Why Portuguese red blends fly off the shelves | Hannah Crosbie on drinks

And why single varietals don’t do so well but blends do a roaring trade

It has come to my attention that I haven’t written a column dedicated to red wine in almost two months. So sue me – it’s been hot. Mercifully, though, temperatures look to be dropping soon, so we can once again cup the bowl of a wine glass without worrying about it getting a little warmer as its aromas unfasten.

To help us wean ourselves off sprightly rosés and buttery whites, let’s turn our heads to easy-drinking reds – and none are more easy to drink or of the moment than Portuguese red blends. These wines are uniquely indicative of the country’s winemaking history, with more than 250 native grapes (some of which have different names from region to region), but I’d wager that many of us wouldn’t be able to name many more than two of these indigenous varieties. To start with there’s the sumptuous baga, touriga nacional (widely considered to be Portugal’s fine red grape variety) and castelão, which yields a variety of styles, but that’s just a handful, and it’s very likely you’ve drunk one or all of them before.