Red wines under £10
Aldi Toro Loco Tempranillo, Utiel-Requena, Spain 2011
(£3.59, Aldi)
There aren't all that many sub-£4 wines around these days, let alone drinkable ones, but this south-eastern Spanish red is a very decent buy, its sweet cherry-berry character and simple juicy freshness making it a very useful standby for unexpected guests – or if your party drinks more than you had bargained for.
Asda Extra Special Dão, Portugal 2010
(£5, reduced from £6.98, Asda)
A perennial favourite of mine with an offer price that makes for ridiculous value, this central Portuguese red has a lovely fragrant lift to its dark cherry and plum fruit, fresh acidity and a bit of tannic bite that works well with roasted meat, both white and red.
Viñalba Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 2010
(£6.79, The Co-operative)
Another consistent wine from this French-run Argentinian outfit, here is malbec in its juicy, unoaked incarnation. It has a great deal of deep dark plum, a little dark chocolate and ripe supple tannins, and while it's smooth enough to offer as a party wine with nibbles, it has enough power to cope with red meat dishes.
Domaine Les Yeuses 'Les Epices' Syrah, PGI Pays d'Oc, France 2010
(£8.99, or £7.49 if you buy two bottles, Majestic)
Domaine Les Yeuses have a remarkable knack for producing wines full of local southern French character and charm at really impressive prices. Like their excellent white vermentino (available for £6.50 at Lea & Sandeman), this aptly named spicy, liquorice-scented syrah is one of the biggest bargains on the high street.
Domaine de Briançon Chinon, Loire Valley, France 2010
(£8.99, Marks & Spencer)
A seam of leafy freshness runs through this very elegant cool-climate red, which has the deliciously crunchy texture of just ripe autumnal hedgerow fruit. With just a little time in the fridge, it is the perfect wine for enlivening the inevitable post-Christmas Day cold-cut lunches.
Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache, Barossa Valley, Australia 2011J
(£12.49, or £9.99 if you buy two bottles, Majestic)
Although it has a fairly heady 14.5% alcohol, there's nothing heavy or cumbersome about this supple, spicy and very juicy red from the impeccable Yalumba. Bright cherry and raspberry fruit open out into savoury pepper spice, in a succulent red that knocks spots off many a Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Kumeu River Village Pinot Noir, Auckland, New Zealand 2010
(from £8.95, The Wine Society; Bennetts Fine Wines; Ten Acre Wines)
Kumeu River is one of my favourite New Zealand producers, but their top wines, while good value for the quality, tend to be on the expensive side. This tender, fragrant, silky, light red is a bit of a boon, then, the Kumeu equivalent of a village burgundy at the price of a decent beaujolais.
Noster Nobilis la Perla del Priorat, Spain 2007
(£9.98, Asda)
Prices for the fashionable reds of cult Catalan region Priorat usually start where many other region's stop, so Asda has done well to secure this for under a tenner. It's a typically gutsy, meaty blend of grenache, carignan and cabernet sauvignon, with dried and fresh plum and a firm tannic backbone that will work well with the Boxing Day beef.
8 reds over £10
Willunga 100 The Olive Branch Cabernet Shiraz, McLaren Vale,Australia 2010
(£11.99, Tesco)
Although the classic Australian virtues of rich ripe blackcurrant and blackberry fruit are all in abundance here, this is not the stereotypically sweet and syrupy food-unfriendly blockbuster of yore. There's real crunch and grip to the tannins, and freshness too, to leaven the power.
Planeta Cerasuolo di Vittorio, IGT Sicilia, Italy 2010
(from £12.25 Noel Young Wines; Harper Wells; Tivoli Wines; Dorset Wine Company
A vividly fruity and elegant example of the new Sicily from Planeta, a producer that has helped switch the island's focus from gut-rotting plonk to some serious quality. A blend of the local nero d'avola and frappato varieties, its has real lightness of touch, positively singing with soft, juicy red fruit.
