RAISE A GLASS

I SHARE wines with you here in the printed space, but sometimes I use my voice and talk to people about wine in Real Life.

I exist, I’m not a figment of your imagination. Here’s a handful of autumnal reds I’ve shared in the past few days with some small, enthusiastic bunches of people, just like you, wanting to discover wines.

I’ll thank a wine chum, and give him a nod here (Mr Vinosaurus) for pointing me in the direction of this wine from the Co-op: Château de Ruth Côtes du Rhône Villages (£10). Wines labelled as “villages” from France are a step-up in quality from the basic appellation. The wine has a ripe punch of a fruit bomb nose and is juicy in the mouth, with a dash of spicy tingle. “I love this!” declared one of my guinea pig tasters.

At the same event, this wine brought some oohs and aahs.

I like to play a game and ask how much people would be happy paying for a particular wine. Château le Maridat Bergerac (Lidl) had guesses ranging from £8 to £12. But no – it is £5.99 for a splendidly tasty red wine made from merlot and cabernet sauvignon grown in vineyards east of Bordeaux. It looks and tastes so much classier than that price tag would suggest. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know I was in California in the spring, which was a great excuse to share some Californian wines.

I’d visited the Black Stallion Winery in the Napa Valley and so one of my treats at my wine evening was Black Stallion Cabernet Sauvignon (£39.95, slurp.co.uk or via bancroftwines.com). It’s “smooth as silk” said one of my tasting guinea pigs and another said “rich and delicious, exactly my vision of a beautiful red wine”.

Not to be outdone, another Californian red wine squared up alongside and said: “Me! Try me!” And indeed people did sip Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon,

Louis Martini (£21.50, greatwesternwine.co.uk) and said “beautiful” “we loved it!”. Worthy praise for this wine with notes of plum, blackcurrants and spice.

Now you know how I’ve been spending my time in the last few days! Oh… and cooking.

Here’s a tasty, juicy, ripe Italian red which is perfect with spaghetti bolognese (with flakes of chilli, as I can’t help myself). Cecchi Treno Del Mare Morellino di Scansano DOCG (£7.99, down from £9.99 at Waitrose from October 9) hails from Maremma in southern Tuscany where the Cecchi family has been pioneering producers in the region since the 1990s.

Morellino is the local name for the sangiovese grape and here it is unoaked and the wine is bottled soon after fermentation. I really enjoyed its bite of cherries and plums.

Also in my glass...

Franklin & Sons has launched a ready-to-drink can MistralGin and Franklin & Sons Premium Indian Tonic Water (£2.25, 250ml, Tesco). It makes a pretty pale pink serve when you’re in a dash to relax. I popped one in my fridge and enjoyed chilled with chunks of ice after a long day. It did the trick.

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