The five bottles you should bring back from holiday

Chartreuse alternatives

If you’re currently feeling the effects of the global shortage of Green Chartreuse (and believe me, some of us are), then book a plane ticket to New York, pronto, and pay a visit to Astor Wines & Spirits. This excellent bottle shop in Manhattan has curated a fine selection of substitutes, including Faccia Brutto Centerbe ($49.96 for 75cl), an emerald-green herbal liqueur that’s made at the Faccia Brutto craft distillery just a few miles away in Brooklyn.

Ratafia revival

I always used to think of “ratafia” as some kind of dainty ladies’ drink, consigned to a bygone age. But on a recent trip to Champagne, I discovered this sweet French speciality is now having a renaissance. Champagne Henri Giraud, a family business in Aÿ, with a spa and lodgings, makes two delicious examples of “ratafia de Champagne”, a regional take on the style which is made by blending grape eaux de vie with unfermented grape juice from Champagne.

Henri Giraud Ratafia Solera 90-19 is rich and silky mouthful of apricot, nuts and sticky dates; the more intense Ratafia Vieillissement Exceptionnel, which has notes of spices, cinder toffee and orange peels. Both would be great as an after-dinner drink. The largest bottle is a very convivial 4.5 litres (€750) — so just leave room in your suitcase.

Frontier wines

Climate change has been driving winemaking northwards — and a bottle of wine from one of these vinous frontiers would make an interesting souvenir (especially as hardly any wine from this part of the world is exported). The Finnish archipelago of Nagu — sometimes dubbed “Finland’s St Tropez” — is home to Château Nagu, an ambitious winery that grows noble grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay in a combination of glasshouses and open-air vineyards.

The first release — a 2024 Cabernet Sauvignon (€1,050) — will hit the market in 2026, but you can join the waiting list. And in the meantime take a vineyard tour and enjoy the art exhibition they’re holding this summer in the vine-filled glasshouses. (Because of byzantine EU laws, Finland is not currently an officially recognised “winemaking” country, but thanks to lobbying by Château Nagu founder Herman Haapman, this looks set to change in 2028).

Silly sodas

Wherever I am in the world, I always try to make time to visit a local supermarket in search of weird and wonderful trash to take home for my kids: outrageous breakfast cereals, novelty candy and odd flavours of fizzy drinks. A recent find in Tokyo was a limited-edition QDOL Sea Salt Soda illustrated with an action hero from the cult 1990s video game King of Fighters 97 (it actually tasted more like cream soda than seawater, disappointingly, but nobody complained).

Distillery exclusives

A distillery exclusive is another nice way to say “I was there”. If you’re in the Lake District this summer, and like Macallan-style sherried malts, then make a beeline for Cockermouth’s The Lakes Distillery, which has rare bottlings and collector’s editions in the onsite shop. Kairos is a “Whiskymaker’s Edition” only available to those who make the trip (£80 for 70cl). Make time, as well, for the great distillery tour and a blow-out lunch in the family-friendly bistro, after. If you’re really lucky you may also get to feed the distillery’s herd of alpacas.

@alicelascelles