£14.95, Joie de Vin A bewitchingly generous, rich red from the southern reaches of France, not far from the border with Spain and close to a spot where witches were said to brew their potions: hence the name Incantation (and my inability to resist the opening pun). Apart from being dark enough to be a witches’ brew, there is no other comparison. Incantation, a Syrah-based blend with Grenache, Mourvèdre and a smidgen of Carignan, is brimful of violet, raspberry, black fruit an

Rude Wines, £12.99 If a wine from the southern hemisphere or North America is labelled Syrah, not Shiraz, you can be pretty sure the winemaker has looked to the Rhône rather than to Australia for inspiration. And so it is with David Finlayson’s Cape Syrah. It’s fuller, richer and has more vanilla oak flavour than a Syrah from the northern Rhône, but the white pepper and savoury, smoky, meaty flavours are very Rhône, as is the freshness that lifts the finish. While it’s delici

£14.50, The Wine Society; £95 for 6, domainejones.com The key to the quality and character of this richly fruity Fitou is the age of the vines: most are more than a century old. They produce miserly quantities, but the compensation is the flavour of the grapes and, in turn, the complex, concentrated wine with its spicy black fruit, herb, nutmeg and dark chocolate flavours, its smoothness and freshness. The vines are Carignan, Grenache and Syrah – typical of Fitou and the wide

£19–£21.30, Theatre of Wine, Mr & Mrs Fine Wine, Great Western Wine, Hedonism Wines This was the first Elephant Hill wine I'd come across when I tasted it a few months ago and I was bowled over. I tasted it again earlier this month with Steve Skinner, the winemaker, and was again bowled over by its combination of velvety richness, freshness and elegance and by the crunchy black fruit, peppery spice and sheen of polished oak. All the more impressive is the fact that this is th

£9.50, The Wine Society, £12.95 The Black Dog Wine Company I loved this dry rosé when I tasted it newly shipped in April and I liked it even more when I tasted it recently in a gargantuan ‘blind’ tasting. Not being able to see what you’re tasting (the bottles are masked, not the tasters) is the ultimate test: all you can see is the colour – in this case a very pale pink (paler than it looks in the photo). It smells and tastes just as pretty and fresh as it looks, with the fra

£8.99, Lidl This is from Lidl’s Easter wine cellar collection and is worth snapping up before the limited stocks disappear – even if you’re not a Lidl regular. It’s proof positive that there’s not only far more to New Zealand wine than Sauvignon Blanc, but more to the country’s reds than Pinot Noir. It’s typical of the Syrah style emerging in Hawkes Bay on the North Island: much more like a French Syrah from the northern Rhône than a typical Australian Shiraz (which is why th

If you know where to look, there are plenty of wines with modest alcohol but bags of character and flavour Prompted by the UK government's new alcohol guidelines, I've looked through my recent tasting notes for wines that have low to moderate levels of alcohol, but which certainly don't fall short in the flavour and character stakes. The dry whites I'm recommending are all 12% abv, or lower, and the reds are 12.5% abv or lower, but bear in mind that EU labelling laws allow a

£14.75, Oddbins A wine for opera lovers, Puccini fans, incurable romantics and anyone who likes full, generously fruity, soft-textured reds: this has raspberry and blackberry compote flavours, a hint of liquorice and a freshness that comes from the Gamay grape (better known for Beaujolais). What's in the name? Dame Nellie Melba, an incomparable Mimi in La Bohème, was from the Yarra Valley. Versatile with food, so what about wild boar chops, Italian sausages, or lasagne? La Bo