£9.99, Waitrose
With changeable weather and diets swinging this way and that, you may easily want a crisp, reviving wine one minute and something much bigger and more solid the next. This oak-matured Cape red has a comforting roundness and smoothness, with dark-berry fruit, delicate toast and peppery spice, but it’s elegant and sleek, rather than a heavyweight that makes you slump in your chair and wonder whether you’ll ever feel like getting up again. If there’s a chill in the air, I’d pair it with lamb shanks or something else that has been treated to long-slow cooking, or with a flavoursome Italian sausage. A bit of background: it comes from the hot, dry Swartland area, which is very much in vogue for wine, and the winemaker’s name is Trizanne, hence the name of the wine.
Trizanne Signature Shiraz Grenache 2013, Swartland South Africa
£9.99, Waitrose and waitrosecellar.com