Barbecue Reds

‘Barbecue wine’ is a veiled insult used by the likes of Jane MacQuitty when trying to find something nice to say about a brackish £3 red that has nothing to recommend it and that must feature in their columns out of fear of isolating people who aren’t prepared to spend more than £3 on a bottle of wine. (Do such people read wine columns? I ask you.)

Not me though. I take rather decent wine to barbecues, and it was no exception when Tom and Cookie invited me to a spontaneous roof-top barbecue at 1 Old Buildings this afternoon. ‘Barbecue wine’ is the ultimate compliment for liquor chosen to complement some of God’s greatest uses for ground, otherwise nondescript meat – sausages and hamburger patties. And people who dare bring Oddbins Own Red to such religious occasions deserve a jolly good knee-capping and a lesson in robust reds from the south of France and Italy.

2003 Domaine du Joncier Lirac (£9) is mid red, with a classic Southern Rhone nose of pepper, purple fruits and sour cherries. The palate is at once spicy and savoury, but at the same time with attractive, peachy undertones on the mid palate, finishing with a hint of minerality.

2005 Piarncornello Poggio dei Leicci Rosso di Toscana (£10) is translucent purple. The nose shows cherry sherbet, almonds, and cherry liqueur. The entry is sweet and woody with a vanillin palate, spicy oak and chipper tannins.