Yummy inexpensive wine

We are conditioned to think that the more expensive something is the better it is bound to be, something that generally holds true. In the world of wine it is almost certainly the case most of the time, with some bottles costing a lot of money, but expensive wine is not necessarily always the best accompaniment to a meal, nor the most appropriate.

On Christmas eve I was taken out to a little Italian restaurant in an English county town for a pleasant, casual meal. The wine list, surprisingly well put together for a modest place, had several inexpensive wines together with a selection of pricier, more ambitious, bottles. As we were not in the mood to spend much money (and, as you already know, I am unable to so do) we looked at the more economical end of the list and I chose a bottle from a producer and an area in Italy I had never heard of, though the grape varieties were more familiar: mainly montepulciano with some aglianico and, surprisingly, some trebbiano (a white variety). I have since established that the producer is respected and that the area (Biferno) is a relatively new DOC near Abruzzo. My main reason for choosing it, other than the reasonable price, was that it had a bit of age, as it was from the 2011 vintage; a wine with some age is increasingly hard to find and I am getting fed up of drinking very (and sometimes VERY) young red wines, alas the norm at the economical end of a wine list.

Well it was a delight, full of ripe juicy red fruit on the nose, soft but full on the palate and with reasonable length. More importantly it complemented the simple, well executed cooking of the restaurant beautifully at a fraction of the price of a more ambitious bottle. Now I'm not saying that it was better and we certainly didn't try anything else to compare it with. What it did, and did superbly, was accompany the food on offer beautifully and with some style - you cannot ask for more from a wine.

At this point you can argue that a more expensive wine would have been better, offered more, given a more robust experience etc. etc. Maybe so, but the point I'm making is that it is not necessary, that this humble, gentle, juicy beast is all this style of food needs so long as it is well made, clean and has a bit of age. A wine doesn't need to be expensive to be appropriate or, indeed, yummy, it has to be decent, gluggable and match the food. You should let others spend their money on the obvious stuff while you seek out the weird and wonderful bottles hiding in wine lists everywhere, often unloved because their name rings no bells. And remember that it almost always pays to go for a red wine not in the first flush of youth but slightly more evolved: it will, unless it is a particularly unsuccessful wine/vintage, a rounder and more pleasing proposition than its younger co-stars.

Unfortunately long gone are the days when restaurants had a cellar that included many older bottles, not all of them grand but most of them interesting. Ageing wine is an expensive business with producers wanting to sell wine earlier (no, not like the ridiculous Nouveau stuff, but quickly nevertheless) and restaurant owners wanting wines that do not have to age for years and years before they are approachable, so that they can serve them to customers sooner. This has led to the evolution of red wines even from grand appelations that are made to drink young. Do not be fooled, because even though they are made to be approachable and drinkable earlier they are still better with a bit of bottle age. Only the worst wine does not benefit from a few months more in the bottle, and even beaujolais nouveau improves given a little time. You should not in general be drinking 2015 red wines yet, not even from the southern hemisphere, as they are far too young.

As far as yummy inexpensive wine to buy goes, you need to do a bit of research then trawl the shelves or the websites of your choice, and pay attention to the vintages as, despite technological progress, winemakers are not magicians and can only do so much if the weather goes against them. Then taste, taste taste (no, I don't mean drink lots!) until you find the styles that you enjoy most, then taste more. Wine is a natural product and a life-enhancer if approached correctly at any level - you will find lots of inexpensive yummy wines like the one I did if you look carefully enough.