Littore Family Wines Bonavita Merlot 2018 South Australia, Australia 75cl

Littore Family Wines traces its roots to a Sicilian farming family who became early movers in Australian wine, and today the business works from a Geelong base with fruit drawn across the warm inland stretches of south eastern Australia. Over the years the house has built its name on honest, accessible wines made in volume rather than showpiece bottlings, and that practical, farming-first outlook runs right through the range.

Bonavita is its everyday label, and this bottling is pure Merlot made for approachable drinking. Merlot is prized for exactly this kind of wine, a plump, rounded red that gives easy pleasure without demanding age or ceremony. The fruit here is picked and handled to keep the variety’s soft red-berry character to the fore, with structure kept gentle so the wine stays welcoming from the first glass.

The 2018 season across South Australia was warm and largely even, the kind of year that ripens Merlot fully and gives generous fruit with supple, unforced tannins. That easygoing profile suits the style Littore is after, and there is no hard edge to work around.

Expect red plum and a little dark cherry on the nose, a rounded medium-bodied palate of soft berry fruit, and tannins that sit lightly and never intrude. It is a wine to open and enjoy young rather than cellar, comfortable alongside a midweek roast, a bowl of tomato-based pasta, grilled sausages or a wedge of everyday cheese.

If you like Merlot for its warmth and drinkability rather than its weight, this fits the brief neatly. It is a straightforward, well-priced South Australian red that asks nothing of you but a corkscrew and good company, and rewards you with uncomplicated, fruit-driven enjoyment.