The lighter end of the red wine spectrum. Pinot Noir is the archetype – light but (when it’s good) full of perfume and juicy magic. Beaujolais, Chianti, País, Crozes-Hermitage, Cinsault, lighter Merlot and Valpolicella all fit this bill.
What to drink them with? All kinds. The light body means they don’t overwhelm more delicate dishes but most can prove refreshing with heartier flavours too. Options range from tuna steaks, game pie, brie-style cheese, mushroom risotto, pheasant casserole, charcuterie, lamb kebabs, beef teriyaki, Spaghetti Bolognese.
Find out more about matching food to these wines and the key wine styles in this category. Meanwhile, below are our top tips in the Feeling Fruity category.
Tolpuddle Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022, Coal River, Tasmania, 13.5% (c £65-85, Momentum Wines, Hedonism, Vincognito or internationally via Winesearcher) 'Give us a tasting featuring fine wines from around the world - and make it interesting.' That was the brief. So I headed over to Portugal with a spring...
Lyme Bay Pinot Noir 2020, 12.5%, England (from £27.99, Lyme Bay website & cellar door, Amps Fine Wines, Fareham Cellars, Tivoli, Elizabeth Rose, Wickham Wines etc) When we put this tip out via social media, someone responded along the lines of: all English Pinots taste like battery...
Feudo di Santa Tresa 'Rina Russa' Frappato 2019, 13%, Sicily, Italy (from £8.99, The Wine Society, Ocado, Vintage Roots) This is a juicy, upbeat, lighter-bodied red perfect for autumn or spring drinking. It's also amazing value for money – plus it’s organic and suitable for vegans. On the back...
Bride Valley Pinot Noir 2018, Dorset, England, 12% (£21.50, Bride Valley) This is a sprightly, elegant red with a spring in its step, a joie de vivre and a youthful charm, all of which captures something of its proprietor, Steven Spurrier, who recently died aged 79. His passing...
Hacienda San Juan Pinot Noir 2015, San Antonio, Chile, 13.5% ($34, Vinos del Rey (Miami) and Crescent Inc (NY)) Freshness. Elegance. Complexity. That's what the best wines from San Antonio can give you. This coastal region is a relative newcomer in Chilean wine terms but right from the...
Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir 2018, Waipara, New Zealand 13.5% (£26.50, North and South Wines, Saxtys Wines, Must Wines, The Wine Reserve) February has proved a bleak month for those in lockdown in the UK but it was brightened somewhat by New Zealand Winegrowers holding its first ever...
Eyrie Original Vines Pinot Noir 2016, Dundee Hills, Oregon 14% (£80-90, Savage Selection) This was a lockdown wine to remember. And remember we did, because we only had about 100ml of the stuff (whole bottles tend to interfere with memory, we find). That's because this wine was part of...
Clusel Roch Traboules 2017, Coteaux Lyonnais, France (£12.67, Justerini & Brooks) Clusel Roch is an excellent producer best known for its excellent northern Rhône reds, including some delicious Côte Rôties. This Traboules is an intriguing and utterly delicious oddity. It's from the south of the little-known Lyonnais appellation, not...
Passo Mastro Frappato Syrah Terre Siciliane 2018, 14%, Italy (£6.99, Lidl, *from 21st November 2019) This cheery, upbeat Italian red is a blend of Frappato with Syrah from Sicily. It was one of the better value wines on show among the 30-odd Lidl wines at this tasting – though...
Louis Guntrum Pinot Noir 2017, 13.5%, Rheinhessen, Germany (£13.99 down to £10.49 until 16.7.2019, Waitrose Cellar) Is Pinot Noir the wine lover's ultimate grape? And, if so, where do you find great value bottles of the same? A short while ago, I posed these questions on social media. In answer...
Nivola Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro NV, 10.5%, Italy (£11.99 on mix 6 until 22nd April, then £9.99 until 29th April 2019, Majestic) Lambrusco is having a moment. This brilliant wine shows why. It’s hard to know what to do with sparkling red. But the Italians are resourceful, and...
The BIB Wine Co Straka Blaufränkisch 2017, Burgenland, Austria £33.50 per 2.25-litre box (bottle equivalent = £10.05 per 75 cl) The BIB Wine Co What's that famous saying about middle age? It's when your broad mind and narrow waist begin to change places. Wine lovers (and producers) aren't...
Errázuriz Aconcagua Costa Pinot Noir 2016, Chile, 13.5% (£15.50-17, indies inc Stone Vine & Sun, Ocado, Oxford Wine Co, Eton Vintners) Last night at the Lanesborough Hotel in London, Eduardo Chadwick was officially crowned Decanter Man of the Year 2018. It was a typically showy, enjoyable occasion -...
Domaine Takahiko Pinot Noir 2016, 11.5%, Hokkaido (Peter, 6/10, Feb 2018) One of the brilliant things about wine is its capacity to surprise and delight you. This sprightly, funky Pinot Noir grown on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido by Takahiko Soga, a Pinot fanatic, was a...
Most Wanted Pinot Noir 2016, New Zealand (£8.25-9, Sainsbury's) I have an admission to make. Peter Gordon is one of my all-time favourite chefs. I used to pore over his recipe books as if they were gospel. And his particular brand of inspired fusion food...
