REDS FOR CHRISTMAS DAY

2016 Mas Barrau Cabernet Franc, Gard, France (£8.50, Booths Supermarkets)

I LOVE this boisterous red with its ripe, balanced, classy Cabernet Franc fruit. I always think that great Cabernet Franc tastes like fresh blackberries, and for that reason it has a cool, crisp effect on the palate once the fruit has subsided. This wine is no exception — and it’s refreshing and lip-smacking, too.

2016 Lianto Primitivo del Salento, Puglia, Italy (£11.99, virginwines.co.uk)

WOW. This is one of the wines of the year. At the peak of its performance — and showing deep, dark, plum and spice notes coupled with espresso bean and dark chocolate tones — this is a hedonistic, southern Italian red with downright sumptuous fruit. Bathe your palate in this black beauty!

2016 Longview Vineyard Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon, Adelaide Hills, South Australia (£12.50, Oddbins)

LONGVIEW is a fabulous boutique winery and this Shiraz/Cabernet is a work of art. Bold, rich and structured, this is a main-course red, with the Cabernet Sauvignon backbone supporting the Shiraz body perfectly. Medium-bodied and with a fair degree of class on board, there is an awful lot of wine here for a relatively modest spend.

2015 Villa Annaberta Amarone della Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy (£18, Co-op)

THIS is a very powerful red made from 70 per cent Corvina, 20 per cent Rondinella and 10 per cent Molinara, and aged for 12 months in French oak. This wine is so massive because the grapes are dried a little before pressing, which concentrates the flavour immeasurably. One for lovers of intense red wines, this is my favourite Amarone of the season.

2017 Domaine Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny, La Grande Vignolle, Loire, France (£14.50, Yapp Brothers, 01747 860423 and yapp.co.uk)

ONE of the greatest wineries in the Loire Valley — championed by French boutique wine specialists Yapp — this Saumur-Champigny is not a heavy wine, but a slender, refreshing red which can be drunk before you open the big boys. Cultured and elegant, this is a top-class Cabernet Franc with epic breeding.