South America

What's not to like about South American wine? It can be innovative, packed with easy to understand flavours, has bright and fun labels and can be immense value for money.

Chile has seriously upped its quality game in recent years, and is constantly on the lookout for new vineyard sites, making the most of its climatic extremes to the north and south as it searches for cooler climates for grapes and as a result, more elegant wines.

Sauvignon Blancs and Chardonnays from Chile can be terrific as partners for seafood thanks to their minerality, texture and grapefruit crispness. Chile's Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons meanwhile, are usually crammed with dense black fruit.

Unlike Chile, Argentina relies heavily on one region, Mendoza, for its wine successes. The jewel in Mendoza's crown is Malbec, which makes wines thick with liquorice and blackcurrant fruit. Argentina's speciality white grape is the über-aromatic Torrontès. However, there are several successful red and whites coming from this country and like other countries and regions, it has successfully adopted varieties that are very much in fashion, like Tempranillo (main grape in Rioja) and Pinot Grigio from northern Italy. Like South Africa, the Fairtrade Foundation also plays an important part in Argentina's wine industry.