with Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Australian Barossa Valley Shiraz 2008. This comes from the renowned St Hallett winery and delivers all you might expect. Concentrated and powerful, it has ripe berry and cherry fruit, with black pepper, toasty notes, vanilla and smooth tannins.

Marks & Spencer has a great wine, made by the Craggy Range winery, with a Bordeaux-esque combo of grapes from the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand. Lone Range Gimblett Gravels Red 2006 is a blend of merlot, cabernet franc, malbec and cabernet sauvignon, which is velvety smooth, rich and spicy. It delivers cherry and cassis fruit flavours with chocolate, leather, mineral notes and some fine, integrated tannins.

Perhaps the most appropriately named wine for Vikings, in this bunch anyway, would be Ravenswood Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2006. This is a beautifully balanced example of the Californian speciality grape. It is awash with the zin’s characteristic, sweet-edged blueberry and raspberry flavours, with layers of dark chocolate and vanilla.

Skål!

• Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Australian Barossa Valley Shiraz 2008, £7.99 at Sainsbury’s 19/20

•Lone Range Gimblett Gravels Red 2006, Hawkes Bay, £9.99 at M&S 18/20

•Ravenswood Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2006, £9.49 at Majestic, Sainsbury’s, The Wine Society 17/20