Under £10
Mauregard Bordeaux, France 2010 (£5.99, Marks & Spencer)
For many people, Christmas dinner still means claret (aka red bordeaux), but it's rare to find a decent example under a tenner. Marks & Sparks deserve considerable credit, then, for sourcing this juicy merlot-dominated bargain, with its classic favours of cassis and pencil-lead, and its crunchy texture.
Pasico Old Vine Monastrell Shiraz, Jumilla, Spain (£5.99, Sainsbury's)
Hot, remote Jumilla, a couple of hours inland from Valencia, is blessed with ample stocks of gnarly old monastrell (aka mourvèdre) vines that make distinctive, powerful reds full of dried plum and wild herb flavours. This example, which has been plumped up with shiraz, has far more character, texture and depth than you'd expect at this price.
Marks & Spencer Nerello Mascalese, Belice Valley, Agrigento, Sicily (£5.99, Marks & Spencer)
If you're a fan of the sort of immediately appealing, youthful succulence you find in good beaujolais, you'll love this vibrant Sicilian red. Bright, perfumed red and black berry fruit, soft tannins and winningly racy acidity make this the ideal choice for post-Christmas cold cuts.
Tesco Finest Argentina Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 2010 (£6.49, Tesco)
A reliable favourite from Tesco's Finest range, this chunky but aromatic malbec from top Argentinian producer Catena Zapata is just made for Boxing Day roast beef. Scented fresh black cherry and dark plum, a touch of spice, fresh acidity and soft tannins make for a plush and polished red.
Ramos Reserva, Alentejo, Portugal 2010 (£8.49, or £6.99 if you buy two bottles, Majestic)
STAR BUY Made by the very gifted João Portugal Ramos, this excellent Portuguese red blend held its own remarkably well in a tasting line-up that also included a handful of very classy and expensive riojas. With its juicy black fruit, savoury and spicy oak and lively acidity, it's plump but fresh and great value.
Bodegas y Viñedos Monteabellón Avaniel Tempranillo, Ribera del Duero, Spain 2010 (£7.50 The Wine Society)
All too often, the wines of Ribera del Duero are too much like hard work, with the fruit straining to get out from under all the expensive new oak barrels used to make them. Not here, though. Entirely oak-free this is an explosively fruit-driven red, with an attractive spicy, herbal and aniseed-bitter twist.
Anakena Single-Vineyard Deu Pinot Noir, Leyda Valley, Chile 2009 (£7.99, reduced from £9.99, until 30 January, 2012, Majestic)
Chilean pinot noir has come a long way since plantings have switched to cooler climate sites such as the Leyda Valley. This example doesn't quite have the silk and sophistication of top burgundy, but it still makes for a very charming, approachably soft, sweet red fruit-scented match for a festive roast bird.
Asda Extra Special Crozes-Hermitage, Rhône, France, 2008 (£8.17, Asda)
Some wines are all about fresh primary fruit. Others are delicious for their savoury character, and this wine definitely falls into the latter category: an uncompromisingly authentic, supple northern Rhône syrah, that is all about meaty, spicy flavours; like a juicy, bloody peppered steak.
From £10 to £20
Wirra Wirra Church Block, McLaren Vale, Australia 2009 (£11.99, The Co-operative, Waitrose; £12.95, The Wine Society)
Blending cabernet sauvignon with equal parts shiraz and merlot, this well-made Aussie red seduces with its luxuriously pure blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, its dusting of vanilla oak and its sheer concentration of flavour. A nibble of tannin gives it texture, grip and red meat-friendliness.
Beronia Dos Maderas Rioja Reserva, Spain, 2006 (£13.99, or £9.99 if you buy two bottles 21 Nov-30 Jan, Majestic)
The "dos maderas" of the title refers to the two types of wood – French and American – used in the ageing of this very fine Rioja. Wonderfuly mellow and relaxed with traditional notes of coconut from the oak, it has a savoury underpinning to the ample and quite lush red fruit.
