Heady, aromatic, garrigue-saturated red blend of Carignan, Grenache and Syrah, made in a modern style with some carbonic maceration and French oak. Richly aromaitc, with lots of fresh herbs and a sweet, spicy succulence. Needs a barbecue to show at its best.
Food Match: Lamb
2011 Allegrini, Valoplicella, Veneto
( £8, 13%, Liberty Wines )Juicy, modern Valpol with more weight than most examples of Italy’s wine bar red. Unoaked, packed with brambly, raspberry fruit and bright acidity. A wine that surprises you with its seriousness. Perfect for a screwcap closure.
2008 Isole e Olena Cepparello, Tuscany
( £45, 14.5%, Liberty Wines )Paolo de Marchi is in the vanguard of Italy’s top rank producers with his switch to screwcaps. This, his top wine, is a stunning expression of Sangiovese, full of youthful, vibrant red cherry and damson skin fruit, with well integrated oak, medium tannins and bags of potential.
2011 Changyu Cabernet/Gernischt, Ningxia, China
( £9.99, 12.5%, Waitrose )One of the more drinkable Chinese wines to cross my tasting bench, this is a quaffable, sweetish blend with slighty angular acidity and pleasant cassis and red cherry fruit. Not masively (or even slightly) complex, but certainly drinkable.
2009 Ségla, Margaux, Bordeaux
( £39, 14%, Oddbins )Attractive Margaux made in a very approachable style, even for a 2009, with sweet cassis fruit and stylish oak integration. The wine has good acidity for the vintage, with elegant, fine-grained tannins and good palate length. Not a keeper, but attractive now.
2007 Ogier, Clos de l'Oratoire des Papes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône
( £25, 15%, Majestic )Too many UK retailers are already on the 2009 and even 2010 vintage of CNDP, so it’s good to taste a wine that, while still young, is showing some bottle maturity. This is rich and deeply coloured with dark berry fruits, a hint of clove and a spicy, meaty finish.
2010 Los Molles Carmenère, Limari
( £9.99, 14%, Marks & Spencer )Maybe I’m finally coming round to Carmenère, Chile’s USP. This hails from coastal Limari (it’s sourced from the Tabali winery) and has more freshness than most examples. It’s typically deep in colour, with notes of mint, blackcurrant pastille and plum, overlaid with sweet chocolatey oak and a zesty, grassy finish. Good now and should develop in bottle, too.
2011 Simply Garnacha, Campo de Borja
( £4.59, 13.5%, Tesco )It’s not easy to find really good glugging reds under £5 any more, but the Campo de Borja region in northern Spain would be my first port of call. This unoaked example from Bodegas Borsao is juicy, brambly and full of raspberry and redcurrant fruit. Soft and supple: pure, uncomplicated pleasure.
2009 Château de Campuget, Costières de Nîmes, Rhône
( £9.99, 13%, The Daily Drinker )Sourced from one of the best value appellations in the south of France, this varietal Syah is all about fruit purity and elegance, with notes of red cherry and blackberry and refreshing acidity.
2009 Trapiche Broquel Bonarda, Mendoza
( £10.99, 14%, Tesco )Bonarda could be one of Argentina’s USPs if only more producers made the wine as well as this rich, savoury, liquorice and blackberry-like red, with its sweet vanilla oak, medium weight tannins and spicy concentration. Serious stuff with an Italianate twist.
2011 Les Nivières, Saumur, Loire Valley
( £7.99 down to £5.99, 13%, Waitrose )Unoaked Loire Cabernet Franc remains one of the great bargains of the wine world: deliciously distinctive and refreshing. This one from the Cave de Saumur is consistently tasty, a supple, grassy, well balanced red with supple tannins, medium body and a refreshing cassis and green pepper finish. Even more impressive in a tricky vintage like 2011.
2010 Domaine du Grapillon d'Or, Gigondas, Rhône Valley
( £18.99 down to £14.24, 14.5%, Waitrose )This was one of the very best wines at the Waitrose tasting, a very smart southern Rhône red based on Grenache with 20% Syrah for added backbone. It’s a ripe wine, with 14.5% alcohol, but it’s subtle and elegant, too, reflecting the balance of the 2010 vintage. Supple and sweet, with notes of wild herbs, red fruits, medium tannins and a nuanced, finely crafted finish. This outclasses a lot of Châteauneuf-du-Papes.