Aldi The Exquisite Collection Minarete Ribera del Duero, Spain
(£5.99, Aldi)
From the Ribera del Duero, home to some of Spain’s swankiest producers of polished, powerful red wines, this is a good bit of business from the über-discounter Aldi, a big-hearted, big-fruited wine at a small price with a core of damson and loganberry fruit and a winning streak of freshness.
Marks & Spencer Dolcetto d’Asti, Italy 2013
(Marks and Spencer £7)
Dolcetto is the everyday red wine of choice in the foodie paradise of northwestern Italy’s Piedmont region, and M&S’s version showcases its soft tannins and vivid, vibrant black cherry juiciness beautifully in a wine that works as both affordable party crowd-pleaser and match for dinners based on lighter game birds.
BEST VALUE: Taste the Difference Côtes du Rhône Villages, France 2013
(£7, Sainsbury’s)
With its fresh-off-the-bush brambly blackberry fruit, its liquorice and its peppery spice, year-in, year-out this textbook Rhône red blend from the esteemed producer Michel Chapoutier is a standout in the Sainsbury’s range, with extra levels of concentration and depth to match the Boxing Day roast beef.
Quinta dos Carvalhais Colheita Dão, Portugal 2010
(£8.99, Tesco)
Portugal’s Dão is one of the world’s most underrated wine region’s, its reds offering a similar mix of power, acidity and perfume that make northern Italian reds so thrilling, and generally at much lower prices. This is a steal at the price, offering plenty of Christmas dinner-ready structure and stuffing, but with a streak of violets to go with its dark fruit.
Extra Special Yarra Valley Pinot Noir, Victoria, Australia 2012
(£7.99, Asda)
Made by the De Bortoli family in the Yarra Valley, one of Australia’s cooler-climate hotspots, this is superb value for pinot noir, a variety that rarely shines under a tenner, all soft raspberry and strawberry and orange citrus, it’s light and juicy and, with a little chill, is great with leftover cold cuts.
Root 1 Carmenère, Colchagua, Chile 2013
(£8.99, Morrisons)
In the 20 years since it was rediscovered in vineyards across the country, Chilean winemakers such as Viña Ventiquesero have really got to grips with the carmenère variety, which, blended here with a dollop of syrah, offers sumptuous, bright cassis fruit with a freshening leafy-herbal streak for red meat.
Trizanne Signature Wines Shiraz/Grenache, Swartland, South Africa 2013
(£9.99 Waitrose)
Sourcing fruit in two of the country’s most exciting regions – coastal Elim and, in this case, Swartland – Trizanne Barnard is one of South Africa’s brightest young winemaking stars. This full-flavoured Rhône-style red carries its herb-accented dark red fruit with a characteristically silky lightness of touch.
Pizarras de Otero, Bierzo, Spain 2013
(£9.99, or £6.66 if you buy two bottles, majestic.co.uk)
For pepping up those post-Christmas, pre-New Year’s Eve cold cut dinners, or for any party or gathering where chorizo and charcuterie are in play, this reliably juicy northwestern Spanish red has the mencía variety’s beguiling mix of lightly grippy tannins, juicy cherry acidity, subtle earthiness and plum-skin tang.
Altos Las Hormigas Malbec Classico, Mendoza, Argentina 2013
(£10.56, slurp.co.uk)
Too many producers in Argentina tend to gild the lily of their malbec with masses of oak and over-ripe fruit, but the Italo-Argentine partnership of Altos Las Hormigas consistently gets the right balance between plump plum and cherry fruit and chocolatey richness, which is here topped off with arresting floral perfume in a succulent crowd-pleaser for the big day.
Domaine La Borie Blanche Terroirs d’Altitude Minervois La Livinière, France 2008
(£10.99, or £8.24 if you buy two bottles, majestic.co.uk)
As ever with Majestic, this really comes into its own at the two-bottle price, but even at just shy of £11 this is a classy, evocative, mature southern French red, full of liquorice and pepper-accented brambly fruit, ripe, smooth tannins and a meaty savoury quality that makes this a fine affordable alternative to that Christmas dinner favourite, Châteuneuf-du-Pape.
