Society Reds Case

For more than 50 years, Les Vins Aujoux have been the source of our Society-label Beaujolais. Many members will also have tried the fruits of The Society’s work with this excellent Beaujolais-based négoce in the form of our bestselling white wine, The Society’s White Burgundy. Négoces buy wines from local growers, and they have had a huge part to play in the recent history of Beaujolais; and for all its apparent simplicity, this is a complicated region. Having such a long and trusted relationship allows us to pick and choose, often blending together from different estates to make a wine that best reflects the fruity joy of Beaujolais through the lens of that particular vintage.

Dark and brimming with hedgerow fruit and a touch of spice, this is a full-bodied wine from the rugged Corbières landscape. Syrah is the principal grape alongside carignan, mourvèdre and grenache. An excellent choice for a wide variety of foods, from hearty stews to a very meaty pizza or even a hit of chilli.

Rioja is Spain's pre-eminent wine region, renowned for its graceful, stylish wines, mainly from the tempranillo grape. The Society's Rioja is made in the classic, traditional style that Society members so adore. It is an exclusive blend from the team behind Cosme Palacio, located in Laguardia of Rioja Alta. Blended from a selection of their best barrels, this comforting crianza spends 15 months in a combination of French and American oak, which gives it its signature vanilla, savoury, spicy character. The fruit is juicy and polished with dark plums and red cherries. No wonder members keep coming back for more! The label for this member favourite pays homage to the cooperage tools that are used to make the traditional vessels the wine is aged in, which is so important to achieving this beloved style.

Pinotage takes the lead in this fresh and spicy Cape Blend of young Stellenbosch syrah with older bush-vine pinotage from Swartland. The grapes were lightly crushed and gently handled in the cellar to produce a dark-cherry-flavoured red with approachable tannins. This still-youthful wine benefits from a decant two hours before serving. Certified by the Wine & Agricultural Ethical Trade Association and Integrated Wine Production organisation, Radford Dale go the extra yard to make themselves more sustainable, and we’re delighted to name them a Wine Society Pioneer for their efforts. They farm their Elgin vineyards organically and they follow a low-interventionist approach in the winery, stating ‘If it's not in the grape, it's not in the wine’. Of their two wineries, one is entirely off grid and uses only rainwater for its needs and has a wetland purification system while the other operates 50% on solar power. They compost vineyard waste, recycle other materials as much as they can. Biodiversity is encouraged, with ducks eating unwanted snails, raptor perches installed and seeding wildflowers and allowing some weeds to flourish. In the community, their Land of Hope scheme has been running 20 years, with 50% of profits put in a trust for the education of children of staff from maternity onwards.

A 2026 Wine Champion, this cherry-laden Italian favourite is now made for us by Contesa, whose above-and-beyond efforts in sustainability have earned them a place in our new Society’s Pioneers range. ‘Pure charm’ was the verdict here – if you haven’t tried it since it switched to its new source, we think you’ll like it! One of our Wine Society Pioneers, Contesa is rated in the top 100 most sustainable companies by their local government agency. They use pheromones to confuse local vine moths when they're mating as an alternative to chemical pest control, encourage wildflowers and grasses to attract pollinators and built a solar power plant on their winery roof which currently generates 50kW and covers 60% of their energy needs, and plan to build another 30kW of panels that will bring this up to 80%. Furthermore, Contesa use bottles produced entirely within Italy and of at least 58% recycled glass to reduce their carbon footprint.

Langhorne Creek is one of South Australia’s most historic, yet perhaps lesser-known wine regions, producing classically styled, high-quality shiraz at remarkably attractive prices, making it the perfect source for a Society wine. With its rich and colourful history, Langhorne Creek stalwarts Bleasdale Wines is one of the oldest wineries in Australia. Quality and consistency lie at the heart of all they do. From the outset, the ambition for this wine has been to create a shiraz that punches well above its price, delivering all the generous fruit and classic character you would expect from Australia’s signature red grape, but with a depth and complexity that sets it apart from its peers. The result is a superb benchmark for Australian shiraz, offering exceptional quality and character at a price that makes it all the more appealing.

From a high-quality, coolish vintage, this is impressive cedary, fine-flavoured, partially oak-matured cabernet offering excellent value for money. Concha y Toro are a leader in more sustainable working practices in Chile, with strategies to reduce energy and water use, environmental projects including increasing biodiversity, and many local community initiatives.

This friendly and fresh-tasting claret is one of The Wine Society`s most consistently popular wines. Supplied for over a quarter of a century by family-owned Maison Sichel, the bespoke blend varies from vintage to vintage, but merlot takes the lead role, and the wine is made without any oak to avoid masking its bright, red and black-fruit flavours. This is made to be drunk young, on its own or with a wide variety of dishes. The label for this perennial favourite shows three muses that can also be seen on the Grand Theatre opera house in Bordeaux itself.

This is a pinot to delight the senses: fresh, round and fruity with a hint of cherry and plenty of charm. Finding a good pinot noir under £10 is one of the Holy Grails of wine. Thanks to the sterling work of Jean-Marc Darbon (Maison Aujoux), who travels extensively throughout the south of France to source the best raw material, we are able to come up with a wine with real pinot noir character year after year. Much of it is sourced from around Limoux, which works well in years of heatwaves. Best drunk a little cool.

Portugal has been going from strength to strength at The Society, as more and more members discover the exceptional value its wines offer. Buyer Freddy Bulmer tells the story of this wine: ‘When I took over the Portugal range, I was introduced to Vinhos Invincible, an exciting newer Douro project from South African winemaking superstar Marc Kent and local winemaker Rita Marques. Though we were working with them at the time, this was my first time tasting the wines and I was immediately impressed. Keen to get these wines into the hands of more members, I spoke to Marc (who is also technical director at iconic South African estate Boekenhoutskloof) about how we could build on our existing relationship. Marc suggested creating a Society’s Douro Red and, after discussing the quality and price we wanted to achieve, we found a way to make it happen. The Douro is already familiar to many for its world-famous Ports, but its superb red table wines deserve just as much attention. Made predominantly from Portugal’s native touriga nacional, alongside a traditional field blend of other local varieties, this wine captures the character and personality of the region beautifully. It is an authentic taste of the Douro, made by one of the most talented winemaking teams working in Portugal today, and offers remarkable value.’

We’ve been blending this malbec with the legendary Susana Balbo, one of Argentina’s leading winemakers, since 1999. Along the way, we’ve established a strong mutual understanding of what this wine should be: a style that showcases the grape’s beautiful dark fruit, rather than relying on the heavy oak often found on supermarket shelves. We believe the best malbecs are fresh and fruit-driven, often coming from higher-altitude vineyards, with floral notes adding another dimension. Our relationship with Susana means we’re able to draw on some remarkable fruit. We review the blend each year to get the best result we can. In this vintage, the fruit comes predominantly from Paraje Altamira, one of Argentina’s ‘grand cru’ sites, where limestone-rich soils bring minerality and complexity. The vineyard here is the same one that goes into Susana’s top-flight ‘Signature’ wines, meaning that members get a cut-above malbec at a superb price.

Classic zinfandel from California, with cherry and sarsaparilla on the nose, wild strawberry and redcurrant coming through on the full yet soft palate and sweet vanilla and mixed spice on the finish. On the palate, it`s full-bodied and satisfying, and makes a great partner for Mediterranean-style cooking, grilled meats, dishes where herbs play a prominent role, burgers or even curry: the perfect house red! Fruit from old bush vines is used to make this wine, yielding less but with grapes of higher concentration. These gnarled and knotted old vines are more abundant in California than almost anywhere else in the world and deserve their place on the label of our zin.