Super nice <pricey> bottle of red wine

[CookleDoodleDoo]

I want to buy DP a fancy bottle of red wine for Easter. I'll go up to £200.

I don't drink red wine so I have absolutely no idea what I'm looking for.

His favourite is Malbec.

A couple of years back I bought a bottle of Chateauneuf De Pap from Waitrose, and a bottle of Barolo from Majestic which both went down well.

What red wine would you recommend for a treat, please?

Personally I would spend a portion of that on a good Malbec to drink now and spend the bulk on a wine to store. Anything in that price range would be something to age.

Catena Malbec to drink now and a Pauillac to store until Christmas / next Easter would be my suggestion.

Take a look at Berry's and order a Malbec from there, if you know he likes it. They have a lot in your price range, and it's unlikely many people here will be able to recommend specific Malbec producers/regions at that price point - it's a bit niche!

https://www.bbr.com/search/?text=malbec

Do you have a good independent wine shop where you live? If he likes the rounded body of Malbec, he is more likely to lean Bordeaux than Barolo or Burgundy, and it's not just a case of getting a Margaux, or a Paulliac - a good wine shop will have gone to all the industry tastings and have carefully chosen which wines they're going to stock in their (presumably) limited space. Barolo is very different from Malbec, though.

Or book him onto a WSET course!

^^ agree with UneTasse, go to Berry Brothers.

Thank you!

I had no idea that Barolo and Malbec were so different 😆As I said, I know nothing about wine, especially red wine.

I'll check out BBR for sure, thank you!

If you have any good independent wine shops near you go in and chat about DH likes and ask what they would recommend - they may recommend other lesser known grapes or styles that are also quite woomphy like Malbec (technical term as am very expert). TBH at £200 you should be getting quite an aged structured wine that will be delicious but not necessarily easy to drink so getting the specifics right matters. Good wine merchants love advising customers - and they will happily talk you down in price too in my experience. You might get two good bottles instead of one.

A good independent wine shop is your best bet, but you can get a really nice bottle for £50, you really don't need to spend more. We tend to go for Bordeaux for good wine. If you happen to be in Bristol there's a lovely shop In Clifton