RAISE A GLASS

It’s the time of year when retailers and supermarkets are looking to the months and weeks ahead. Much like a fashion show, ideas around the new season’s tastes and treats are shared with people like me so we can share them with people like you.

For example, in the last few weeks Tesco has added over 50 wines to its range and I had a little preview.

Here are three red wine ideas, in an autumnal frame of mind (and my first two are related).

Tesco Finest Primitivo Terre di Chieti (£7): The grapes for this Italian (very) easy-drinking vino grow in vineyards in the Abruzzo hills, overlooking the Adriatic coast.

I poured a little bit in my glass and a little bit in a pasta sauce. Then a little bit more in my glass. The primitivo grapes deliver a punch of fresh, ripe black fruits and plum aromas. The flavours tease with more of the same fruits which are pecked with a tickle of spice.

The latter lasts longer in the mouth than the fruit. But there’s no complaining to be done here as for the price it’s a lovely little wine.

My next is Ravenswood Lodi Zinfandel (£14) at double the price from my Italian choice and an “up” in the quality.

There’s no surprise that some of the same fruits and spices come into play with this wine from Lodi, a Californian region which produces brilliant Zinfandel wines. Memories of a childhood bilberry tart, topped with a vanilla cream, flitted in my mind. The wine has a silky depth, complexity and intensity that can’t be matched by the easygoing primitivo.

But they know each other, kind of, these two wines; as primitivo is the Italian name for the zinfandel grape.

My final Tesco red choice, from top Chilean wine producers, is Errázuriz Max Carmenère (£12).

I’ve mentioned in these parts before that carmenère – a Bordeaux grape – was once thought lost until it was rediscovered in Chile in the late 90s where, until then, it had been masquerading as merlot.

Since then, Chile has adopted the grape as its own. Give this wine a warm welcome in your home alongside autumnal feasts of casseroles and cottage pies. The wine is bold with its black fruit flavours yet soft with tannins and inviting with its hints of chocolate.