Aldi The Exquisite Collection Fleurie, Beaujolais, France 2014
(£6.49, aldi.co.uk)
Brisk and crunchy, and best served slightly chilled, beaujolais is the quintessential summer red for good reason. Aldi’s very pretty version from the Fleurie district adds a touch of floral perfume and lightly grippy tannins to the charcuterie-friendly mix.
Cavit Terrazze Della Luna Teroldego Rotaliano, Trentino, Italy 2013
(£7.95, slurp.co.uk)
A staple of many a good local independent, this light but exuberant red made from the local teroldego variety in northeastern Italy has a vivid dark cherry-berry character and a twist of aniseed bitterness for beef carpaccio and tomatoes.
La Garnacha Salvaje del Moncayo, Spain 2014
(£10.49, majestic.co.uk)
A brilliant barbecue bottle at a great price (if, as ever with Majestic, you buy two bottles, the price reduces to £7.86), this northern Spanish garnacha has a delicious quality of tart plum that gives lift and bite to the sweetly juicy and plump brambly fruit.
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Marks & Spencer Nicosia Etna Rosso 2013
(£10, marksandspencer.com)
This light-coloured, fine-textured mix of ethereal fragrance and dry-herb and sour-cherry flavour is one of the most characterful supermarket wines around, capturing the spirit of Mount Etna and the nerello mascalese grape variety at an unusually good price.
El Castro de Valtuille Mencía Jovén, Bierzo, Spain 2013
(from £11, indigowine.com)
This is the fashionable northwestern Spanish grape mencía at its most effortlessly fragrant and accessible, all juicy red berry fruit and earthy, peppery freshness with the racy tang of cranberries and a twist of cherry pit and paprika bitterness. Perfect with jamon.
Primo de Conti Rouge, Bergerac, France 2012
(£11, marksandspencer.com)
Because it uses the same grape varieties, Bergerac is forever compared to neighbouring Bordeaux. Stylistically, the comparison holds here, but it’s hard to think of a claret of comparable élan at this price, with its perfectly ripe cedary cassis and fresh, mineral finish.
Domaine de la Croix de Chaintres Saumur-Champigny, Loire, France 2014
(£12.79, waitrose.com)
The naturally crisp acidity of Loire cabernet franc makes it an ideal summer wine. But this is more than a thirst quencher – there’s a floral lilt to the perfectly ripe and deep raspberry fruit, a touch of graphite and an air of sappy freshness.
Norman Hardie Prince Edward County Unfiltered Pinot Noir, Canada 2012
(£23, thewinesociety.com)
This is an alluring, pure and graceful pinot noir from a standout producer in the Canadian wine scene. It puts many Kiwi and burgundy bottles to shame with its silky featherlight tannins and succulent but gentle red fruit.
Blank Bottle Familiemoord, South Africa 2014
(£25, swig.co.uk)
The name may be unappetizing (it means “family murder”), but this new-wave South African red, at Swig in July, is delicious, a natural-feeling grenache-cinsault blend with verve, lightness, silkiness and purity. Will appeal to burgundy lovers.
Broc Cellars Vine Starr Zinfandel, California, USA 2013
(£28.95, robersonwine.com)
If you thought zinfandel was all big booming fruit and high alcohol, well, it often is. In the hands of Broc Cellars, it’s closer to the supple red-fruited raciness of top beaujolais, with an utterly beguiling raspberry and loganberry core and a touch of spice.
