92

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.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-29Similar Wines: £15-20, 90-94, Greece, Red
90

2022 Taste the Difference Grüner Veltliner, Traisental

( £11, 12.5%, Sainsbury's )

It always strikes me as something of a coup by Sainsbury’s to get top Austrian winemaker Marks Huber to produce their own-label Grüner Veltliner. Gloriously pure and perfumed, this has classic white pepper and bay leaf aromas, a palate of pear, peach and green apple, some extra texture from three months on lees in tank and plenty of racy, crunchy acidity. A delicious summer white.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-28Similar Wines: £10-15, 90-94, Austria, White, Grüner Veltliner
90

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.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-28Similar Wines: £10-15, 90-94, South Africa, Red, Cinsault
90

2022 Taste the Difference Côtes du Rhône White, Rhône Valley

( £9, 12.5%, Sainbury's )

Who needs to age a white wine in oak when it has as much flavour as this southern Rhône blend of Grenache Blanc, 20% Viognier, 12% Roussanne and 10% Marsanne? Honeysuckle, jasmine and ginger aromas segue into a palate that’s light, zesty and refreshing, with peach, lemongrass and wild mountain herb flavours and a bright, appealingly tangy finish.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-27Similar Wines: £5-£10, 90-94, France, White, Grenache Bland, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier
92

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.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-30Similar Wines: 90-94, Red, Syrah
91

2021 M&S Found Saperavi, Kakheti

( £10, 13%, Marks & Spencer )

If Saperavi were French, it would be one of the world’s most famous red grapes. Instead, Georgia’s premium variety remains something of a secret to most UK wine drinkers. This tasty, toothsome example, sold under Marks & Spencer’s very good Found range, comes from the premium region of Kakheti, where the limestone soils always seem to give the wines a chalky frisson. Plum and damson fruit flavours are supported by protein-friendly tannins and racy acidity.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-30Similar Wines: £5-£10, 90-94, Georgia, Red, Saperavi
91

2022 Juan Gil Monastrell, Jumilla

( £13, 14.5%, Aitken Wines, Cheers Wine Merchants, D. Byrne, Noel Young, Premier Cru Wine Merchants, The Battleship, The Bottleshop, Vin Neuf )

Thanks to its preponderance of old vines and a new generation of winemakers, Jumilla is becoming one of Spain’s most talked about regions. This is an understated, sensitively wooded, organically farmed Monastrell from Familia Gil with lots of sweet spices, red berry, bramble and raspberry fruit and plenty of supporting acidity from its high-altitude terroir at 700 metres. Great value from the Castilla a Mancha.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-29Similar Wines: £10-15, 90-94, Spain, Red
91

2021 Umani Ronchi Fonte del Re Lacrima di Morro d'Alba, Marche

( £15.50, 13%, Tesco )

Made with the comparatively rare Lagrima di Morro d’Alba grape, this unwooded Adriatic red is one of the hidden jewels in the sprawling Tesco range. Close your eyes and you could almost be smelling a white wine, as aromas of ginger and Turkish Delight waft from the glass. The palate puts you right, though, as it combines plum and black cherry fruit with plenty of underlying grip and acidity. A perfect wine with a plate of fresh pasta.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-29Similar Wines: £15-20, 90-94, Italy, Red, Lacrima
93

2021 Alta Vista Terroir Selection Malbec, Mendoza

( £15, 14.5%, Sainsbury's )

On offer at Sainsbury’s right now, this is an outstanding value Malbec from one of the country’s best producers. Blending grapes from the Luján de Cuyo and Uco Valley sub-regions of Mendoza, it’s full-bodied, plush, yet remarkably fresh and layered, with aromas of violet and aniseed, sculpted tannins, plum and blueberry fruit and a frame of scented, spicy oak. Good now, but will develop further in bottle.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-32Similar Wines: £15-20, 90-94, Argentina, Red, Malbec
90

2020 Tesco Finest Peumo Carmenère, Peumo, Cachapoal Valley

( £8.50, 14%, Tesco )

Something of a bargain within the Tesco range, this is a plush, engagingly scented Carmenère from Peumo, considered one of the best regions for the grape in Chile. Judiciously blend with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s appealingly unwooded, with flavours of rocket, dark chocolate and green pepper, supple tannins and enough acidity to freshen the finish.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-30Similar Wines: £5-£10, 90-94, Chile, Red, Carmenère
92

2022 Guímaro Tinto, Ribeira Sacra, Galicia

( £17.33, 12.5%, Joseph Barnes Direct. Shrine to the Vine, Les Caves de Pyrene, Tivoli Wines )

Blending components from the steep-sided Sil and Miño Valleys, this wonderfully gluggable, organically farmed  red is based on Mencía with bits and pieces of other co-planted grapes, according to Pedro Rodríguez. Engagingly intense and floral, it’s a white wine drinker’s red in some ways, with lots of zip and acidity, violet and rose petal aromas, refined tannins and layers of raspberry, pomegranate and wild strawberry. Drink lightly chilled.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-29Similar Wines: £15-20, 90-94, Spain, Red, Mencia
92

2019 I Ciacca Nostalgia Maturano, Val di Comino, Lazio

( £28.68, 12%, Shelved Wine )

Something a little different this week. Maturano, not to be confused with Spanish Maturana Blanca, is a new Italian white grape variety to me. Sourced from vines at 600 metres inside a national park between Rome and Naples, it’s very much a southern style, with some appealing bottle age adding complexity. Lees fermented and aged in concrete, it’s appealingly unwooded, with musky, baking spice aromas, a palate of pear, honey and orange zest, some underlying, food-friendly grip and much more acidity than you think on first acquaintance.

BuyDrinking window: 2024-26Similar Wines: £25-30, 90-94, Italy, White, Maturano