Looking to get my old man a nice bottle of red to say thanks for helping me out recently.

He normally likes a red towards the richer/darker end of the spectrum but not too full on.

As you can tell, I don’t drink much red wine, so any pointers or recommendations?

Many thanks.

A good Amarone

Go to a decent wine shop and ask them. Quality and price tag are not as related as you’d think.

Good advice about visiting your local independent shop. Do you know which wines he buys at the moment, or talks about? Amarone, as recommended above is Italian, as are Barbaresco and Barolo which would also fit the bill. I’m a big fan of Australian Shiraz but that does tend to be a bit on the full side! If he likes French wine, get him a Pommard.

I know nothing about wine but I had a Chateauneuf du Pape red at around that price that was lovely.

A medium quality Amarone, or good quality Ripasso would be my choice

Amarone is my favourite, and a brunello di montalcino may be worth a look as well!

If he doesn’t like full on, Ripasso is a better bet than amarone

Like the thread asking if anyone owns a holiday home, this is another chance for the STW toffs to identify themselves. 😉

Or for people to reveal that they pin insulting labels to people based on their hobbies 😉

Try The Mcrae Wood by Jim Barrie, it’s one of the nicest I’ve tried and comes in towards the middle of your price range.

Go for a good Rioja, you don’t need to spend a lot to get a good wine.
Why not go for a gift set? I bought a reasonable wine and fancy corkscrew set for a friend as a thank you gift. The wine to enjoy and the corkscrew as a more permanent reminder.

I can heartily recommend Mitolo wines, some reviews are here (and millions more through google!):
http://www.wineanorak.com/mitolo_2.htm
http://www.classic-wine.co.uk/pages/company_mitolo.htm

Jester is their ‘drink it now’ range, but the GAM, Savitar and Serpico are (IMO) great wines that will also (so folk say) age well over 10 to 15 years. A quick google showed this place:
http://www.slurp.co.uk/search/?search=mitolo
as having a good range by the bottle.

Recommend a 20-30 quid red wine?

A good Amarone

good luck with that, just checked my merchant’s list and they start at £43. for better value you have to head further south

tried this at a recent nebbiolo tasting and was my choice at the ‘value’ end

LANGHE NEBBIOLO Vajra £22 roberson wine

this is a favorite of mine and should be easy to get hold of

vina-ardanza by la rioja-alta, should be £18 and up depending on the year £25 at berry brothers for a 2000

http://www.thewinereserve.co.uk/store/red-wine/alpha-zeta–a–amarone/ Alpha Zeta is superb, just check on 2008 vintage. The 2007 vintage won a gold medal at the IWC.

Leoville Barton St Julien is one of the nicest reds I’ve ever tasted. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. I’ve not seen it in the supermarkets though, so you’d need to try a local wine merchant or something like Majestic online.
Penfolds Bin 389 is great and usually available in supermarkets. Can’t remember how much it is but I think around the £20 mark, possibly less. In fact, even if it’s less than your budget, you’d struggle to find anything that tastes better for £20-£30 to be honest.
Would definitely check out the St Julien though. Trust me. He won’t be disappointed.
(is this the bit where I add something like “/pretentious” or whatever the computer speak is?)

Why pay so much, when for much less dollar you can have…….

If it’s a bit too fruity then a dash of lemonade will help!

Here you go, Posty540. Slap in the middle of your budget too:
http://www.majestic.co.uk/find/category-is-Wine/category-is-France/category-is-Bordeaux/category-is-M%C3%A9doc/category-is-St-Julien/product-is-01356
I’m not surprised at the 5* reviews either.

thanks for the replies all.

He normally drinks French or Italian wines, but exact names I couldn’t tell you…his wife has got him trying New World wines recently but I think I’d like to get him more of a ‘Classic’. As mentioned, he likes Chateauneuf du Pape but would like to get something else i think

May try to get to an independent shop, but I’d like to get it sooner rather than later and work would get in the way of this. Plus i always think they may just suggest a wine that they have 24 cases of out the back which they need to get rid of as ‘the best’ – Paranoid i duno!

Gift set good idea but brother got him a fancy corkscrew not too long ago.

Going to have a look into and read on the suggested ones now, cheers.

Now, one question…do we get into a whole new league of wines over £40? and if so, is it worth it? I know I’m going to start thinking that when i start looking at the suggested websites.

Ah, the old Buckfast! Despite the image, it is a very nice tipple when mixed with semi-skimmed milk. Like a nice alcoholic strawberry milkshake.

Mmmmmmmmmmm………….

As mentioned, he likes Chateauneuf du Pape

Try a wee Gigondas then, 2006/5 but ask in a wine shop (althogh I’ve had some great stuff from a supermarket as well)

Grantus;your a worry!