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.
Food Match: Lamb
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 Scott Shiraz/Sangiovese, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
( £14.99, 14%, Oddbins )A really innovative blend (12% of it Sangiovese) from a comparatively new Adelaide Hills winery, this is a very smart, textured red with cherrystone and plumskin aromas, supple, yet savoury tannins, bramble and mint flavours and an Italianate dry flourish. One of the best Italian-influenced reds I’ve had from Down Under.
2008 Iona, One Man Band, Elgin
( £23.99, 14%, Enotria & Coe )There are no fewer than six varieties in this well-crafted red from the high flying Iona winery in Elgin. Syrah dominates to the tune of 80%, with support from Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Mourvèdre and Viognier. The wine has real density, with smoky, bramble and blackberry fruit, toasty oak and the freshness you’d expect from a cooler area. A bright debut.
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.
2008 Domaine Courbis Champelrose, Cornas, Rhône Valley
( £19.99 down to £14.99, 13%, Waitrose )Cornas can make some of the chunkiest wines in the northern Rhône, but this is much more refined than many examples. It’s got lovely lifted crackedf pepper and clove spice on the nose, with subtle oak, hints of grilled meat and red fruits and a fine, refreshing finish. The wine will comfortably age for another eight years or more.