Wines of the week: 9 warming reds for January
Instead of abstaining, says Terry Kirby, take a few days off the booze, but then find comfort away from this dreary month with modestly priced bottles
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Your support makes all the difference.Ah, welcome to January. Not always the greatest month: all a bit hungover from the festive season – in many ways – aren’t we? Weather a bit grim, bank balances even grimmer.
Thus it’s the last time I want to think about going on a detox or abstaining for a whole month. A few days off the drink? Yes, of course. Moderate our consumption? Obviously. But right now, I need comforting, simple food after all that gorging, and soothing, modestly priced red wines to warm me up and keep me going until, er, the joy that is February.
And in our red wines, we are looking for full bodied, uncomplicated bottles, made from the grapes which make up the classic blends of Bordeaux and southern France: various combinations of syrah, cabernet sauvignon, mourvedre and grenache, with perhaps a little merlot and carignan as well; grapes that deliver warmth and gentle spice in abundance.
The blend typical of the Rhone valley is grenache, syrah and mourvedre and the very user-friendly and well-priced Calvet Heritage Cotes du Rhone Villages 2017 (£7.50 at Ocado) is a typical, toothsome, easy drinking, succulent wine, ideal with a midweek baked pasta. When carignan replaces mourvedre, the wine takes on even spicier edge, such as in the fuller bodied, robust Domaine du Meynarde, Plan de Dieu Cotes du Rhone Villages 2016 (£10.00 from M&S), which works well with any robust food, such as vegetable tagines or hard cheeses.
Syrah, or shiraz as its known through most of the New World, has a reputation for ripely voluptuous, violet, pepper and blackberry flavoured reds, particularly in Australia. A somewhat softer, fruitier version is the Mt Benson Shiraz 2017 (£10.00 from M&S) from South Australia’s Limestone Coast, which shows that the more subtle approach pays rewards.
Grenache is also a fabulous grape in its own right: Rendez-vous Rouge, Domaine Riere Cadene (£10.80 from Genesis Wines) is packed with smooth, plummy, blueberry flavours. It gives a warm reminder of summer from the Cotes du Catalanes near the Pyrenees in southern France and is at its best with tomato based vegetable dishes or paella. In Sardinia, grenache is called cannonau and the Cantina Mesa Primo Scuro Mesa Cannonau di Sardegna 2016 (£11.39 from Rannoch Scott) while being at the top end of our budget this week is a lovely, rounded, soft wine, full of ripe red fruits and suffused with Mediterranean warmth. Weightier than the French wine, you might want to pair it with braised rabbit, some wild boar sausages or a mushroom risotto. I can just see those scrub covered slopes and a twinkling blue sea in the distance.
In Bordeaux, cabernet sauvignon and merlot combine to typically excellent effect in this incredibly well priced Chateau Vieira AOC Bordeaux 2006 (£11.95 at From Vineyards Direct). It is velvety and well balanced, with plenty of fresh red fruits, despite some decent ageing – and it’s proof that you don’t have to go for the big names to find great claret.
Meanwhile, a bottle that brings New World boisterousness to the blend of shiraz and cabernet is this robust, rich, spicy Boschendal Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (£10.49 at Waitrose; and Ocado) from South Africa, which will certainly keep the cold out, particularly if matched with a venison casserole.
Nipping across the southern Atlantic to Chile’s Maipo Valley, the Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2014 (£11.99 from Virgin Wines) is an even bigger and beefier 100 per cent cabernet sauvignon with flavours of sweet spices, vanilla, ripe red fruits and a touch of tar and tobacco, but remaining juicy and accessible. Cottage or shepherds pie or a really big steak here, I think...
South America also instantly means Malbec and the connection here is that the grape was once an essential part of Bordeaux blends but was hit by a serious frost in 1956. It was long out of fashion until revived in Argentina, which just found the right combination of soils, altitude and climate to produce fabulous wines at all prices, such as the El Tesoro Mendoza Malbec (£8.94 at Quantock Abbey; £8.99 at Ocado). More succulent, full bodied, warm spicy fruit flavours and ideal for pizza or pasta with meatballs.
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