Wine of the week: Monfil Garnacha 2020

I came across this exuberant garnacha when I was tasting wine at Lea & Sandeman in Notting Hill the other day and it struck me as the most incredible bargain at £8.95 (or £8.25 if you’re buying a case).

It’s packed with super-ripe black cherry fruit but not overjammy or alcoholic (garnacha - or grenache as it’s called in France and elsewhere - often tops 14.5% but this is only 13.5%). And it has a surprisingly dry finish.

It comes from the Cariñena region of Spain which is one of the country's oldest wine regions but is made very much in the modern Spanish style.

It would be brilliant with a barbecue, especially with pork ribs and also with chorizo - anything meaty, basically. I’d also be inclined to pop it in the fridge for half an hour before drinking it.

If you’re ordering from Lea & Sandeman you might also want to pick up a few bottles of their Felix Rosé (12.5%) which was flying off the shelves when I was in there. It’s less delicate, pale and creamy than Provence rosé but hugely drinkable and again great for a barbecue.

Terrenal Garnacha

Marks & Spencer might not be the first place you think of looking for a wine bargain but their Terrenal garnacha from the Cariñena region of Spain is an absolute steal.

Garnacha is the same grape - and the Spanish word for - grenache so you’d expect a big generous lipsmacking red and you certainly get one. It’s the sort of wine to crack open with a pizza or a hearty spag bol. Or a burger - it’s pretty versatile.

The best food pairings for grenache

My only thing against it is that it doesn’t come from a specific vintage - my concern being you might get a bottle that’s a bit tired - but at that price I doubt it will hang around long enough to deteriorate

At the moment it’s only available in store though you can apparently order it from Ocado with whom M & S has a new partnership (though that has apparently made getting a delivery slot even harder!)

Asda has a very similar Old Vine Garnacha Cariñena from the same region at the same price in its Extra Special range. I don’t think it’s quite as good as the M & S blend but hard to complain at the price.

Wine of the week: Tesco finest McLaren Vale GSM 2015

If you’re mystified by the initials GSM they stand for grenache, syrah and mourvèdre, three Rhône grape varieties which are often blended together in Australia to make generous hearty reds.

As an added bonus this one is made by one of South Australia’s most talented and idiosyncratic winemakers Chester Osborn of D’Arenberg which makes even the full price of £8 a bargain and the current discounted price (25% off until 18/9 if you’re buying groceries from tesco.com), an absolute steal - much better value than the Barossa Shiraz and Coonawarra Cabernet from the same range)

What would you drink it with? Same sort of things as shiraz - a nicely-charred steak, a late summer barbecue, a good homemade burger and a Sunday roast would all work well. I’d even put away some for the Christmas turkey …

Another wine I’d pick up while you’re at is is the 2016 Hans Baer Pinot Noir - yet another cracking German red* which is on offer at £6 (so £4.50 on this promotion) Perfect (lightly chilled) if you like lighter reds, with seared salmon or tuna for instance.

*remember the Black Star a couple of weeks ago?

Wine of the week: El Bombero Gran Reserva 2009 Carinena

If I saw this wine on a supermarket shelf I wouldn’t pick it up. There’s the name for a start, which sounds like something a marketing department has invented

The old fashioned red and gold label and the fact it’s not a rioja wouldn’t do much for me either.

It also comes from Laithwaite’s, a retailer which has never overly impressed me with its range or pricing

But I’d be wrong. This is a cracking bottle of wine made from garnacha (aka grenache) from the far less fashionable Cariñena region. Despite its age it’s still gorgeously plummy and at £8.99 an absolute steal for a gran reserva which has to be aged for at least 5 years. It’s the perfect wine for a traditional Sunday roast beef (or lamb) lunch and would make any rioja-lovers in the family very happy.

The only thing I’d say is that the advice on the label ‘drink by December 2017’ might be a tad over-optimistic given most domestic storage conditions - I’d be inclined to drink it by Christmas - or the new year, at the latest. Also I’m not sure you need to decant it as they advise. It was pretty good poured straight from the bottle.

Laithwaite’s by the way has just been nominated Merchant of the Year and Online Retailer of the Year by the International Wine Challenge so maybe I’m wrong on that front too. But if you do buy some of the El Bombero beware pushy follow up invitations to buy ‘half price’ mixed cases. And I tried another couple of wines in their range by which I was much less impressed.

PS The other wine I was thinking of making my wine of the week - and might have done if I hadn’t featured them last week is the Charles de Fère Brut Premium Vin Mousseux which is currently on offer at M & S at just £7. It’s a really attractive soft sparkling wine which looks very much like champagne at a casual glance. Perfect for weddings it struck me, if you want an alternative to prosecco.