Cono Sur makes a greater range of good Pinot Noirs than any other producer in the world, offering impressive value for money in the process. Like the bodega’s other higher end wines, 20 Barrels is now sourced from coastal San Antonio rather than the Casablanca Valley. Aged in a combination of foudres and partially new oak barrels, this is sappy, bight and well structured, with plum, black cherry and rasperry fruit flavours and a sheen of vanilla spice. Hard to beat under £20.
Wine Type: Red
2021 Marques de Borba Vinhas Velhas, Alentejo
( £12.99, 14.5%, Majestic )It’s good to see João Maria Ramos working alongside his father João Portugal, one of the leading lights of the Alentejo region, these days. The pair have made a very tasty old-vine blend in 2021, partnering Alicante Bouschet, 20% Aragonez (aka Tempranillo) and 15% each of Castelão and Syrah. Intense, grippy and full-bodied, it’s just the thing for a cold November evening, preferably accompanied by a good stew. Spicy, muscular and intense, with aromas of spicy oak, thyme and liquorice and a core of damson, fig and blackberry fruit.
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.
2021 Santa Tresa Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Sicily
( £11.50, 14%, The Wine Society )Cerasuolo di Vittoria often tastes as if its comes from a cooler place than the south-east corner of Sicily. This one from Santa Tresa is fuller bodied than some examples of the DOCG thanks to partial raisining on the vine, but retains the freshness and perfume that are so distinctive. Pairing Nero d’Avola and brighter, more charming Frappato, it has red cherry, plum and wild Meditteranean herb flavours, savoury tannins and a refreshing finish.
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.
2023 Gérard Bertrand Le Chouchou, Vin de France, Vin de France
( £12.99, 11% , Waitrose )So pale it could almost be sold as a rosé, this is a perfect end-of-summer red from Gérard Bertrand, something to serve straight from the fridge. Made with an unoaked combination of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault from the Languedoc, but sold as more lowly Vin de France, this is juicy, floral and lipsmackingly fresh, with flavours of pomegranate, raspberry and red cherry, subtle tannins, plenty of acidity and a twist of clove spice. Lots of fun.
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.
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.
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.
2021 Sierra de Toloño La Dula Garnacha, Rioja
( £21.95, 14%, Lea & Sandeman )This is the fourth vintage of Sandra Bravo’s brilliant, cool climate old-vine Garnacha from Rivas de Tereso in the high part of the Rioja Alta sub-region and it’s every bit as good as its predecessors. Aged in 300-litre clay amphoras, it’s wonderfully perfumed and intense, with engaging bramble and red cherry fruit sweetness, fine tannins and a long, energetic palate. A majestic expression of the wonderful 2021 vintage.