How about some good "Old World" barbecue wines?

[jazznut]

With all of the hype surrounding red table wines from Australia, the United States, South Africa and, increasingly, South America, it seems the excellence and value of many Old World wines has been forgotten. Here are a few personal favourites, most of them very reasonably priced, I've greatly enjoyed and continue to find tasty...

The south of France certainly represents prime hunting ground for anyone seeking substantial red wines, made from sun-drenched grapes, available at reasonable cost. Just a few of the areas where this vast region has improved tremendously over the last two decades are in the combining of the better traditional indigenous grape varieties with ‘imported’ ones, controlling of yields, and a heightened sophistication in harvesting technique and vinification.

Though not lying within this region strictly speaking, I must mention the Terroir du Trias Beaumes de Venise produced by a cooperative primarily from Syrah and Grenache in the Côtes du Rhône Villages area. This typifies a rich ripeness and grip on the palate one would expect from many a Châteauneuf du Pape, though it’s ready to pour without any further ageing. A hearty barbecue wine if there ever was one.

Château de Gourgazaud’s Réserve from Minervois La Livinière is tightly structured, well-balanced, and also primed to pour off the shelf – consistently excellent.

Château de la Tuilerie’s Vieilles Vignes from Costières du Nîmes also pleases year in and year out. But if you’re willing to shell out roughly 40% more (around $35+CDN), you owe it to yourself to try this property’s Cuvée Eole, a sublime wine I’d happily put up against many a top-flight Burgundy or Bordeaux. It does benefit from cellaring.

From the Côtes du Rousillon-Villages region, three wines come to mind. Château de Jau is perhaps the lightest of the trio, though still well-balanced and full of fruit extract – stylish and very drinkable. Château Dona Baissas Cuvée Vieille Vigne strides the middle ground in terms of concentration. And then there’s Château Les Pins, which is the heftiest and most mouth-coating of these three.

Château Roquebrun from Saint-Chinian always pleases and shows good extract and balance. Domaine Borie de Maurel’s Minervois mélange of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Carignan entitled Esprit d’Automne tends to silky smoothness, and is best served fresh from the cellar to capture its bright flavours. And Peter Fischer’s Château Revelette from Coteaux d’Aix en Provence just bursts with dark berry fruit. Fischer’s Le Grand Rouge, though quite a bit more expensive, approaches fine Bordeaux in terms of its structured elegance. I’ll also put in a mention for Château Lagrezette in Cahors, a property that has improved greatly over the last few years and now produces a beautifully oak-influenced red in the New World style.

Second only to the south of France on my ‘big red wine’ shopping list are the southern reaches of Italy, which have experienced a similar recent boom as regards investment and improvement. Typical of this is Pichierri’s Terrarossa Primitivo di Manduria, a 14%ABV wine you can practically bite into. At a much more lofty level price-wise, Tasca d’Almerita’s Regaleali Rosso del Conte from Sicily, a dark, brooding, very serious wine, benefits from extended cellaring. If you do decide to broach this in its youth, I’d strongly recommend decanting it (a practice I nornally don’t condone) well in advance of serving.

Many excellent large-scale red table wines are now emerging from the roughly contiguous regions of the Douro (Portugal) and Ribeiro del Duero (Spain) valleys. One aspect I’m especially drawn to in these wines is their almost luminescently bright fruit quality, similar to what one finds in some of the better mountainside vineyards of the Napa valley. On the Spanish side of the border, Alejandro Fernandez’s Pesquera and Pesquera Reserva (tighter and more cellar-worthy) have firmly established a reputation for great concentration and style. On the Portuguese side, I’d certainly recommend the reds from Quinta do Cotto – the Grand Escolha is sensational with bottle age and the regular bottling is very tasty from issue – and from Casa Ferreirinha. The latter is perhaps best known for its Barca Velha, a wine at the top echelon, but now increasingly expensive ($100+CDN). Barca Velha absolutely needs time in the cellar to show at its best, and will handily repay decades of rest. However, in a similar vein, Ferreirinha’s (in descending order of cost and ascending order of immediate drinkability) Reserva, Callabriga and Vinha Grande represent good value at their respective price levels.

With all the hype surrounding New World wines of late, it’s reassuring to know that many Old World winemakers are taking up the gauntlet and producing many superb red wines of their own.

Has anyone else discovered some hidden European gems of late?