A fatty that'll survive chilling

2005 Ravenswood Lodi Zinfandel, California (£9.49, Majestic; £9.99 or buy 3 bottles and pay £6.65 each, Thresher; £8.69, Sainsbury's).

I know what you're thinking what the hell is Matthew doing writing up a Zin in August? Well, this might seem perverse, but there is a small amount of method in my blissful madness. Even though Zinfandel is a massive, meaty monster, it is also a very good wine when it comes to matching with chargrilled, marinated and barbecue-sauced food.

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Joel Peterson at Ravenswood is regarded as a Zin guru and the strange thing about this wine is that despite the fact that the fruit is all sourced from the brilliant district of Lodi (i.e. it is a few steps further up that ladder than his Vintners Blend which sells at £7.99), it is only a few pence more, or indeed a few pence less, depending on where you buy it. Crazy hey? But I did say there was some method here somewhere.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year

Matthew Jukes has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006.

He has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.