Lighter reds

If you are someone who likes to drink lighter reds, you are probably stacking your cellar with pinot noir from your favourite producers. But while pinot noir is beautiful, noble and timeless, you’ll want diversity. Here are examples of some alternate varieties from across

Australia.

Liinaa Berry

Range Life Sangiovese 2019, Perricoota, NSW, $26

Sangiovese is the grape variety of the chianti appellation in Italy. When you drink chianti, you will most likely be drinking a medium-bodied Mediterranean wine with fairly rustic tannins. Range Life Sangiovese is surprisingly similar to a chianti, with ripe aromas of cherry and savoury spices but much lighter in body and tannins that glide. It also has a nice orange peel twist.

Vanguardist ‘V’ Grenache 2018, Mclaren Vale, SA, $160

Grenache on its own often delivers what pinot noir promises, a saying sommeliers use to describe the sweet fruit aspect of grenache compared with the savoury or unripe fruit aspect in some pinots, especially those from Burgundy. Grenache’s fruit power can be impressive without the high alcohol content that usually comes with this grape variety. This Mclaren Vale drop is a slender but flavoursome grenache with great acid.

Amato Vino Trousseau 2019, Margaret River, WA, $45

Trousseau originally comes from the Jura region of France. There are now plantings in Australia in both Margaret River and the Adelaide Hills. Trousseau is considered ripe at lower sugar levels, so it makes for tasty fruit-driven wines without the ABV.

Perfect for lunch if you want to stay fresh and be able to go back to work afterwards. It’s pure juice. Amato Vino wild ferments its trousseau in amphora and matures in old oak.