RAISE A GLASS

Red wines. Let’s get it sorted for Christmas. Red wines can be punchy and bold; as delicate as filigree; or as oak-laden as a forest.

If you want to follow any festive food pairing advice, then avoid overwhelming light foods with big bold wines; if you have a heavily tannic red (think cabernet sauvignon) then salt will soften the wine.

Fruity, light reds, such as pinot noir can be heavenly in this palate-testing time.

Here’s a pinot noir from Burgundy: Louis Latour La Chanfleure Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2020 (RRP £15, Tesco).

A wine like this can be sipped with pâté to start and will put up a good defence to the remaining myriad flavours on your festive plates. The wine is crunchy with red fruits, silky, and eminently one to share on a special day.

The native Romanian grape variety in this wine Curious Parallel Feteasca Neagra 2020

(£9.99, online at Virgin Wines) may be difficult to pronounce but it’s certainly not difficult to sip. It’s a ruby red, soft with summery black fruits and bilberries. The tannins are supple.

It would be lovely with any roast and would add a fruity charm to vegetarian dishes too.

A grape variety which should be more loved is cinsault. It has played its part in blends over many years, but now and again flies solo, such as in Morrisons The Best Bush Vine Cinsault (£8.25).

This is one of my favourite red styles; fruity, soft, with low tannins. It hails from South Africa and is pleasurable with red berries, cherries and a speck of spice. It won’t tire your palate if you choose to sip it at both ends of your festive meal.

If you love big and bold, then Winemaster’s Lot Châteauneuf Du Pape 2019

(£19,99, Aldi) might be up your street.

Cheeky grenache is at the heart of this blend, one of the reasons why the wine is 15% abv. It’s not for the faint hearted. Grenache still has a light, fruit-laden touch; the wine won’t kapow you with vanilla and oak influence if that’s not your thing. Think roast beef.

A party red is the Co-op’s Spanish Garnacha (£5.35). This year we might not be dancing around the tree with friends (for obvious reasons). This is a very happy pour, even to speak to cubes of people on Zoom.

Jane is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Find her on social media and online as One Foot in the Grapes.