Château Mont-Redon, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2015

People don't tend to think about those who are having Christmas on their own or who are the only drinker – or red wine drinker – in the family. This deliciously mellow Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the excellent 2015 vintage would be the perfect treat for one such as this. You could even slip it into a stocking, though a whole case (at a very reasonable £138 for 12) would be even better.

The first three bottles showed really quite oxidative for a 2015. Full-bodied, and packed full of fruit, but quite pruny. They were better on the palate, with some freshness, but again really quite advanced for the vintage, with massy, soft tannins. A fourth bottle was quite jammy on the nose, good concentration, with fairly low acidity, but enjoyably unctuous fruit. Powerfully tannic still, so this needs more time in bottle, but not too long as the fruit is quite soft. The score and drinking dates are for the fourth bottle, but I would be wary with the 2015 vintage here, there is clearly considerable bottle variation. 50% aged in stainless steel tank, 50% 228-litre barrels (one quarter new), mostly from François Frères.