Fruity red wines

It's getting cooler out and, alas, my favorite white wines no longer seem appropriate for the season. My sadness diminishes, though, as I pop open a bottle of fruit-filled red wine and get warm from the inside out.

When I call these wines "fruity," I mean it in the sense of bold, (wo)manly fruit flavor. These are all perfectly drinkable on their own for warming yourself up, but they pair great with filling meals like chili, lasagna, steak and mushrooms.

These are all fairly recent discoveries of mine, so I'm eager to hear what you think. I'm listing them in order of character, lightest to most full-bodied.

Baron Philippe de Rothschild Pinot Noir -- I don't love French pinots as a general rule, but this one has much more fruit than your typical earthy French pinot. And pretty much anything with the Rothschild name is worth trying once. About $10/bottle

Juan Gil Monastrell -- The monastrell wines from Spain, as L can attest, are my new obsession. There is a younger generation of winemakers in Spain just beginning to distribute product worldwide, and this (as most Spanish wines are) is a fantastic value. Lovely berry fruit with a smooth finish. $7-10/bottle That's not a typo! What a deal.

Layer Cake Shiraz -- We have had a bottle of this in the house every week for the past couple months. L is fixated on this one, and rightfully so. It is smooth and creamy, with fruity pepper and almost smoky flavors. You will just want it to sit in your mouth, it's so good. About $10-12/bottle

Trapiche Malbec -- Argentinians know something about macho red wines. Malbecs are fairly new on the scene in the U.S. in the past five to seven years. They are so well-rounded, you can pick out almost any flavor in a good malbec. This is my go-to malbec, great with a meaty dinner -- or better yet, South American cuisine. About $10-12/bottle

Maipe Malbec -- I just had this last week for the first time, and I was about knocked over by the fruity nose and the jammy flavor. Even for a malbec, it was so multidimensional. It would be great with dinner, but I liked it after dinner to absorb all the fruity flavor on its own. And it's darn near a steal. About $8-10/bottle