Grassy, elegant and perfumed, this is a lighter style of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, showing notes of graphite, mint and green pepper and refreshing acidity supported by fine tannins. Not a wine to keep, but enjoyable to drink over the next couple of years.
Wine Type: Red
2011 Falua, Terius, Touriga Nacional, Tejo
( £8, 13.5%, Marks & Spencer )The Tejo is not the first place you’d go in search of Touriga Nacional (a grape that’s more often associated with the Douro and Dão), but this is excellent value and packs a real punch at the price. Full bodied, firm and concentrated, it’s floral and perfumed with appealing balckberry fruit and good underlying structure, relying on fruit rather than oak for its appeal.
2013 La Bodega de los Altos Andes Malbec, Mendoza
( £4.99, 13.5%, Morrisons )Excellent value at less than a fiver, this is a savoury, peppery Mendoza Malbec with good acidity, no obvious oak and attractive plum and bramble fruit. Ligther fresher and – crucially – drier than many commercial Argentinean reds.
2011 Mas Cal Demoura, L'Infidèle, Languedoc-Roussillon
( £19.90, 14%, Cambridge Wine Merchants, I'Anson Wines )A blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan and Cinsault from one of the best terroirs in the Languedoc region of southern France, this is a very stylish wine with a minty edge to it. Smooth, subtle and complex, with refined tannins, sweet blackberry and bramble fruit, subtle oak and refreshing acidity. Balanced, nuanced winemaking.
2008 Wynns, Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, South Australia
( £15.99, 14%, Waitrose )Sue Hodder is one of the best winemakers in Australia and bestrides the Coonawarra region with the quality of her reds. This, the 53rd vintage release of Black Label, more than lives up to the example of its predecessors. It’s sillky, elegant and low-key with cool climate finesse, filigree tannins and stylish plum and blackcurrant fruit. The acidity drives the wine here.
2012 Neudorf, Moutere Pinot Noir, Nelson
( N/A, 13.5% )Consistently among the top three Pinots in Nelson, the Finns’ best cuvée comes from the famous Moutere clays and tends to be quite a structured red, showing more tannin than many Kiwi Pinots, as well as backbone and acidity. It’s a thinking person’s Pinot that needs food to show at its best. Ambitious, cherrystone, pomegranate and raspberry fruit with a firm finish.
2012 Kusuda, Pinot Noir, Martinborough
( N/A, 13.5%, Hallowed Ground )Is this New Zealand’s best Pinot Noir? It’s certainly in the top half dozen examples of the grape, a wine that nods towards Chambolle-Musigny as much as its native North Island. It’s a subtle, fragrant red with silky tannins, sustaining acidity, chalky minerality and a stylishly judged balance of oak, fruit and tannin. Winemaking of a high order.
2011 Gandolini, Cabernet Sauvignon, Las 3 Marias, Maipo Andes, Maipo Andes, Maipo Valley
( £25, 14%, The Wine Society )This impressive Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the foothills of the Andes rather than the flatter expanses of the Maipo Valley and it shows in the quality and definition of the wine. It’s a dense, compact, ageworthy red with rich flavours of plum, cassis and blackberry, sweet, toasty oak, structured tannins and excellent concentration. Built to last, it should develop further complexity over the next five to eight years.
2012 The Society's Corbières, Corbières, Languedoc-Roussillon
( £7.25, 14%, The Wine Society )You can find cheaper Corbières on the market, some of which will challenge your dental enamel, but this delivers plenty of wine at the price. Sourced from Château Ollieux Romanis, it’s a youthful, wild herb-scented red with the accent squarely on fruit rather than oak. Juicy, bouncy and bright, it’s just the thing for a summer (or late spring) barbecue.
2008 Domaine Bessa Valley, Enira Reserva, Bessa Valley
( £17.95, 14.5%, Salisbury Wine Shop, The Fine Wine Company )It’s a real pleasure to see such impressive wines emerging from Bulgaria, a country that has lost its way over the last 20 years, but is now back on the right path. This wine is the flag bearer of the new wave. It’s a blend of Merlot, Petit Verdot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, made by a group of owners that includes Stephan von Neipperg of Château Canon La Gaffelière, and it has a smooth, international feel to it. Minty, fruit sweet and stylishly oaked, it combines flavours of cassis, fruitcake and red berries with a sheen of vanilla oak. Good now, but will age for another five years with ease.
2010 Lindes de Remelluri, Viñedos de Labastida, Rioja
( £16.99, 13.5%, Davis Bell McCraith )Things have changed for the better, now that Telmo Rodriguez is back at Remelluri, one of Rioja’s first estates. This is a more forward expression of Tempranillo than the bodega’s more expensive releases, with bags of bright, brambly, red berry fruit, medium weight tannins and a sweet, succulent finish that emphasises gluggability.
2012 Celler de Capçanes, Peraj Ha'abib, Montsant
( £25.95, 14.5% )This is a complex blend of old vine Garnacha with Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan (Samsó) from one of the best cooperatives in Spain. Think of it as a mini-Priorat, but at a slightly lower price. Plum, spice and chocolate-like flavours are appealingly intertwined here, with the Cabernet adding some leafy freshness to the herbal, earthy Mediterranean flavours. The minerality and the acidity keep the wine fresh, despite its comparatively high alcohol.