One of the class acts of a landmark vintage

One of the class acts of a landmark vintage.Where from: Sainsbury’s, pounds 34.99; Bottoms Up, pounds 34.95.32996 SOUTH RIDGE CUVeE MERRET EnglandFrom Ridge View Estate at Ditchling Common in Sussex, this is one of those rare creatures: a high-quality English sparkling wine made from the champagne grapes chardonnay, pinot meunier and pinot noir. A cushion of pinprick bubbles waltzes on the palate, while the stunning fruit quality gives this creamily textured fizz an ethereal character. Despite the designer bottle, this malbec, from Argentina’s quality-conscious Catena group, exceeds expectations, with a deliciously juicy and succulent berry-fruit quality that brings Italy’s barbera to mind. The fresh, nippy, mulberry fruitiness is the perfect counterbalance to the olive oil-based richness of pasta or risotto dishes.Where from: pounds 4.99 at Sainsbury’s, Thresher Wine Shops, Victoria Wine, Wine Rack and Bottoms Up.3990 POL ROGER FranceDrawn from 8 grand and premier cru vineyards, with a blend of three- fifths pinot noir grapes and the balance chardonnay, this is a luxurious vintage champagne with a rich, delicately smoky-malty bouquet and infinite layers of tantalising, silky-rich bubbles. This is a refreshing and fragrantly exotic cocktail of crisp, tropical grapefruit and ripe, luscious, gooseberries with a sancerre-style nettley edge, made by Brett Jackson at San Pedro in Chile’s Lontue Valley.Where from: Morrisons, pounds 4.9; pounds 4.49 at Sainsbury’s, Safeway, Waitrose, Thresher Wine Shops, Victoria Wine, Wine Rack and Bottoms Up.30999 ARGENTO MALBEC ArgentinaA striking package can be a cover-up for something less than interesting Not so here. This youthful red, made by Adolfo Hurtado at Concha y Toro’s Cono Sur winery in Chimbarongo, is fermented to maximise the appealing sweet cassis-richness of the merlot grape, then subjected to a short maturation in French oak casks to add a note of spiciness to the blend.Where from: pounds 5.99, Asda.29999 35 SUR SAUVIGNON BLANC ChileIn a short space of time, Chilean sauvignon blanc has knocked spots off the competition for good value. It is fermented in stainless steel for optimum freshness, bringing out the delicate, buttery flavours of the chardonnay grape with just a touch of underlying nuttiness.Where from: pounds 6.99-7.49 at Fuller’s and Oddbins.28998 CONO SUR MERLOT RESERVE Colchagua, Rapel Valley ChileIt’s hard to beat good Chilean reds made from the merlot grape of Saint- Emilion and Pomerol renown.

This dry white is a good example from one of the best producers in the region: a crisp, well-defined, modern white burgundy. Made from the tempranillo grape and aged in small French and American oak casks, this is a silky, mature Gran Reserva showing good concentration and some of the leathery, almost aniseed-like characteristics of a decade of evolution in cask and bottle.Where from: pounds 3.99, Unwins.27998 SAINT-VERAN Domaine des Deux Roches FranceWell-made Saint-Veran has consistently proved the value alternative to Pouilly Fuisse, its better-known, neighbouring appellation in the Maconnais. Daniel Dampt has emerged as one of the finest modern exponents of great chablis, and this classic, and classy, bone-dry white of terrific character shows precisely why.Where from: Haynes, Hanson & Clark, pounds .60.26989 CAMPILLO RIOJA Gran Reserva SpainCampillo is a modern, pagoda-like Spanish winery and one of Rioja’s few estates to produce wine entirely from its own surrounding vineyards. Showing the first signs of maturity with its rich yellow-gold hue, this stylish dry white has an enticing bouquet of almonds and beeswax, while the grilled-nut, almost praline-like character follows through onto the palate. It’s intense, hugely rich, and becomes more honeyed by the minute.Where from: Bordeaux Direct, pounds 8.99.24996 ZINFANDEL BRANDLIN RANCH Mount Veeder, Napa Valley CaliforniaAt 4.4 per cent alcohol, this is a big boy by any normal standards – but then it’s impossible to judge wines made from California’s great heritage of zinfandel vines by normal standards.

