4 wines under £15 you should be drinking this October

It's time to put the rosé away. Our new wine columnist Tom Forrest tells you what you should be drinking instead for autumn 
Tom Forrest29 September 2015

October is the all-change month. We finally say goodbye to summer, the leaves begin to turn and drop, the nights get longer and darker and we begin to rake around in the wardrobe for sweaters and scarves.

It’s the same with our wines. Those zippy and zingy white and rosé witness that we fell in love with on holiday in the South of France just aren’t the same on a cold, wet night in Rotherhithe. So it’s time to change your wine rack to ‘Autumn’ mode, store the Picpoul de Pinet and Provence rosé wines away until spring and fill the gaps with more warming styles of wine.

White wines need a little touch of oak to add body to them, whereas reds need to be made from bigger, or riper varieties. My white wine selections for this time of year include, from South Africa, Ken Forrester’s Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc 2014. Chenin Blanc comes from the Loire valley in France and about the only other place is grows well is South Africa and Ken is a master craftsman of this variety. Nine months in French oak gives this wine an attractive golden colour with rich flavours of melon and spiced apple tart. A touch of caramel and honeycomb rounds off the palate. (£13.49).

Or try the barrel fermented Vina Real Rioja Blanco 2013. Here American oak barrels add a toasty coconut flavour to the creamy vanilla spice laden tropical fruits such as pineapple and banana with some apple freshness on the finish. (£10.49)

As for the red wines? Well I think a cold damp night deserves a rich Cabernet Sauvignon wine so try the Montes Classic series Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 from the Colchagua Valley in Chile. Six months in French oak adds a touch of vanilla and mocha to the rich blackcurrant, black cherry and raspberry fruit flavours. A vibrant, yet full-bodied wine. (£12.90)

And finally, from the Langhorne Creek in South Australia, a full bodied and spicy Shiraz wine from Heartland. Made by Ben Glaetzer and his partners, this is a classic Aussie Shiraz wine, the sort that I fell in love with all those years ago. Dense, ripe blackberry fruits intermingle with star anise and smokey, cracked peppers, all smoothed off by a coating of soft vanilla from 14 months in oak barrels. A balanced palate with lots of oomph! (£14.99)

Tom Forrest is the Head Sommelier at Vinopolis. Follow him on Twitter @VinopolisTom

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