Our Favourite Red Wine

Elegant, beautiful, Cabernet. Infinitely approachable! Blackcurrant with a touch of cedar spice and a really stately structure. Only Chile, and possibly South Africa, can producer a Cabernet that tastes so smart at this price.

90% Carmenere (once thought to be Merlot)- and orginally a grape from Bordeaux - this is full bodied, rich and scrumptious, and incredibly classy tasting and good quality for the price. Blackcurrants covered in grated chocolate with an intense core and lovely notes of classic herbaceous notes you find in high quality Bordeaux. This is Chile at its absolute best. Serve at every bbq you ever have!

You just don't expect to get interesting, tasty Pinot Noir aromas and flavours at this price. Rich raspberry and black cherry, dark fruit for Pinot Noir. It's generous and deep with a seductive smokey edge and soupcon of spice. The palate is juicy and fairly full for a Pinot Nior. Effortlessly smooth tannins and a refreshingly low abv make this perfect for long summer evenings in the garden or socially distanced drinks with the neighbours over the front fence.

Spain is undoubtedly the home of great tasting, tongue pleasing red wines and this tempranillo is no exception. Packed full of bramble fruits with a lick of custard and crumble vanilla it’s as delicious as it is great value. Tuck in now and enjoy a bottle immediately!

This is elegant, quite light Burgundy, that's exceptionally easy to drink and lovely and pure. Really nice served chilled. It's made from the Gamay grape. An excellent all-rounder with good, and very nice for mopping up the cheese.

A lovely organic Cabernet from the south of France. It has all of those delicious Cabernet flavours with deep rich bramble fruits and a touch of spice. Generous, but sophisticated.

60% Montepulciano, 40% Sangiovese that is soft, juicy and a perfect party wine. Nothing pretentious here, just a really honest little number from the Polini family. I've drunk it 3 times recently and each time I've been amazed by its warmth, charm, ripe fruit and herbs, and can't quite believe what a bargain it is. If only bottles would come around like this more often. We try so many, and know how hard it to source quality at the price when so much is VAT and duty (£4 on at £10 bottle). Supermarket shelves are full of wines that are beefed up with additives to make it seem like they're worth £10 or £12, but often they're hollow. But this really shines. It has real authenticity and effortless Italian flavours. Bravo!

It's always fun to match the wine to the food of the region the wine is from. In the case of our Bonelli Barbera, you're spoiled for choice. A classic tagliatelle Bolognese would fit the bill very nicely. Or, if you can find a good Italian deli try gramigna (a pasta like an elongated macaroni, unique to Bologna) with a simple sausage, white wine and tomato sauce, sprinkled with blizzard of mature Parmesan.

A firm favourite with Swiggers and with top critics such as Jancis Robinson and Matthew Jukes, this Cape Bordeaux blend might just be the greatest creation since sliced bread. Or at least since the Turkey Feast sandwich. Without doubt one of the best-value South African wines on the market too. The bright, pure fruit has a compelling chocolatey, earthy richness to it. Candied orange dipped in dark chocolate, a hint of menthol and a lovely warm earthiness - think sunbaked earth and terracota pots with juicy autumn blackberries. It would work splendidly with a classic rosemary-studded shoulder of lamb.

From the Badenhorst Team: 'Our Secateurs Red Blend has gone from being Shiraz based to new a blend dominated by Cinsault (82%) [with Shiraz (10%) and Grenache (8%)]. As Adi says: “We’ve turned the Red Blend a bit upside down, actually helemal bollemakiesie. Why? Because Cinsault is a fabulous grape and always a pleasure to drink.'

Rhône meet the Languedoc in this ethereally lovely red blend, Robin’s de facto house red. Think along the lines of a classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape with a soupcon more freshness – a factor of Mas Brunet’s location in windswept limestone plateau of the Terrasses de Larzac.

