£16.95, The Vintner, thevintner.com
This is such a food-friendly red it ought to be on as many restaurant lists as the, admittedly limited, production allows, but I’ve yet to find it anywhere in the UK other than The Vintner wine merchant – bravo to them!. Barbera, named after its grape variety, is very much the understudy in Piedmont to the more regal Barolo (made from the Nebbiolo grape) but, in the hands of a good producer like Viberti, Barbera’s lower tannin levels, higher acidity and generous, vivacious cherry flavours make it all the more approachable. More approachable in price, too. Among other things, you could match it to imam bayildi, any number of types of sausage, or to duck or pork, including with cherries. The Vintner, if you don't know it, has 100 wines on its list at any one time, all of them intended to be ready for drinking. So it's a particularly useful wine merchant if you don't want to trawl through hundreds of wines or wines that need time to mature.
Viberti Barbera d'Alba, Bricco Airolo, Piedmont, Italy
£16.95, The Vintner, thevintner.com