RAISE A GLASS

MY FRIEND tells me she has started to drink red wine. Mmm, I thought, I’ve seen her drinking red wine before, but no, she clarified, she has started to drink ONLY red wine. Not whites or pinks, just reds. She’s doing this because she “feels better in the morning”.

I’m not going to question the quantities of the aforesaid whites and pinks which may lead her to feeling “not” all right in the morning.

My pal said she needed some advice on gentle red wines for beginners, so here I am, your friendly neighbourhood wine writer.

I ran a wine tasting the other week – all reds – and a chap pointed to his wife and said: “she doesn’t like red wine”. Which was a bit of a challenge.

White wine and rosé drinkers can be put off by the boldness of reds so if you’re nervous of trying a red for the first time then lighter ones are a good place to start.

And so it was that one glass in and my apprehensive wife (well, the chap’s wife) was won over. Pinot noir did it for her, but later on she didn’t like the heartier glasses of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon.

Pinot noir grapes have thin skins and it is mostly the skins which create tannin in a red wine. Tannin

causes the astringent feeling in your mouth (the same as if you drink cold tea). The wine she loved was Vignobles Roussellet Pinot Noir (£4.49, Aldi,12.5% abv) which I’ve mentioned here before, which has soft but fruity notes.

Beaujolais wines are also a good place to start. These French wines are made from the gamay grape and are produced in a technical way which creates a lovely fruity, jammy style, light on tannin and really easy to drink. At Waitrose Louis Jadot Chapelle aux Loups, Beaujolais-Villages (13.5% abv) is reduced from £11.99 to £8.99 until May 15.

Grenache is another good shout for you – it is one of my favourite red grapes and this is one of my favourite wines. La Garnacha 2015 Salvaje del Moncayo (£9.99 at Majestic or £8.99 in a buy six deal, 14% abv). It has the character of a pinot noir, light, gentle with notes of herbs, violets, cherries, raspberries and a hint of spice.

If you’re a red wine beginner I hope that helps! IN MY GLASS… THE Co-op has introduced a couple of wines from Bulgaria. Silver Mine Merlot 2016 (£5.99, 12% abv) is a red from the Thracian Valley, where there’s evidence of winemaking going back 3,000 years.

In fact the name Silver Mine is a nod to Roman industry and the ancient silver artefacts which have been found in the region.

On the nose the wine has redcurrants, blackberries, bramble fruit and a speck of spice. The tannins are soft in the mouth and the acidity is fresh. There’s not so much fruit on the finish but hey at this price it is pleasant enough. Its sister white wine is Silver Mine Sauvignon Blanc 2017 (also £5.99, 12% abv) which isn’t a perky sauvignon like you’d expect from New Zealand, but is softer and rounder. There are gooseberry notes for sure, but it sings more of apple and pears with a touch of stone fruit.

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