JP. Chenet Cabernet Sauvignon 75cl

Dark-fruited Cabernet that doesn’t make you work for it. This French Cabernet Sauvignon leans into blackcurrant, plum, and a little peppery bite, then keeps the tannins rounded enough for actual weeknight drinking. If you like the idea of Cabernet but don’t want something that feels like homework, you’re in the right aisle.

• Appearance: Deep ruby red with a clear, bright edge, the kind of colour that already suggests dark fruit before you even sniff it.
• Nose: Blackcurrant leads, followed by ripe plum, red cherry, a touch of green bell pepper, and a subtle hint of spice.
• Palate: Dry and fruit-forward, with cassis, blackberry, and cherry sitting alongside soft herbal notes. The acidity keeps it lively, while the tannins feel gently grippy rather than mouth-drying.
• Body: Medium-bodied, which makes it flexible. Enough depth for dinner, not so heavy that one glass turns into a nap.
• Finish: Medium length, with dark berry fruit hanging around and a quiet pepper note at the end.
• Food pairings: Roast lamb with rosemary, beef burgers with caramelised onions, tomato-based pasta, or a hard cheese like aged cheddar.

This is a solid pick when you want red wine that behaves well with food. Pour it with grilled sausages, mushroom pizza, roast chicken with crispy skin, or that emergency pasta you somehow made taste impressive with garlic and tinned tomatoes.

Cabernet Sauvignon can go full serious mode, all structure and intensity. This one keeps the grape’s classic dark fruit and leafy character but brings it in a softer, more relaxed French style. Think less boardroom steakhouse, more Friday dinner with friends where nobody is pretending to detect forest floor.

That’s the useful thing here: it gives you the Cabernet markers people search for, blackcurrant, dry red wine, medium body, gentle tannins, without demanding a decanter, a steak knife, or a lecture. Chill it very slightly if your room is warm. Ten minutes in the fridge can make the fruit pop and keep the alcohol from shouting.

If you usually drink Merlot because it feels easy, this is a good next step. You’ll get a bit more bite, a bit more dark fruit, and a little savoury edge, but you won’t be thrown into a huge, oaky, tooth-staining monster. Baby steps into Cabernet. Good ones.

JP. Chenet has always been easy to spot, and not just because of the label. The brand’s curved-neck bottle was designed to look like old hand-blown glass, where no two shapes were perfectly straight. A little odd? Absolutely. Memorable? Very much.

Fun Fact: JP. Chenet launched in France in the 1980s and became famous for that tilted bottle shape, a tiny rebellion against the perfectly straight wine shelf.