Feiler-Artinger Blaufränkisch, Burgenland, Austria 2013
(£11.29, Waitrose)
Austrian whites are now well-established in the UK; Austrian reds are harder to find. But for something a little bit different over Christmas – and why just stick to the classics? – this syrah-like example of the local blaufränkisch is brisk and earthy, with peppers, herbs and vivid red fruit.
Château Beaumont Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux 2010
(£14.50, thewinesociety.com)
Delicious, crowd-pleasing Bordeaux that makes the most of one of the great recent vintages in the region to offer plenty of plump but bright cassis fruit, smooth, polished tannins, a touch of graphite and cedar and some classically appetising mineral acidity. Will cope with any festive meat, from game bird to turkey to beef.
CVNE Rioja Reserva Imperial Spain, 2008
(£14.99, The Co-operative)
Rioja is one of a handful of Old World classic wines that is considered a Christmas dinner must in some families, and CVNE is a name that never disappoints, in this case providing a classically styled blend where the fresh blackberry and cherry fruit is just beginning to take on the savoury flavours of age against a backdrop of sweet oak.
Escarpment The Edge Pinot Noir, Martinborough, New Zealand 2013
(£14.99, Waitrose)
Larry McKenna was a pioneer who helped establish Martinborough at the forefront of New Zealand pinot noir production. His wines continue to exhibit a soft-shoed complexity and earthiness that stands out from an increasingly crowded field, and this raspberry fruited, bergamot-scented, multilayered red is a silky, seductive partner for game birds.
Sesti Monteleccio, Italy 2011
(£15.99, armitwines.co.uk)
From a fine producer of the great Tuscan heavyweight Brunello di Montalcino, this is a lighter, racier but still quite sumptuous take on the sangiovese grape with a core of oregano-edged bright cherry, deliciously brisk sour cherry acidity and supple tannins for pink lamb with rosemary, garlic and anchovies.
Jean-Paul Thévenet Morgon Vieilles Vignes, Beaujolais, France 2013
(£19.95, robersonwine.com)
From one of the founding estates of the “nowt put in, nowt taken out” natural wine movement that helped to reinvent Beaujolais as a wine region to be taken seriously, this is a gloriously supple, vibrant red for the turkey, the old vines bringing depths of savoury seriousness to go with the deep wild berry fruit and fine tannins.
Spinifex Esprit, Barossa Valley, 2009
(£25, caviste.co.uk)
Full-blooded (14.5% abv) as this classic Barossa Valley blend of mataro (aka mourvèdre), grenache, shiraz, carignan and cinsault may be, it also gives the lie to the idea that big Aussie reds are all brawn and no brain; there’s plenty of stuffing here, but there’s complexity too, with wild herb, pepper spice and aniseed to go with the fresh berry fruit.
Musella Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva 2008
(£34.99, virginwines.co.uk)
If you like the medicinal richness of port but would prefer something both lighter in alcohol and a little drier of a Christmas evening, unfortified amarone is a fine northern Italian alternative. Made from dried grapes, Musella’s luxuriously velvety version is full of kirsch and bitter chocolate.
Domaine Taupenot-Merme Chambolle-Musigny, Burgundy, France 2011
(£36, H2Vin.co.uk)
Super-graceful, racy and with that delightful mix of pure red fruit and subtle mossy forest-floor aromas that makes Burgundian pinot noir so alluring, this would go very nicely with a game-based Christmas meal right now, but would also be a great gift for a wine-loving loved one to stash away in a cool dry place.
Giuseppe Mascarello S Stefano di Perno Barolo 2009
(£56, thewinesociety.com)
A fine vintage, a fine producer and a very fine expression of the nebbiolo grape variety add up to an exceptional wine if you’re looking to push the boat out this Christmas, the pure cherry and plum shaded with roses and violets, the tannins typically firm but succulent and ready for food.
