Biscuitiness

They said, you know, the parliamentarians, as soon as we started having a Celtic P.M. that it would bring the spice of romance on to the dry biscuit of statecraft—and the politic-men do so love biscuitiness!—but even they can’t have guessed what romance.

Nor does the revolution in Italian white wine making stop with the familiar names. It continues in the fragrant bouquet and greengage-tart fruit on the Lugana Villa Flora 1986 (Arthur Rackhams, £3.99; Waitrose, £3.59); in the delicious almond-biscuitiness of the Vernaccia di San Gimignano 1986 of San Quirico (Sainsbury’s Vintage Selection, £3.45); or, from northern Italy where German ideas meet Italian, in the Sylvaner 1985 from Herbert Tiefenbrunner, with its perfumed, light, fragrant fruit (Tesco, £3.25).

It also provides a really toasty nose: ultra biscuitiness.

Clean, with good biscuitiness, […]

The biscuitiness apparent in every Drappier cuvée could be due to the terroir and the low sulphur regime introduced by Michel Drappier, which accentuates the development process.

Oddbins has another Lehman creation — Hindmarsh Hill Chenin (£2·99) — that is less immediately appealing but again full of flavour: greengages again and a certain biscuitiness, both a sign of good Chenin grapes, plus a hint of leather and Vegemite, which tastes pretty good.

In the mouth it is dry but refreshing with a biscuitiness over the fruit and a tang of minerals.

Old vintage Cava is generally earthy and dull and unrecommendable to anyone who enjoys fizz with freshness and fruit or the kind of rich biscuitiness to be found in mature Champagne.