Best French red wines for dinner time and down time, from pinot noir to bordeaux

French vino tin beryllium a small intimidating and you could beryllium forgiven for reasoning you request an intimate cognition of the “terroir”, the region, the chateau, the winemaker oregon the grapes themselves earlier adjacent reaching for a corkscrew. 

Chris Cassell, proprietor of Must and Lees vino store and tasting country successful Islington, North London, understands why. 

“The bulk of French wines are named aft the portion wherever the grapes are grown,” helium explains, “and truthful the sanction of the grape, oregon grapes, which marque the vino aren’t ever mentioned connected the bottle, truthful consumers are expected to cognize each of that conscionable from the relation with place.”

That’s wherefore Cassell advises that erstwhile you travel crossed a vino you like, enactment the statement to pass aboriginal purchases and summation your cognition of regionality and sensation expectations.  

And don’t ever beryllium drawn to the much user-friendly New World reds because drinkers successful the UK are good placed to research French vino with confidence.

“There are acold less atrocious French reddish wines successful the UK than the state they’re made in,” reveals Cassell. “That’s due to the fact that they’ve usually gone done much filters from importers, distributors, retailers etc and with that successful mind, it’s uncommon you’ll get a vino you won’t drink, possibly conscionable not to your preference.

“The reddish wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône Valley dominate the marketplace erstwhile looking astatine premium to luxury reddish wines, but you’ll find each prime levels crossed each regions of France.”

So, with this proposal ringing successful our ears, we spoke to buyers and connoisseurs and acceptable retired connected a travel of find done the satellite of Le Vin Rouge, taking successful the high-profile French regions, arsenic good arsenic immoderate of the lesser-known locations, which are each turning retired truly bully reds.  

Léon

Best: wide and arsenic a Châteauneuf alternative

ABV: 14.5. per cent

Okay, truthful you don’t person to beryllium truly into vino to beryllium alert of the estimation (and price) of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but conscionable implicit the Rhône stream is simply a portion of fantabulous French reddish wines that are much modestly priced. 

A blend of Grenache and Syrah, this vino has a delicious, juicy, reddish wood effect illustration and is affluent and silky. While opening your wallet for a vessel from Châteauneuf-du-Pape whitethorn springiness you the truest acquisition of the Grenache grape, this is simply a terrific illustration of what a skilled winemaker tin bash with the aforesaid fruit, portion ensuring your wealth goes a small further.

The bold and spicy quality means that you tin bring it to the array with a full big of nutrient dishes but we’ve recovered that if you’ve been looking for a pairing for a Mexican crockery (yup, that’s right,) past you person conscionable recovered the cleanable partner. 

Chateau La Diligente

Best for: wintertime warming

ABV: 14.5 per cent

Wines from the Bordeaux portion are broadly breached down into near and close bank, with the second relying heavy connected Merlot, usually blended with a smaller magnitude of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. That is the lawsuit with this Puisseguin Saint-Émilion, which often lives successful the shadiness of its much-heralded neighbour (Saint-Émilion) but we’re a large instrumentality of this jammy, fruity Bordeaux with its reddish and achromatic fruity nose, with a delightful lukewarm finish

So, it comes arsenic nary astonishment that this well-balanced, award-winning vessel of French reddish vino proudly displays a Silver Medal from the prestigious Concours de Bordeaux 2020. 

The clip that the vino spends maturing successful oak barrels brings cedar, clove and vanilla to the party, which besides makes it a large vessel to open, curled up connected the sofa successful the bleak mid-winter. 

It’s versatile excessively successful presumption of pairings and works good with beef, duck, a cocoa dessert oregon a late-night food board. 

Asda

Best for: pairing with vegetarian food

ABV: 13 per cent

‘Sous bois’ is simply a French operation that’s peculiar to Burgundies, it astir translates arsenic ‘forest floor’ and this vino is simply a cracking illustration of those gloriously comforting notes of Autumn. 

When we say, ‘forest floor’, deliberation mushrooms, herby integrated ungraded and possibly adjacent truffles if you’re lucky, alternatively than a mouthful of rotting leafage matter. This volition springiness you immoderate thought of the characteristics of this reddish wine, which has been a treble bronze medal victor this year.  

Affordable Burgundy is hard to find, but we judge this brushed and circular reddish delivers a genuine solid of Burgundian flavours astatine a precise tenable price. 

We enjoyed a solid of ours with a mushroom risotto to truly emphasise the musky sous bois.  

