Wine For value look to Spain and Portugal

UNDER the Spanish sun and blue Portuguese skies grow wines in a myriad of styles to tempt both the adventurous and cautious. While they differ enormously with the use of grape varieties, what they share is their foodfriendly style that offers good value, so much so that sales of Spanish wines at Lidl have risen 49 per cent year on year, and those of Portuguese wines have grown 57 per cent.

Top picks by Richard Bampfield, consultant master of wine at Lidl, include Vinya Carles Priorat Crianza 2012 (£5.79) from a Spanish region famed for its big, warming reds. “This is still youthful and will benefit from decanting, but the rich, dark fruit and toasty oak are already harmonising well.”

Asda has an equally impressive Priorat: Noster Nobilis 2013 (£7.98), a garnacha carignan blend that’s lush and velvety smooth with floral notes, rich sweet fruit and well handled oak.

Meanwhile, if you’re after a wine with excellent credentials, Beronia Rioja Reserva 2011 (£13.49, Waitrose) is an International Wine Challenge Gold, Great Value and Trophy winner. A tempranillo temptress that’s full bodied and displays luscious black fruits, licorice and cloves with a generous, long finish.

Crossing the border into the Douro Valley, the indigenous grape varieties used in port also produce fragrant, darkfruited reds. Try Duorum Tons De Duorum Red 2014 (£8.90, tannerswines.co.uk), which is round and soft with a delicate sweetness to the juicy, plummy fruit with spicy notes and a freshness on the finish.