Joelle Thomson's Amazing Value Picks: The exotic reds mix

Holidays can be exotic but if you’re not travelling far from home this summer, one of the easiest ways to tap into an interesting new vibe is in your wine glass, as the following top drops show. These wines are made from interesting grape varieties that may be big in other countries but are lesser known here at home. We’re talking Zinfandel, Petit Verdot, Garnacha, Dolcetto, Barbera and Montepulciano. These names are familiar to many wine drinkers and these wines over deliver in quality, particularly given their modest prices. They are the tip of the weird and wonderful iceberg of interesting, tasty summer red wines. I hope you enjoy them. 2017 BelColle Barbera d’Alba DOC 17.5/20, 4 stars This lively dry red is made from Barbera - one of Italy’s five most popular grape varieties and one of the 15 most planted grapes in the world, so it’s a wonder we don’t see more of it. Barbera’s signature flavours are freshness and vibrant zingy red berry appeal. This wine is medium bodied and refreshing in taste, so makes a great summer red. View here. 2014 EOS Estate Zinfandel 16.5/20, 3.5 stars Paso Robles is home to this big softie made from the juicy, richly flavoursome Zinfandel grape (also known as Primitivo in the south of Italy). It’s a dry wine with strong fruity flavours and much needed balance of acidity which adds freshness and length of flavour. View here. 2016 Kingston Estate Riverland Petit Verdot 17.5/20, 4 stars This is a deliciously different Australian red, made from the deepy coloured Petit Verdot grape, a key ingredient in the great red wines of Bordeaux, in south west France. Spicy, dark fruit and a smooth, silky mouthfeel mean that this wine over delivers on flavour massively for this modest price. Great buying. 2014 Piqueras Garnacha Tintorera 17.5/20, 4 stars Garnacha is the Spanish name for the popular soft, smooth Grenache grape. This one comes from the Almansa DO – a wine region in the provice of Albacete in Castile-La Mancha. It’s a big, juicy Spanish red with body to burn and deep rich fruit flavours. Extremely easy to enjoy now and great value for money. View here. 2017 BelColle Dolcetto d’Alba DOC 17.5/20, 4 stars Dolcetto comes from north west Italy and is a seductively soft fruity red with low acidity, which makes it a crowd pleaser. This wine lives up to its reputation, over delivering smooth velvety flavours at an affordable price. Dolcetto has declined by 18% since 2000 to make way for higher priced wines in its home region, so grab a bottle or two. View here. 2017 Signore Giuseppe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 16.5/20, 3.5 stars Montepulciano originally comes from central Italy’s Abruzzo region but it grows in a wide range of regions throughout the country, producing fruity, full bodied, dry and spicy red wines with loads of character and (usually) a pretty modest price. This spicy red is soft and smooth. Great drinking year round. View here. Joelle Thomson is a wine writer, journalist and author. She’s an avid lover of wine and currently writes for Capital magazine, Good magazine, NZ Winegrower, Drinksbiz, and her own site, www.joellethomson.com. She also teaches, works in radio, and more, so we've enlisted her help to sniff out our amazing value wines!