The Finest Wines For Wimbledon’s Finest Players
So the oldest tennis tournament on Planet Earth is currently in full swing (sorry), and the bustling crowds of Wimbledon will be spending the coming days battling the heat with as much wine as they can manage.* We’ve offered up our recommendations for what to bring with you on our last monthly newsletter (what do you mean, you’re not subscribed?), but if you’re looking for something a little bit more thematic, well, here’s a few great wines which hail from the countries of origin of some of Wimbledon’s most iconic players.
*That’s probably not a fantastic idea, though. Drink some water too, for crying out loud.
Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Okay, so Serbia might not be the first thing that pops into your head when it comes to viticulture, but the Eastern European country is more or less on the same latitude as Bordeaux, Languedoc and Provence. A century of war, Soviet rule and phylloxera may have laid waste to Serbia’s vineyards, but the 21st century has seen a resurgence in wine production in the region, so celebrate the world No. 1 with a bottle of Serbian’s finest. Well, you can try to. Getting hold of Serbian wine on the high street is about as easy as getting hold of a decent Chardonnay grown on the vineyards of Antarctica. Perhaps just keep this list with you and keep a look out for anything you might come across. If you do find it, though, enjoy the bragging rights of being able to bring something genuinely innovative and interesting to Wimbledon to drink. Just don’t brag too much, yeah? People are trying to watch the match.
Roger Federer (Switzerland)
Another rarer one, here, but Federer does have a genuine chance of winning, so hey, it can’t hurt to keep something celebratory in preparation. The Swiss winemaking tradition is ancient, and the stuff is hugely popular over there, even if a truly negligible amount is ever exported abroad: under 2% of wines produced in Switzerland ever arrives on foreign shores. Reds are particularly fashionable for the Swiss, but seeing as it’s really, really hot out there, let’s stick to this Chasselas de Satigny 2011 & 2012 (£14.40). Partially because Chasselas is the white grape most popularly found in Swiss wines, and partially because Federer won in 2012. It fits, see?
Andy Murray (Great Britain)
Yes, he’s Scottish, but good luck finding a Scottish wine that isn’t just whisky. Scotland is, however, part of Great Britain (fun fact for you, geography fans), so let’s stick to something English, however bitterly ironic that might seem. This Ancre Hill rosé (£15.99) has a nose of wild strawberries and cream, so the wine you’ll be drinking will feel classically Wimbledon and classically English – even if the player you’re supporting isn’t. Wimbledon itself is also offering up Bolney Wine Estate’s Pinot Gris 2014 (£16.99) for this year’s tournament as the chosen wine for 2015.
Serena Williams (USA)
This one’s a bit easier. The US has a vast range of tremendously high quality wines to choose from. Serena herself is from Michigan, which produces well over a million gallons of wine every year, but little of that seems to make it to the UK. If you find a Michigan wine, then sure, go wild (and do let us know what it’s like), but otherwise maybe just play it safe with something Californian, like this Grenache rosé (£6.99) with strawberry and watermelon aromas. California is sort of close to Michigan, after all, in much the same sense that Bordeaux is sort of close to Tokyo.
Maria Sharapova (Russia)
Russian wine is no new thing, and whilst Sharapova’s home of Nyagan isn’t quite suited to the planting of vineyards (the average winter lows of -20°C and average summer highs of 18°C might be to blame for that), but the last few years has seen an increase in quality at some of the wineries that do produce, with that coming out of Abrau-Durso being commonly regarded as the best. We can’t find any Russian wines available at UK supermarkets, though, so if you’re going to buy a bottle of the “People’s Champagne”, you might have to import it. It’ll be worth it, though, to see the look on peoples’ faces when, amidst all the strawberries and cream and Champagne, you crack out a glass of Russia’s finest and raise a glass to the Motherland.
