2024 Marie Antoinette Corbieres Organic, Aubert Mathieu

Marie Antoinette is Aubert & Mathieu's Corbières — a proper southern French red from the wild, herb-scented hills of the Languedoc, and made organically. Corbières is one of the region's most characterful appellations, all sun-baked clay-limestone slopes and garrigue, and this is a classic Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre blend that shows exactly why the place is worth knowing.

Traditional winemaking here: about three weeks on the skins, then six months resting in concrete vat to keep the fruit fresh and unmasked by oak. It comes in at around 14%. The nose is savoury — a note of toast over fresh red fruit. The palate brings plum and red fruit with a lift of peppermint and spice, a menthol coolness threading through, and firm tannins held in check by the ripe fruit. It manages to be both juicy and smooth, which is exactly what you want from an everyday Corbières with ambition.

Drink it over the next three or four years. It's an all-rounder that punches above its price.

How to Serve

Serve at 16–17°C in a large glass. Twenty minutes' air helps the garrigue and spice open; a short decant does no harm.

Where to Drink It

Brat in Shoreditch for its wood-fired cooking. Or Camille in Borough Market, whose French bistro plates love a southern red like this.

Food Pairings

Lamb kofte or merguez off the grill. A rich cassoulet is the cold-weather move.