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.

The trick here is to only ever chill reds that have a load of fruit in the first place, and this wine certainly has that. Cold inhibits fruit in wine (white and red), so skinnier wines lose all of their flavour when served ice cold. Start with a fatty and you will do well.

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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