Beronia Rioja Reserva, Spain 1994
(£12.99, Majestic)
Majestic has just snapped up a bundle of mature rioja reservas, which it is selling at very reasonable prices over the Christmas period. They're all pretty good, but this is probably the best value: soft, savoury, leathery, with Asian spices and dried fruit, but still lively, fresh even, it's a remarkably complex and composed wine for the price.
Sottimano Dolcetto d'Alba Bric del Salto, Piemonte, Italy 2010
(£13.50, £11.95 as part of a case, Lea & Sandeman)
Dolcetto is generally seen as the uncomplicated sibling of the stately Piemontese classics, barolo and barbaresco. But this effortlessly drinkable example, while still offering all the joys of youthful pure black cherry fruit, has a little more to it, with an extra level of flavour and panache and just the right level of astringency to keep it food-friendly.
Karl H Johner Kaiserstuhl Pinot Noir, Baden Germany 2010
(from £13.50, The Wine Society; Fine and Rare)
One of the more unexpected fashions in wine in the past year or two has been the rise of German pinot noir, which has joined sherry, riesling and natural wine as the default vinous hipster choice. Here's a wine that helps explain why: with its pretty, perfumed red fruit and unforced, silky-slippery texture, it's gloriously fluent and pure.
Joseph Drouhin Chorey-lès-Beaune, Burgundy, France 2010
(£15.99, Waitrose)
Chorey-lès-Beaune is not one of Burgundy's more renowned appellations, but in the right hands it's capable of making some delightful pinot noir. This limpid, graceful example from the well-heeled merchant house of Joseph Drouhin, simply dances across the tongue leaving a trail of pure red fruit and gentle spice in its wake.
M Chapoutier Les Meysonniers Crozes-Hermitage,Rhône Valley, France 2010
(£15.99, Sainsbury's)
Easily the standout in a recent tasting of Sainsbury's selection of "fine" wines, this is a very tasty expression of the syrah grape variety from the northern Rhône Valley, the bright fresh blackberry and raspberry fruit infused with smoky bacon and black pepper in a savoury wine for red meat.
Weingut Moric Blaufrankisch Burgenland, Austria 2009
(£19.50, Fortnum & Mason
Brilliant – in all senses of the word – stuff from Moric, arguably Austria's finest red wine producer. Made from the Austrian variety blaufrankisch, and pitched in style somewhere between the spice and sinew of syrah and the silk of pinot noir, this has a vivid streak of wild cherry and darker black fruit that is all its own. One for the goose or richer Christmas birds.
4 reds over £20
Night Harvest John George Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Australia 2010
(£25, The Wine Society
Margaret River in Western Australia is the country's answer to Bordeaux, using the same grape varieties to fashion reds with a distinctive freshness and purity of fruit. From a producer I haven't come across before, this is one of the best I've tried recently – certainly at this price – its fragrant cassis elegantly framed in deftly handled oak.
Jorge Moreira Poeira, Douro, Portugal 2008
(£33.15, Berry Bros & Rudd)
In recent years the Douro Valley, home of port, has become one of Europe's most exciting red wine producers, crafting wines that manage to be at once powerful and elegant. That's certainly the case here – there's a deep well of black fruit and tannin, but there's lifted, almost floral aromas, too, in a seriously classy red.
Craggy Range Calvert Vineyard Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand 2010
(£40 as part of a case of six fine wines, majestic.co.uk)
The never less than interesting Craggy Range have here come up with a seamless and sumptuous pinot noir from Central Otago, the region on New Zealand's South Island that has become synonymous with the variety. A big waft of raspberry, cherry and brambly fruit, a touch of herbal freshness, a tender, seductive texture and a complete pleasure to drink.
David & Benjamin Duclaux Côte-Rôtie La Germine, Rhône Valley, France 2006
(from £40.25, Green & Blue Wines; vinetrail.co.uk)
Run by the titular Darnault brothers, this is a small estate on the rise in one of the Rhône's most prized appellations. As with all the best Rhône syrahs, the Darnault's example comes with a bloody-meaty umami streak, a lick of tar-and-liquorice, a wisp of smoke and some soft red and black fruit – a combination that would work very well with dark game and red meat.
