Anyone for Strawberry Bellini?

I was recently sent wine to try out from Sainsbury’s. I love my wine, especially red, so was looking forward to sampling what they had to offer.

I was sent a bottle of white, red and prosecco to enjoy.

Firstly the white which was Vinho Verde, a Portuguese wine. This wine has won several awards including the International Wine Challenge commended winner. The wine is described as light and fruity and a little bit spritzy. It goes perfectly seafood. I tried this and found it pleasant, not my favourite. But then I am not as big a fan of white.

Here’s a perfect recipe to use the wine in, from Helen at Fuss Free Flavours. It’s for an Easy Black Cherry Syllabub. The recipe calls for a dry wine and this is fairly dry, 3 on the scale where one is dry and 9 is sweet.

courtesy of Fuss Free Flavours

The bottle of red was a Fairtraide Malbec, another award winner, this one claimed silver in the IWC. It’s described as full bodied and robust, packed with flavours of blackcurrant and damson. It goes well with roast beef. Me, personally, I love red wine with a big bag of crisps which I enjoyed with this one.

But here is another recipe to try out with this red. From my friend Jac at Tinned Tomatoes, this is for a melon, peach and red wine sorbet. The robust flavour in this red would be a good contrast to the fruity flavours going on in the sorbet – and is perfect for summer weather.

courtesy of Tinned Tomatoes

The Conegliano Prosecco is a gold winner this time in the IWC. It is described as fresh, bubbly and full of apricot flavours.

As Wimbledon is upon us very soon, I decided to use the prosseco in Strawberry bellini. Usually made with peach nectar, I decided to whip up some strawberry puree instead. Some of the puree in the bottom of your glass, topped with the bubbly stuff and you have a delicious drink to watch any of the tennis matches with, whilst you snack on fresh strawberries.

To make the strawberry puree, I simply took my stick blender to 400 grams of strawberries and then added two tablespoons of sugar. I stirred the sugar in, until it dissolved and let it sit for while to let the flavours meld. You could use the puree straight away if you prefer. Add some puree to the bottom of a champagne flute and then add the Prosecco. Refreshing!

Disclosure Statement: I was sent the wine from Sainsbury’s free to review. Any opinions expressed are my own.