I wouldn't bat an eyelid if you told me this was a Barolo or Barbaresco at over £20. Gentle fragrant rose, quite pale in colour, a hint of strawberry, fired brick and earth flavours. The best producers are those that handle the grapes gently, which in turn expresses the magic of the terroir and shows Nebbiolo at its almost Pinot Noir - like best. The colour is quite pale, like many Barolo and Barbaresco. The aroma is wonderful with brick, earth, stone, cherry, verging towards a Pinot Noir style, with hints of rose and strawberry but distinctly Italian, nice fresh fruit, floral with fine spices and good grip on the finish, but supple. This is not a big wine, but it's an excellent wine.

The Chateau de Durfort Corbieres vines grow in rocky schist soils in the craggy uplands of Cathar country. The wine has that typical, sumplremely gastronomic combination of ripe, intense spicy fruit flavours, supple, soft, sometimes sweet tannins and a fresh acid core, which makes them irresistible with all the hearty rustic fare of autumn - a rich cassoulet, or meaty slow-cooked ox cheek with garlicky mashed potato - the kind of stuff that makes you feel like Henry VIII.

Most Malbec at this price tastes constructed. Do you know what I mean? When you go to a restaurant and there’s a choice of wines above the house wine that are usually Merlot, Montepulciano, Pinot Noir, Rioja, Malbec, varying from £22 to £32, but they all taste more or less the same, that makes you wish you’d stuck with your aperol spritz.

To find a classy Bordeaux that has hints of all the things we like – sweet berries, cedar and spicy oak, with good body and concentration - at this price is rare. Note that this super-grand Grande Vin comes from the excellent 2016 vintage, which in this case has helped to propel a comparatively modest claret into the realm of Cru Classé. Drink with: rosbif!

"This young, sonorous red has true fruits-of-the-forest notes on both the nose and palate and even though it is a slim, slinky-hipped red it still packed a punch of flavour that many red Burgundies can only dream of. I am often disappointed by fighting-priced Pinot Noir, but this wine is a splendid discovery." MatthewJukes.com (Money Week)

The 2016 is a reminder of how great this wine really is with an incredible complexity and finesse coming from the 50 year old vines. Intense cherry red, with bright blackberries and plums develop into a dark and brooding concoction with hints of spice, tobacco and toffee. The tannins give you a gentle tug and then give way to a smooth and velvety caress on the palate. Simply outstanding value from the region.

From terroir only 15km south of Brunello di Montalcino. Toby Owen has been mentored by top Brunello producer San Polino, and he works with another top producer. He's learned all the secrets and makes beautiful silky, smooth red wine. A blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Sangiovese.

Marylou is the fruitiest and most easy to drink day to day, but the aromas and flavours are wonderful, juicy, strawberry-like.

Being made from considerably more Sangiovese than the previous two blends, it slips down slightly more easily, with a beautiful fragrance and charm, with the faintest waft of herbs and old wood. I could drink it all night long. It's one of my favourite wines for sharing with friends. I cannot recommend this highly enough with a barbeque of mixed meats, fish, and salads.

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot that sees stainless steel and some old oak. Expressive nose - dried currants with soft leather, juicy blackcurrants with blackberries and juniper berries, dried cranberries and some tobacco. Vivacious and ready to drink now.

'The 2016 Family Red Blend is a blend of 71% Shiraz, 13% Grenache, 11% Cinsault and 5% Tinta Barocca. It has a very pure bouquet, quite floral and intense, with dark cherries, black plum, warm gravel and light truffle scents, the 80% whole bunch completely disguised. The palate is medium-bodied with quite grippy tannin. There is good backbone here, quite dense but well defined with a chalky, slight austere finish, partly because Adi now undertakes more aging in concrete. Give this a couple of years in bottle.' Neal Martin, vinous.com

The 2016 is really sensational, the nose is amazing, with beautiful dark fruits, some black olives, a touch of herbs and a touch of fine wood. It has a beautiful juice feel and chewy texture and old world flavours. I love this wine. It tastes so real. I could sip it for ever. It also keeps for several days once opened so you can keep coming back to it, which is a sign of a very good wine.