Domaine Besson Le Haut Colombier, Givry, Burgundy, France 2009 (£14.99, Waitrose)
From one of Burgundy's lesser-spotted appellations (it's in the Côte Chalonnaise, south of Beaune), this is a particularly pretty and fragrant pinot noir. Racy, lithe, light and refreshing, it is full of ripe strawberries and raspberries, and is a worthy contender for Christmas dinner red.
Gérard Marula Le Haut Midi, Touraine, Loire, France 2009 (£17.75, Green & Blue Wines)
A so-called natural wine, meaning it was made with minimal intervention in the winery (including no added sulphur), this blend of cabernets franc and sauvignon with grolleau, is joyously alive with singing floral-edged raspberry fruit and a kind of spicy succulence. It would work beautifully with red meat and dark game.
De Martino Single Vineyard Old Bush Vines Las Cruces, Cachapoal Valley, Chile 2008 (£17.99, Virgin Wines)
From a set of very old (for Chile) malbec and carmenère vines in the Cachapoal Valley, this is one of Chile's most exciting red wines. Spicy, briary hedgerow fruit and nicely firm tannins combine in an inky, dense but impressively vibrant red for red meat and cold evenings.
GD Vajra Langhe Nebbiolo, Piedmont, Italy 2009 (£18.40, slurp.co.uk; £21.50, Philglas & Swiggot)
If you love barolo but can't stretch to the £40-plus where the truly great examples start, then this brilliant red, while no sane person's idea of cheap, offers the haunting charm of the nebbiolo grape in more accessible form. Gently perfumed with rose-petal and raspberry, it needs food to soften the firm but refined tannins and pronounced acidity.
Churton Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand (£19.95, Berry Bros & Rudd)
STAR BUY One of New Zealand's top pinot noirs, made by an English expat using biodynamic methods, this is a beautifully unforced, gentle and aromatic red. The palate is silky and gymnast-supple, the fruit pure and aromatic with raspberries and a hint of violet. Churton's sauvignon blanc, also available at Berry Bros, is excellent, too.
Quinta do Noval 20 Year Old Tawny Port, Douro, Portugal (37.5cl, £19.75, Waitrose, Tesco)
While vintage port develops in bottle after spending two years in oak barrels, tawny port gets its character from extended time in wood, in this case an average of 20 years. From one of the great port houses, this very complex example has intense sweet walnut-cake flavours, plus a hint of umami savouriness and an endless finish.
Over £20
Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas Port, Douro, Portugal 2001 (£25 reduced from £28 until 30 January, 2012, Majestic; £27.99, Uncorked; £28.40, Tanners)
Made in years when the port houses don't make a vintage port, single-quinta (single-estate) ports are nonetheless very fine wines in their own right, and considerably cheaper. From Taylor's best estate, this is a charming wine: aromatically floral on the nose with unfathomable depths of sweet dark fruit and a discreetly purring power.
Château Les Ormes de Pez, Cru Bourgeois, St-Estèphe, Bordeaux 1995 (£35, Majestic)
From the same stable as the very smart bordeaux-classed growth Château Lynch-Bages, this is a perfectly mature Christmas claret from a chateau that regularly outshines its relatively lowly cru bourgeois ranking. There's some strikingly pure blackcurrant fruit alongside developed savoury notes, a touch of graphite and a mellow smoothness.
Cornas Domaine Clape, Rhône, France 2006 (£39.95, Yapp Bros)
STAR BUY A stunning wine, this, one of the best syrahs in the world, but at a much lower price than wines of comparable quality from more famous northern Rhône appellations or Australia. It's still young, dark and concentrated with blackberry, liquorice and black pepper, plus a gorgeously supple, sinewy palate.
Domaine Joseph Roty Gevrey-Chambertin Champs-Chenys 2006 (£42.95, Roberson)
Red burgundy is the world's most frustrating wine style, always expensive but offering as many misses as hits. When it works, however, it's unbeatable for its grace and sensuous appeal, and this really does work: gorgeously scented with wild strawberry, the palate is graceful, impeccably balanced and silkily supple.
