Zenato Villa Flora Lugana 2015

Zenato Villa Flora Lugana 2015, Italy

(£9.99, Waitrose, or via Wine Searcher) 

I took in the sights of a delightfully festive (and Beatrix Potter-themed) Leeds Castle in this Christmassy episode of Saturday Kitchen – before selecting what is a consistently delicious and great value Lugana to go with salt cod salad (insalata di baccalà) by Francesco Mazzei.

The salty tones of the dish (salt cod, olives) really need some juicy fruit, as do the chillies. But you don’t want anything too rich or characterful or it takes over. This Lugana does the job beautifully.

Turns out it’s also something of a favourite of Francesco’s. ‘Zenato Lugana is a beautiful white wine, I love it,’ he enthused, ‘so I’m going to have a definite smile at Christmas.’ ‘Heavenly,’ murmured show guest Simon Callow, while Jordan Bourke described both the dish and wine as, ‘really fresh and the antithesis of the usual heavy Christmas stuff, so perfect.’

‘Susie’s the one, she knows what’s going on,’ said show host Angela, kindly. Before adding, wisely: ‘The danger is you end up having too much as it’s so easy to drink.’ (7/10, Susie, Dec 2016)