'Easier to drink than it is to spell, let alone pronounce for a non-Afrikaans speaker, this Tinta Barocca is purchased as grapes from a neighbouring farm. Opaque, tannic and typically spicy, rich and brooding, it has flavours of damson, fig and liquorice and some added texture from 10% stems. 2022-30.' – Tim Atkin SA Special Report 2019, 93/100

A wine with a more than unique history and story. The small village of Tesselaarsdal in the Overberg, 24km North East of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley is named for East India Company settler Johannes Tesselar. On his death in 1810, he bestowed the land to his freed slaves and owner/winemaker Berene herself is a descendant on one of those very slaves. If you look closely at the label, you can make out 2 people walking across the mountain. This is Berene and her Grandmother.

AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW - more stock arriving ready for delivery from 14th July . This is destined to become an Italian first growth, but is stills a wine for those in the know. A Bordeaux blend of Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The pedigree is there in the vineyard. From the next hillside over, you can see Sassicaia’s legendary first vineyard, and Ornellaia, where they make Massetto. Tenuta Sette Cieli also sits above the famous vineyard Ca’Marcanda of Angelo Gaja!. But the best thing is the price remains sane. Now is a great to to buy and drink this wine while it's still a great value. It sits just outside the Bolgheri boundary as when it was drawn no one thought that someone would be crazy enough plant above the woods that are above Gaja’s vineyard. But they have! Had the vineyard been there when the lines were drawn it would very likely have been in the Bolgheri DOC, as the terroir is magnificent, and superior to much of that on the sandy and fertile land as sea level.

'It takes courage to grow Cabernet Sauvignon in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, but Craig Wessels' two sites, both planted in 1999 but with different soil types and exposures, consistently deliver the goods. This is lighter and more forward than the 2015 - it could almost be a Cabernet Franc - with graphite and black cherry flavours and filigree tannins.' 95/100 Tim Atkin MW, timatkin.com (September 2019)

Our Monte Santoccio Amarone has always been a show-stopping wine, but this 2015 vintage has reached such a peak of achingly delicious, elegant, concentrated, complex gorgeousness that we can hardly find the words. And, for us, that’s a rare thing indeed. Perfect with strong cheeses.

This is a sumptuous blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon that deserves to be decanted and slowly adored.

Concentrated, but not overly so, fresh and mineral, with taut compact fruit. The aromas are quite closed, but there is super tight blackcurrant, licorice, savoury wood and garrigue notes and a hint of pepper. The palate is firm but supple.

Italy's finest expression of Syrah. This is gorgeous, classy, old-school in some ways - so that if you like Bordeaux, Rhone and Burgundy, you would enjoy this, yet it expresses the joy of Sicily. The terroir is in Melilli, an extinct volcano - south of Etna - with limestone, marine fossils. Made by wine legend Peter Vinding-Diers.

This is destined to become an Italian first growth, but is stills a wine for those in the know. A wine made from Cabernet Franc, and only in the best years. The pedigree is there in the vineyard. From the next hillside over, you can see Sassicaia’s legendary first vineyard, and Ornellaia, where they make Massetto. Tenuta Sette Cieli also sits above the famous vineyard Ca’Marcanda of Angelo Gaja!. But the best thing is the price remains sane. Now is a great to to buy and drink this wine while it's still a great value. It sits just outside the Bolgheri boundary as when it was drawn no one thought that someone would be crazy enough plant above the woods that are above Gaja’s vineyard. But they have! Had the vineyard been there when the lines were drawn it would very likely have been in the Bolgheri DOC, as the terroir is magnificent, and superior to much of that on the sandy and fertile land as sea level.

One of the most beautiful most sensual wines we've ever drunk. 95pts - top Italian wine in TASTED Journal with Sassicaia. Beautiful vintage for Cupano Brunello. Cocao dusted nose, herbs, gentle deep and round with excellent structure. Fabulous for the cellar though a wine that you can drink now but will be wonderful from around 2016.