The Society's Exhibition Chianti Classico 2013, 14%, Italy (£11.50, The Wine Society) We know all too well from our ongoing Saturday Kitchen wine hunts how tough it is finding great value wine at around the £10 mark. Our value antennae are constantly finely calibrated as a result. So it was...
Arboleda Pinot Noir 2016, 13.5%, Chile (£18-20 for the 2015, Loki, Surrey Wine Cellar, Bonafide Wines or globally via Wine Searcher) Arboleda is the sister brand to the better known Errázuriz label, which are both based out of the Aconcagua Valley north of Chilean capital Santiago. And, just...
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 2014, France (On very limited release from Corney & Barrow: £2,475 / case of 3 bottles in bond, £825 / case of 1 bottle in bond, £1,660 / case of 1 magnum in bond) As the frenzied excitement of the Burgundy 2015...
Meerlust Pinot Noir 2016, South Africa (£17-22, 2015 vintage currently at The Wine Society, Four Walls, Hedonism or via WineSearcher) I remember my first visit to Meerlust, back in 2003. Over a very convivial lunch with gravel-voiced owner Hannes Myburgh, a fair old quantity of his fine Pinot Noir...
Domaine Jean Grivot Nuits-St-Georges 2015, 1er Cru Les Boudots (£660 per 6-bottle case, in bond, Goedhuis, Justerini & Brooks) Although the price of the Grivot wines this vintage veers into eye-watering territory, the quality remains unparalleled. I particularly like this Nuits for its gamey depth of flavour, allied...
Domaine Jacques Rouzé Reuilly Rouge Pinot Noir 2014, France (£130 per case, Lupton Wines) It's rare to find a wine region described as somewhere 'Jeremy Corbyn would buy his Y-fronts', or a winemaker 'who makes Jeff Capes look like John Inman'. But then not every wine merchant is like...
Bienbebido Queso Tempranillo Vintae 2013, 14.5%, Spain (from £6.99, Majestic) This Bienbebido is a fantastic value, really satisfying red which I matched with Korean grilled beef short ribs by Jordan Bourke on Saturday Kitchen. I do like a wine that doesn't take itself too seriously. This bottle is a prime...
Morandé One to One old vines País 2015, 12.5%, Chile (£6.99 when you buy 6+ bottles or £8.99 per single bottle, Majestic) Sometimes wine can be just a bit too serious. That's why we all need a good healthy dose of a wine like this Morandé old vines...
Chavy-Chouet Bourgogne Rouge La Taupe 2014, 12.5% (£30 for a magnum (150 cl), Marks & Spencer or via Wine Searcher in different formats) Looking ahead to autumn and the festive period can be dismaying. Planning the wine menu, on the other hand, proves remarkably uplifting. Take this wine....
Bouchard Aîné & Fils Pinot Noir 2014, France (£6, Sainsbury's or use Wine Searcher) It's rare to find a decent Pinot Noir* under a tenner. So for £6 this Bouchard Aîné & Fils Pinot Noir is a rare bargain. I featured it on Saturday Kitchen as an accompaniment to a...
Guaspari Vista do Chá Syrah 2012, Brazil, 14% (£56.50, Hedonism (UK) - US$ 47.27 Baccos, Vino Mundi (Brazil)) A wine from off the radar. I first tried this ground-breaking red when I visited Brazil earlier this year, in the company of renowned local wine journalist Jorge Lucki....
Wine Atlas St Chinian 2013, France (£5.79, Asda) A really savoury and serious red for the price level. This was my Saturday Kitchen choice to match Rosie Birkett’s carpaccio with panzanella – not an easy job but this wine really brought out the Mediterranean feel of the...
Toscana Rosso IGT 2014, Italy, 12% (£4.50, Tesco) This easy-going, food-friendly red is quite simply one of the best value reds we've come across in quite a while. Snap it up! Susie recommended this on Saturday Kitchen to go with rack of lamb with gnocchi and Provençal...
Gusbourne Pinot Noir Boot Hill Vineyard 2014, England, 11.5% (£22-23, Honest Grapes, Hennings, Buon Vino) The recent English Wine Producers tasting is an annual event that gets palpably more exciting and delicious every year. There were far too many exciting wines to be able to recommend them...
Thymiopoulos Xinomavro 2012, Greece, 13.5% (£10.50, Marks & Spencer) We are huge fans of Greek wine and this is a brilliant buy. I recommended it on Saturday Kitchen to a typically inventive dish by chef Michael O'Hare (of The Man Behind the Curtain in Leeds) but which...
Beefsteak Club Malbec 2015, Argentina, 13% (£8.79, Waitrose) At the Waitrose spring wine tasting there were plenty of wines I could have recommended but the sun was shining as I headed home and the idea of a weekend BBQ more than a little tempting. With this in mind,...
Taste the Difference Barbera d'Asti 2014, Italy, 14% (£8, Sainsbury's) So Italian - full of the fragrance of cherries and wild herbs, very stylish too. I matched this on Saturday Kitchen to pasta dish by Joe Hurd which incorporated nduja (spicy sausage) and tomato sauce. Show co-host Gennaro...
Jean Bouchard Hautes Cotes de Nuits red 2013, 12.5% (£9.99, Aldi online) The first duty of wine - whatever its colour - is to be refreshing. Gastronomic. Uplifting, if you like. Here's a red that does just that - and at a very fair, albeit not bargain...