This week, MIKE TIPPING sees red over 'winter warmers'

THERE is tipping point (pardon the pun) as we approach winter, when I make the switch from drinking mostly white to mostly red wine.

Of course, white wine always has its place, with fish for example, but at this time of year, as it starts getting chilly, I increasingly look to the vin rouge in the rack.

Not that I believe in the myth, and the wine writers’ cliché, that there is such thing as a ‘winter warming’ red. However, unlike whites served straight from the fridge, a red served at optimum temperature doesn’t send a shiver down your spine.

So it’s vino tinto all the way this week, although rosso would be a better word for the first recommendation.

The Co-operative has added three new wines to its Truly Irresistible own-label range. This includes The Co-operative Truly Irresistible Barbera d’Asti 2012, which is reasonably priced and worth checking out.

From the Piedmont region of northern Italy, it is soft, smooth and quite substantial. With juicy flavours of morello cherry, blackberry and plums it has a nice balancing acidity too and will work well with ragu and meaty pizzas.

New to the shelves at Morrisons is Viñalba Reservado de la Familia Malbec 2012 from the Mendoza region of Argentina.

It’s a textbook malbec and nicely balanced, the sort of wine that works with red meat so well, in particular juicy steaks.

Fruit forward, it has layers of brambles, cassis, plums, characteristic and pronounced notes of violets, a lick of toasty oak and supple tannins.

Some wines just hit the spot, like Brokenwood Hunter Valley Shiraz 2009. It isn’t cheap but it is very, very good and very well made.

Earthy and savoury, there is a nod to the great syrahs of the Rhône in this Aussie beauty.

Perfectly balanced and structured, it is impressively long, suggesting forest fruits, with peppery spices, notes of leather and smoky oak.

The Co-operative Truly Irresistible Barbera d’Asti 2012, £6.99 from The Co-operative 16/20

Viñalba Reservado de la Familia Malbec 2012, Mendoza, £9.99 at Morrisons 18/20

Brokenwood Hunter Valley Shiraz 2009, around £22 from Field & Fawcett and Corking Wines (corkingwines.com) 19/20

Twitter: @TippingsTipples