Red Wines – Merlot

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Barbera

Savor this versatile red with pasta dishes topped with meat or mushroom sauce. Barbera ranges from medium-bodied and tangy to wines of great richness and depth. Its naturally high acidity refreshes the palate, which makes it an excellent wine to serve with food. Black plum and dark cherry fruit flavours dominate, with notes of liquorice and chocolate.

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet franc, a close relation to cabernet sauvignon, goes well with simple beef and chicken dishes. The main red varietal of France’s Loire Valley, it produces light- to medium-bodied wines with earthy black fruit flavours, and hints of cinnamon spice.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Hearty and full-flavoured, cabernet sauvignon goes well with steaks, stews, and hamburgers. It is the biggest bodied of the traditional Bordeaux varietals, popular worldwide due to its dark berry, blackcurrant, and plum fruits, mild green pepper aroma, and vanilla oakiness from barrel aging.

Carmenere

Medium-bodied carmenere pairs well with grilled lamb and beef. It is subtly lush, with aromas ranging from green peppers to zesty, peppery spice and very soft, plummy fruit. Oak aging often adds vanilla, woody notes.

Dolcetto

Dolcetto can be a nice sipping wine, especially served with hard cheeses and mixed vegetable appetisers. Generally from Italy and meant to be consumed when still young and fresh, dolcetto is usually light- to medium-bodied, soft (very low in natural acidity), aromatic, and fruity with notes of violets, liquorice, plums, and blackberries.

Grenache

Grenache tends to have low acidity, light strawberry flavours, and a warm, mouth-filling richness that goes well with lamb, pork, chicken, aubergine, and garlicky dishes. When blended with Syrah (as is often done throughout southern France) they form a balanced whole with grenache softening and Syrah adding structure.

Malbec

Malbec pairs well with grilled meats and sausages. It is usually full-bodied and softly textured with smoky red fruit flavours (cherry liqueur, raspberry) and often a pronounced oaky spiciness. This traditional Bordeaux varietal is now mainly found in Argentina.

Merlot

Merlot is a versatile red that complements beef, chicken, and pork. Flavours of cherry and plum in a medium-bodied, velvety packet make this a popular crowd-pleaser. Merlot is similar to cabernet sauvignon, but softer (less acidic) and fruitier.

Montepulciano

Flavours of deep cherry, blackberry, and chocolate make this medium- to full-bodied red a popular choice for everyday drinking. Typically smooth, fruity, and lush for an Italian red, it makes an excellent complement to traditional southern Italian foods, such as rich tomato pasta sauces, sausages, and meats.

Mourvedre

Hearty stews and meat dishes are wonderful complements to this wine. An important blending varietal in southern France and Spain, it has firmly structured body with intense fruit and aromas, which evoke blackberry and wet earth.

Nebbiolo

Grown almost exclusively in Italy, Nebbiolo’s earthy nuance of mushroom, freshly tilled soil, black liquorice spice, and herbaceous floral notes pair well with hearty foods like braised lamb shanks, pot roast, and dishes with mushroom sauces. This is a powerful, high-acid, high-tannin varietal that often needs many years of aging before it can be fully appreciated.

Petit Sirah

Similar to zinfandel, this hearty, firm red goes well with barbecue and meat dishes. Generally agreed to have no relation to true syrah, petit sirah is typically earthy and full of heady black fruits, brambly spice, and a mouth-filling intensity.

Pinot Noir

One of the lightest of the red varietals, pinot noir goes well with a range of foods including lamb, chicken, pork, and rich fish dishes such as salmon. Its versatility also makes it a nice choice for vegetarian dishes or a range of cheeses. It is characteristically light- to medium-bodied with cherry fruit and lively acidity. Valued for its finesse and elegance, it is the only varietal allowed in French Burgundy and is the most important red in New Zealand and Oregon.

Pinotage

Pinotage goes well with pork and chicken dishes. A cross between pinot noir and French cinsault, this South African hybrid’s distinct, pungent flavour can have wild berry, floral spice, and simple grapey notes.

Sangiovese

This medium-bodied wine can seem thin on its own, but pairs wonderfully with many dishes—especially Italian. Think pasta and red sauce, pizza, a variety of Italian-style cheese, such as mozzarella and Parmesan. Most often sold as Chianti, a region of Tuscany, Italy, where they grow mainly sangiovese grapes, it produces red fruit flavours (cherry, raspberry) and mild earthy spice notes. Its high acidity cuts through the oils in food, which refreshes the palate.

Syrah & Shiraz

Syrah—known as Shiraz in Australia—produces big, fruity wines that go well with spicy barbeque and grilled meats. Australian Shiraz is usually very soft (less acidic) and richly flavoured, full of blackberry and peppery spice. Syrah from the United States and Chile are similar, but toned down a bit. Those from France’s Rhone Valley are higher in acid and therefore more enjoyable with food than on their own and are traditionally served with hearty main courses, such as stews and pot roasts.

Tempranillo

Found mainly in Spain and Portugal, tempranillo’s flavours of black fruits, mild berries (such as blueberry and blackberry), and spiciness are a nice complement to smoked or grilled vegetables and meats. It is often aged in oak for many years, which can add notes of vanilla oak, cedar, toast, and dried fruits.

Zinfandel

Zinfandels are big, brash wines that go well with barbecue and strongly flavoured dishes. Produced almost exclusively in California, most boast a zesty spiciness and a freshly picked berry juiciness. They are naturally high in sugar and tend to be very fruity and relatively high in alcohol.