If you ever needed a reason to sip a ruby red under blue skies, summertime menus give as much star billing to dark fruits as they do whites and rosés.
Think abundant summery salads, big, bold BBQ flavours and warm weather staples such as summertime spaghetti – and a smattering of ripe berry fruit polishes everything off nicely.
From fun fruit bombs to serve lightly chilled, to smooth, gutsy styles, here’s what’s on our red radar…
1. M&S Found Zweigelt 2021, Austria, £8.50, Marks & Spencer, in-store
Austria’s A-list red grape is a jammy thirst quencher when it’s chilled down. Juicy, bright and packed with cherries and plums, this unoaked red offers a joyous glass – and great match with grilled veggie pizzas or mushrooms and mixed grain salads with its fruity, refreshing finish.
2. Dynamite Factory Shiraz 2021, WO Cape Coast, South Africa, £9, Sainsbury’s
Expressive, ripe and rounded, the smooth tannins on this spicy shiraz roll beautifully with beef burgers or spicy bangers and slaw. Well cushioned, florals and smoky undertones precede a velvety palate of plum and blackberry flavours with lingering sweet spice and twist of pepper on the finish.
3. Santa Tresa Frappato Rina Russa 2022, Terre Siciliane IGP, Italy, £10.99, Waitrose
Red wine with fish I hear you cry? Yes, especially this sun-kissed Sicilian which washes down like a dream with grilled tuna steaks; and great accompaniment to seafood spaghetti with marinara sauce. Pop it in the fridge an hour before opening and the aromas and flavours laced with soft summer fruits become more focused and expressive. Smooth, light and very lovely.
4. Leyda Reserva Pinot Noir 2020, DO Valle De Leyda, Chile, £12.50, Ocado
A plush pinot with all the silkiness you’d expect from this variety – naturally low in tannins, they lend themselves beautifully to an ice bucket to accentuate the freshness. With attractive aromas of strawberries, raspberries and herbal notes, it’s fruity and fresh with a savoury, smoky edge to the summer fruits. One for smoked meats and pork chops.
5. Berry Bros & Rudd Good Ordinary Claret 2020, Limited Edition Label, Bordeaux, France, £12.95, Berry Bros & Rudd
A plump Bordeaux from a warm vintage is a natural bedfellow with summer Sunday roasts. Merlot dominant and artfully balanced, brambly, hedgerow fruits and cedar wood lead to a forest floor of fruits with black cherries, blackberries, cedar and allspice coming into play on the palate, with velvety smooth tannins and lingering finish. A limited edition marking Berry’s 325th celebrations, it’s one to snap up now with lots of easy drinking appeal.
6. 14/27 Agiorgitiko 2019, Nemea, Greece, £15.99, Laithwaites
A game-changing Greek red, this really is your go-to with a Greek salad to chime with olives, red onions, feta cheese, aubergine and a warm, rustic loaf. Silky smooth with bright berry fruits and soft spice on the nose, there’s a real freshness to the ripe red fruit flavours with hints of vanilla on the long, plummy, slightly dry (in a good way) finish.
