£10–£13.99, Waitrose, Majestic and independents
When I included this Christmassy Italian red in my Festive Red Wine Guide two weeks ago, what I couldn’t reveal was that it was going to be on offer for just £10 in Waitrose from December 4 through to the new year.
It's good value at £14.99. At a tenner, it’s a bargain – and one that evolves in bottle, so it’s worth stocking up if you have cellar conditions to keep it in.
If you already know and love Campofiorin, you might be slightly alarmed to hear that, 60 years after Masi made the first vintage in 1964, it has had a bit of a makeover. I’m happy to say there’s no need to worry.
The grapes were picked slightly later in 2020, so the acidity is a little lower, and a greater proportion of semi-dried grapes was used to enhance the richness and fruit, but this Veronese red has lost none of its quintessential Italianness.
It’s still made from local Valpolicella grape varieties (Corvina, Rondinella and a smidgen of Molinara) and using the appassimento method pioneered by Masi of refermenting the new wine with some semi-dried grapes.
And it’s still a round, velvet-textured, medium-bodied red with spicy, dried-cherry fruit wrapped in spicy oak and cedar with a lick of bitter chocolate and a hint of juniper.
It’s a versatile wine that I’d be very happy to drink this Christmas or at any time over the next five or six years and to pair with turkey and all the trimmings, roast beef, bresaola or carpaccio, lasagne and rich ragùs, duck, partridge, earthy lentil, bean and root vegetable dishes, or cod with olives, pancetta and sundried tomato (minus the pancetta for non-meat eaters). 13%
Masi Campofiorin 2020, Rosso Verona, Veneto, Italy
£10 on offer until 1.1.2025, Waitrose; £13.99 (mix six), Majestic
£36.95–£39.90 magnum, Vinvm, Tannico UK
Comments