South & South-West Red
We didn’t quite get what we were expecting here. Yes, there was plenty of sunshine, fruit, tannin, oak and alcohol – some of it put together apparently at random, with little consideration for overall balance in the end product.
But if there’s one thing we’d expect from this area, it’s value for money, particularly at the lower end, and we didn’t really find that. While the whites were pretty well priced, only five of our 16 red medals were under £10, which isn’t that impressive, really.
Still, on the plus side, there were some good wines here if you’re looking for exuberant, muscular steak-monsters.
From The Tasting Teams
‘The Languedoc flight had generosity, muscle and sunshine. Those that stood out not only had that power, but also an element of freshness.’ Jan Konetzki, team leader
‘The Cahors wines – wow! Elegant Malbec with velvety tannins.’ Cinthia Lozano, The Winery Honduras
‘Roussillon was a challenging flight, with a lot of alcohol and fruit and tannins, and not always integrated.’ Marco Marcuzzo, ZUMA Rome
‘There’s a rustic quality, with herbaceous earthiness, big tannins and big acidity. You don’t need to think about these wines too much, but there’s value for money, even in the more expensive ones.’ Andres Ituarte, team leader
‘Provence is not really a place you look for red wines.’ Martin Lam, team leader
‘At the higher end in Cahors you’ve got all the complexity of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It’s incredible value.’ Martin Lam, team leader
‘The entries that didn’t get medals tended not to have enough structure, not enough acidity.’ Alonso Abed, Trivet
‘Roussillon is on my radar for finding unexpected value. Great old-vine Grenache or Carignan vineyards.’ Tim Smith, Winesurfer Consulting