Tasting notes:

The number 42 is the answer to the question about the meaning of life, at least in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. According to the Jordan story, 42 is the answer to the question for the perfect ripening and maturation time for a galactic Zweigelt. From grapes grown in deep loam, loess soils, this intense wine benefitted from 42 months in oak barrels. Jordan could well be correct: the wine, with its deep ruby colour and dried cherry, cranberry and red currant fruits overlaid with smoke, tobacco and hints of leather, is an uncommonly good visit. The palate is dry, with juicy fruit balanced by bracing acidity and linen-textured tannins with a spicy mid-palate and very good length. Complex and well-flavoured, this wine is a good match for red rice with gently-spiced langoustines or perhaps a home-made lasagne. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)