Three of the best Italian red wines

Pasqua Passimento, IGT Veneto, Italy 2013 (£11.99, or £7.99 if you buy two bottles, majestic.co.uk) Generally speaking, the taste of raisins is not a good thing in red wines. It tends to come with spirity alcoholic heat and a lack of zip. I do, however, have a soft spot for wines made from raisins, especially those from the traditional home of the technique around Verona in Valpolicella. At their best these wines are sumptuously fleshy, big in alcohol, but balanced with vibrant acidity; deep in colour but deeply distinctive in dark cherry and chocolate flavour. At its offer price of £7.99 for the next couple of weeks, Pasqua’s version is a robust, sweetly spicy, good-value introduction.

Cantina di Soave Cadis Amarone della Valpolicella, Italy 2011 (£14.99, Morrisons) The Valpolicella region has a variety of recipes for its red wines. Straight valpolicella uses undried grapes in wines that can be delightfully light, sappy and juicy (such as Corte Sant’Alda Ca’Fui 2013, £16.50, laywheeler.com), while valpolicella ripasso uses a portion of dried grapes to add weight – try Adalia Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore 2011 (£19.95, robersonwine.com). Best of all are the wines known as amarone, made entirely from grapes allowed to raisin in special drying lodges after harvest: Morrisons’s velvet-gloved own label is the pick of the supermarket bunch.

Le Salette La Marega Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, Italy 2011 (£45.75, Lea & Sandeman, leaandsandeman.co.uk) Amarone producers have tried to rein in the alcohol in recent years, but the unusual production process means their wines will always be more alcoholic than others (sometimes as high as 16.5%). This is the sort of wine that works better at the end of an evening than the beginning, best enjoyed with a hunk of parmesan and a book at hand. Le Salette’s La Marega (15%), with its suavely presented layers of dark cherry, chocolate and savoury meatiness, is what the Italians call a vino di meditazione – a real treat for slow-sipping reflection.