Chivite Gran Feudo crianza 2004 from Spain

7:29pm Thursday 1st May 2008

My recommendation this week comes from one of Spain's D.O. regions - Navarra.

This is next to Rioja and there are similarities in the red wines of the two regions.

This is a genuine Navarra red which combines fruit and tannin with an open modern fruit style. The three and a half years maturation has produced a well-balanced spicy, jammy, fruity wine with ripe tannins and a good length.

Tempranillo, for structure, and garnacha, for fruitiness, have been used in the blend with a little cabernet sauvignon to contribute a cassis taste.

The finished wine was aged in American and French oak barrels for twelve months, this has added vanilla and cedar notes. It's 12 per cent alcohol and is thought to go well with mild soft cheeses as well as meats and grills. Oddbins sell it at £6.59.

Another wine on Oddbin's shelves that I couldn't resist was the Zuccardi Touriga National. I'd tried this wine in previous years, which encouraged me to look at the latest. You don't see much of this varietal touriga as it's the mainstay of port usually.

This bottle comes from Argentina and is a concentrated dark spicy fruit wine, robust and meat-hungry. It has a deep ruby-red colour and a nose of plums, cherries, graphite and a hint of violets. It's a full-bodied wine, complex and long on the finish and will go well with steak pies and the like. On the shelves at £ 5.99.

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