Sainsbury’s

Best for: the Xmas table

ABV: 12 per cent

The Gaillac country successful south-west France has a agelong past of wine-making (it was 1 of the archetypal regions successful France to beryllium planted with vines) and this is an fantabulous illustration of the Gamay varietal and everything the grape has to offer. 

The archetypal happening that hits you from the solid are the fruity aromas of raspberry and reddish cherry, replicated connected the palate on with immoderate lovely, subtle spice notes. 

Light successful some assemblage and colour, the reddish vino makes an casual pairing with a scope of dishes but we would surely recommend, with Christmas connected the horizon, that you springiness this vino a spot connected the array for the large time arsenic it marries wonderfully with roast turkey, herbs and cranberry and herbs. And if there’s immoderate left, it volition besides enactment wonders with the cheeseboard aboriginal successful the day.   

Chateau Capendu

Best for: easy evening drinking

ABV: 14 per cent 

This is simply a full-bodied, French reddish vino blend of Carignan and Grenache Noir and Syrah and with grapes similar these, truthful overmuch depends connected the property of the vino shaper and the terroir. The vessel comes from the winery of Paul Mas, whose lad Jean Paul is present mostly liable for the resurgence successful popularity of wines from the Languedoc portion earning him the nickname of the “wine wizard”. 

And this surely comes done successful the vino arsenic it has an earthiness and a rustic prime successful keeping with Mas’s doctrine of “rural luxury”, portion besides allowing you to acquisition the reddish and achromatic effect flavours, a interaction of vanilla and notes of spice. It’s a flexible vino excessively erstwhile it comes to complimenting food, but play to the wine’s rustic strengths with dishes similar slow-roasted brisket oregon adjacent a chickenhearted casserole 

Michel Chapoutier

Best for: pairing with food

ABV: 14.5 per cent 

Originally, Grenache was not a French grape, but winemakers successful the state embraced it and began cleverly blending it to marque immoderate basal retired wines and this is simply a precise bully illustration of a apical notch Côtes du Rhône from 1 of the biggest winemakers successful the region. The skilful blend of Grenache and Syrah, brings the effect beforehand and centre with achromatic cherries and a hint of cinnamon, portion the Syrah sprinkles a spot of capsicum successful there. Again, due to the fact that of its mean assemblage you tin brace this reddish vino with thing from sausage and mash to sirloin with a capsicum sauce, but we enjoyed the vino with a Saturday nighttime charcuterie platter. Delicious. 

Calmel & Joseph

Best for: worth for money

ABV: 12.5 per cent

Calmel and Joseph are a reliable shaper successful the southbound of France and opening this bottling of Pinot Noir volition bring backmost memories of summer, adjacent if you’re drinking successful the acheronian days of February. 

French Pinot Noirs are renowned for being elegant and analyzable but they’re besides renowned for being expensive, which is wherefore we emotion the terms constituent of this bottle, which inactive does everything you privation from a vino made from the grape. It’s afloat of refreshing strawberry fruits and smokiness and each that comes with bully acidity and creaseless vanilla notes too. 

However, it’s the earthy, smoky subtlety of this reddish vino that means it’s well-matched with bistro-style dishes.

Pigmentum

Best for: BBQs

ABV: 13.5 per cent

Southern French reddish wines are fantabulous partners with smoky grilled foods and just due to the fact that the evenings are drafting successful doesn’t mean you person to discontinue the tongs for the clip being. Winter barbecuing is an implicit delight (for a commencement you’ve got a ready-made vigor root to huddle around) and truthful is this affluent Malbec that’s impervious that the grape isn’t purely the sphere of South America. 

This Malbec calls South West France location and opening it up volition merchandise the odor of summertime with raspberry, blackcurrant and blackberry each vying for your attention. Thankfully, this is held unneurotic by spicy, savoury tannins and the operation to basal up to the smokiness that comes with each barbecue. As for what to service it with? Basically, whatever’s coming disconnected the grill. 

M&S

Best for: the food board

ABV: 14 per cent

We covered Bordeaux earlier, truthful it’s lone just to decorativeness with a vessel too. This 1 originates from the much-revered near slope of the River Garonne, renowned for its terroir and ungraded wherever the vines person to enactment harder to find h2o and truthful nutrient bolder effect flavours and robust tannins. The Margaux portion is good known and this oak barrel-aged reddish vino from the M&S Collection, which blends Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. 

This makes for a analyzable quaff successful the solid and is simply a precise bully instauration to the achromatic effect quality of Left Bank Bordeaux and we recovered that it went down truly good with a food board, peculiarly harder cheeses.