Red wines perfect for BBQs | Alistair Gibson

Nevertheless, I still find myself out in the garden lighting the coals with a glass of wine in my hand. It is one of my great joys.

Argentinian malbec is an obvious place to start for a barbecue wine, it is a grape variety that can work really well with red meats and bold flavours.

Los Olives Malbec 2018, Mendoza (£9.99 thesolentcellar.co.uk, £10.99 tauruswines.co.uk, £9.99 tasteargentina.co.uk) is made by the Zuccardi family, one of Argentina’s great family wine producers.

I attended a fascinating tasting last year at the launch of some of their top wines and this is a lovely introduction, having been created to showcase their mineral style of malbec.

After fermentation 50 per cent of the wine was aged in French oak for 10 months, which adds structure but never overpowers.

The bouquet offers dark fruits, especially plum, some spice and a little mocha. The palate is very elegant, with more dark fruits, some ripe tannins and a lengthy, fruit-driven finish.

This would work really well with barbecued rib eye steaks.

Masi Campofiorin 2016, Rosso del Veronese (Waitrose £12.99) is a perfect example of the fact that not all barbecue wines need to be full-bodied.

This is a great value Italian red from the Veneto region, from another great wine producing family dynasty.

The nose shows dark cherries, dried herbs, spices and some savoury hints. The palate offers soft tannins, slightly bitter cherry fruit, which is a classic of this style, and some liquorice and a long, supple, elegant finish.

It’s a very grown up wine for the price and would go well with a barbecued flattened chicken.

Ashbourne Pinotage Cinsault 2018, Swartland (Hermitage Cellars £13.95) is a really interesting take on pinotage, which for many years has had such a bad press. Made in a more elegant, un-wooded style with 20 per cent cinsault added to the blend, this will be a revelation if you thought pinotage was not for you. The nose is beautifully perfumed with raspberries, red currants and a little spice. The palate offers some richness but is fresh, with crunchy red fruit acidity, soft tannins and a supple, tasty finish.

This is relatively low in alcohol, and works well with lamb cutlets or even some South African Boerewors sausage if you can find some.