Only available at the Co-op supermarket in the UK, but included here because it’s so good at the price, this is a cooler climate Malbec from two vineyards in southerly Bío Bío that are planted on different soil types. A third of the wine was aged with inner staves, adding a coffee bean note to a palate of mint, blueberry and bramble. Juicy and refreshing with a bright, tangy finish.
Food Match: Beef
2021 Tesco Finest McLaren Vale Grenache, McLaren Vale
( £11, 14.5%, Tesco )Aussie Shiraz may be better known, but the country’s Grenaches have a pedigree that is just as long and impressive. This rich, full-bodied, lightly wooded example comes from the Mediterranean climate of McLaren Vale, situated to the south of the city of Adelaide, has appealing flavours of bramble and red fruits, plenty of balancing acidity, smooth tannins and a dab of patisserie spices. Try it lightly chilled.
2024 Domaine Bousquet Finca Lalande The Land Cabernet Franc, Uco Valley, Mendoza
( £10.99, 14.5%, Waitrose )Domaine Bousquet is one of the biggest and best organic producers in Argentina, so it’s good to see this newly released Uco Valley Cabernet Franc on a UK supermarket shelf. Full-bodied yet fresh, Finca Lalande is an appealingly floral, focused expression of the grape that has found a home in the higher parts of Mendoza. Entirely unwooded, it has aromas of cut grass and green herbs, lots of zip and acidity and flavours of plum and black cherry.
2012 Weinert Cavas de Weinert, Mendoza
( £27, 14% )Weinert is one of the most proudly traditional producers in Argentina, making wines that are squirrelled away for years in large wooden casks before release. This is a seamless blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with 20% Malbec. It’s ripe, intense and savoury with mature, autumnal aromas of leather, incense and fallen leaves and a palate that combines structure and backbone with sinewy tannins and flavours of red berries, cassis and a spicy, balsamic twist. Great value at under £30.
2021 Ca' Leando L'Arenal Monastrell, Valencia
( £18.50, 14%, Noel Young Wines )I tasted this wine as part of a six-pack that my friend Noel Young offered to customers who wanted to support the winemakers of Valencia after the terrible floods last year. And I loved it. It comes from a small 2.6-hectare vineyard called Lloma Rasa, which benefits from being at 550 metres. Made entirely with Monastrell, the best local red grape, it has hints of clove and tobacco leaf from partial whole bunch fermentation, flavours of wild thyme, fennel and rosemary, savoury tannins and a core of plum, strawberry and redcurrant fruit. Quintessentially Mediterranean.
2023 Château Tanunda Grand Barossa Shiraz, Barossa valley
( £15 on offer at £12 until January 1, 14.5%, Sainsbury's )Château Tanunda is one of the grand old names of Barossa Valley, dating batch the end of the 19th century, so it’s great to see this intense, well-balanced Shiraz on the shelves here, especially at the offer price until the end of the year. Curated in new and older French and American oak barrels, this is smooth, glossy and intense, with supple tannins, layers of plum, blackberry and sweet aromatic spices and enough acidity to lift and freshen the palate. An Aussie Shiraz with a nice combination of elegance and concentration.
2020 Reyneke Biodynamic Syrah, Stellenbosch
( £14.95, 13%, The Wine Society )The Polkadraai Hills in Stellenbosch are one the best places in the New World to grow Syrah and no one does it better than Johan “the vine hugger” Reyneke. Fermented with 30% whole bunches, this has enticing aromas of pine and lavender and a vibrant, spicy, grippy palate of fig, white pepper and barbecued meat. An amazing bargain at under £15.
2021 Emmanuel Durand Les Trois Chênes Crozes-Hermitage, Rhône Valley
( £22, 13%, Berry Brothers & Rudd )The Rhône Valley still offers great value for money if you know where to look. This is the kind of wine that belies the line that Crozes is the “poor man’s Hermitage”. It’s an intensely scented cool climate Syrah from an impressive recent vintage, with classic liquorice and white pepper aromas, textured, glossy tannins, subtle wood spices and a layers of blackberry and fennel.
2021 Domaine du Bel Air Jour de Soif, Bourgueil, Loire Valley
( £22, 13%, Berry Brothers & Rudd )Loire Valley Cabernet Francs are some of my favourite reds in the world, with just the right combination of freshness, perfume and acidity. This unwooded example from Bourgueil, an appellation which can often be among the earthier expressions of the variety, is wonderfully sappy and thirst-quenching, with aromas of violets and cut grass, bags of crunchy acidity and a palate of black cherry and raspberry framed by graceful tannins.
2022 Kanakaris 10³ Agiorgitiko, Nemea
( £19.99, 13%, Cambridge Wine Merchants )I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to feel a little more autumnal, so I’m switching from the crisp, dry whites of summer to medium-bodied reds like this Agiorgitiko from the Greek Peloponnese. Made by brothers Stefanos and Michalis Kanakaris, it has an appealing bouquet of incense and sweet spices, enough tannin to give it some structure, a dab of oak and flavours of plum, redcurrant and summer berries. Surprisingly versatile with food.
2022 Ken Forrester Wines The Misfits Cinsault, Western Cape
( £10, 13%, Tesco )Ken Forrester is best known as one of the Cape’s most famous Chenin Blanc producers, but he produces some very decent reds, too. This is made from Cinsault, one of the parents of local Pinotage but also gaining a following in its own right. Think of it as a South African Beaujolais, all strawberries, raspberries and red cherries with some stems adding notes of white pepper and tobacco leaf. Drink it chilled as an ideal wine with a barbecue, or braai.
2021 M&S Collection Ebenezer & Seppeltsfield Barossa Shiraz, Barossa Valley
( £14, 14.5%, Marks & Spencer )The kind of thing that made me fall in love with Australian wine back in the 1980s, this is a classy, full-bodied Barossa Valley Shiraz from the Langmeil winery. Combining grapes from two vineyards, Ebenezer and Seppeltsfield, on different soil types, it has plenty of texture, structure and concentration, blackberry, summer pudding, liquorice and five spice flavours and some vanilla and coconut sweetness from ageing in French and American oak.