Genius

In my opinion, Paul Scholes is a genius. He may be getting on a bit now having just returned from retirement for a final swansong, but he is still England's most naturally gifted footballer of a generation. It is no coincidence that a current star such as Barcelona's Xavi has such high regard for the "Ginger Ninja".

Ginger is of course the colour of Scholes's hair - which leads me in a highly round-about/tenuous way to this, a ginger-coloured wine called "Genius".

Winzerhof Ebringen, Pinot Noir Blanc de Noir Spätlese trocken "Genius" 2010, Baden, Germany

As you can see, it's probably more salmon-pink than ginger, but why let that get in the way of a convenient analogy. Oddly, it also smells quite salmony. It also shows savoury roasted aromas. The fruit remains firmly in the background throughout. The effect is the same on the palate. More complex than your average Spätburgunder rosé, with less of the perfumy red fruit that might otherwise dominate such a wine. This result is delicious. You can tell that this has been vinified with a lot of thought and care and made with more than just the barbecue in mind.

The weather was sunny and mild when I tried it just a few weeks ago. Maybe not the wine to have when it's raining and 6C outside (like today). The "Genius" moniker refers to the fact that the fruit was sourced from some of the estate's top vineyard blocks.

Unlike the pale-skinned Paul Scholes, whose natural habitat is a cool, drizzly Old Trafford, this wine probably performs better the higher the mercury rises.