 is nudging them into a different price bracket. Meanwhile the devaluation of the pound against the dollar is yet to make itself felt but, if it continues it could shift the price of wines from the American continent next year. This is significant. As Miles Beale of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association has pointed out, 'One fifth of all bulk wine imported and bottled here is US wine.' We also enjoy a lot of well-priced malbec from Argentina and wines of all kinds from Chile. So here is the action plan for finding value in red wines this season... 1. If you enjoy the warmth and gentle dried herb perfume of Côtes du Rhône and Ventoux blends, seek out the more sumptuous 2020 wines, as the wines from 2021 are generally not as generously upholstered. Château Pesquié Edition 1912m 2020 Ventoux, France (Majestic, £12.99/£10.99 on the mixed six deal, available from early November), is a blend of 70 per cent grenache with syrah and a small amount of carignan that comes highly recommended at the mixed-six price. 2. Consider a switch from village Rhône appellations like Cairanne or Vacqueyras to one of the finer wines being made in the Languedoc, where winemakers are pushing the boundaries on quality without necessarily acquiring the cachet to charge as much as they might. Appellations such as Fitou, best kn){kind=link}
In general, £10 is fast becoming the new £8 but, of course, it’s complicated with wine
If you are shopping for wintry reds for the first time in a while, you might be struggling to calibrate price and expectations. The wine shelves have not escaped the fiendish rising price of everything.
In general, £10 is fast becoming the new £8 but, of course, it’s complicated with wine. It always is. Dry goods and shipping costs cause inflation across the board but vintage conditions and currency fluctuations have a localised impact that changes the value map.
For instance, in the Rhône, a difficult 2021 growing season has pushed up the price of some wines over the last year, and the rising status of certain appellations (Gigondas and Saint-Joseph, I’m looking at you) is nudging them into a different price bracket. Meanwhile the devaluation of the pound against the dollar is yet to make itself felt but, if it continues it could shift the price of wines from the American continent next year.
This is significant. As Miles Beale of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association has pointed out, ‘One fifth of all bulk wine imported and bottled here is US wine.’ We also enjoy a lot of well-priced malbec from Argentina and wines of all kinds from Chile.