Tagus Creek 2010 - £4.50 - Asda/£4.79 - Tesco (until 04/10 then £5.99)
Hello toad in the hole! Welcome back chocolate eclairs! How we've missed you, 72 can pallet of Stella! Yes, summer's over, and at last we can reacquaint ourselves with our favourite mealtime choices, whilst at the same time flick V's at the departing beansprout salads. The most significant consequence of autumn's arrival however, is the re-establishment of mankind's natural daily rhythm ie. lunchtime re-location to local hostelry; swift dispatch of organically-sourced, humanely strangled rabbit hotpot; rapid consumption of all visible booze; increasingly incoherent analysis of our favourite dress designer/footballer/pie-maker (delete as applicable).
Of course, such an escapade can be performed for a fraction of the cost at home by simply knocking up a Jamie Oliver recipe and unleashing a bottle such as Tagus Creek's Award-winning Shiraz, which plays host to mountains of juicy red fruit, soft tannins and a hot spicey pingback. Whatever the setting, this schedule should shepherd us through the winter until we are diagnosed as morbidly obese and then obliged to spend the next six months being winched out of bed and pointed in the direction of the salad bar.
Serious Stuff - Tagus Creek is a Portuguese winery specialising in blending local and international grape varieties with a view to creating a selection of unique wines. In this bottle, Shiraz is matched with little-known Trincadeira, a combination so successful it has been awarded the International Best Red Blend under £10 trophy at this year's Decanter magazine awards.