From 70-year-old vines at Peter Franus’s mountain vineyard on Mount Veeder Powerful, this spicy, intensely flavoured red, with its sumptuously rich, brambly/loganberry flavours and well-judged oak, is a classic example of old-vine zinfandel from the Napa Valley.Where from: pounds 9.95, Selfridges and Uncorked.25998 CHABLIS ER CRU CoTE DE LECHET Daniel Dampt FranceThis is an ultra-stylish chablis from the premier cru site of Cote de Lechet, a wine with stonefruit and mineral aromas, and the extra richness of concentrated chardonnay grapes cut by a fine blade of steely, lemony acidity. But with its hints of strawberry, it still retains the classic bottle-developed flavours of brioche and toastiness.Where from: pounds .99 at Waitrose, Safeway, Thresher Wine Rack, Bottoms Up, Victoria Wine and Wine Cellar.23995 CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET er Cru Les Chenevottes, Prosper Maufoux FranceFrom the premier cru vineyards of Chassagne Montrachet in the Cote de Beaune, this is a luxurious white burgundy from the negociant company of Prosper Maufoux. Balanced proportions of champagne grapes, chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes from eight of Australia’s cooler regions create a wine with a little bit more richness than champagne at the same age. Up there with the best of the 990s.Where from: pounds 4.49-4.99 at Thresher, Wine Rack, Bottoms Up, Sainsbury’s and Oddbins.996 GREEN POINT VINEYARDS BRUT AustraliaMoet & Chandon’s Green Point is made by the “thinking woman’s winemaker”, the desirable Dr Tony Jordan. This hedonist’s delight from the superb 990 vintage is no exception. A blend of just over two-thirds pinot noir and nearly a third chardonnay, it has a classically toasty-rich bouquet with ambrosial nutty fruit flavours and a wonderfully creamy mousse that fills the mouth with a palette of bottle-matured flavour.

Lychee spicy, with some of the rose petal fragrance and citrus peel of the grape variety, this Hungarian dry white is equally fine on its own or with pate and smoked fish.Where from: Asda, pounds 3.79. Also available as: 998 Deer Leap Gewurztraminer (above), Waitrose, pounds 3.99; River View Gewurztraminer, Safeway, pounds 3.99; Family Reserve Gewurztraminer and Sainsbury’s, pounds 3.99.20998 L’ENCLOS DES CIGALES SYRAH Vin de Pays d’Oc FranceThe syrah grape ofthe northern Rhone is being planted to increasingly good effect in the South of France, where it is slowly replacing the workhorse grapes of yesteryear. A deep, vibrant ruby in colour, there’s plenty of ripe blackberry fruit and spice in this exciting Languedoc red; if it weren’t for the warm-climate robustness, you could almost imagine yourself in Crozes-Hermitage or St Joseph on the banks of the Rhone.Where from: Safeway, pounds 4.49.2990 BOLLINGER Grande Annee Brut FranceBollinger may be pricey, but it’s always powerfully flavoured. This is a deliciously supple example of finely crafted wild red-berry and mulberry fruit, lightly oaked to add spice and polish.Where from: pounds 6.99 at Wine Cellar, Fuller’s, Waitrose, Unwins and selected Tesco stores.9998 ASDA HUNGARIAN GEWURZTRAMINER HungaryAs this clean, fresh and fragrant dry white from the outstanding Neszmely co-operative demonstrates, Hungary’s northerly climate is perfectly suited to aromatic grape varieties like Alsace’s gewurztraminer. Situated in the Devon Valley near Stellenbosch, Seymour Pritchard’s Clos Malverne makes some of the best, and certainly best-value, pinotage in South Africa. Neatly balancing fresh melon and tropical fruit flavours with an oak-derived nuttiness and a refreshing grapefruit and lemon-crisp acidity, this fine dry white deservedly picked up an award as a Wine Challenge wine of the year.Where from: pounds 7.99 at Oddbins, Safeway, Waitrose, Victoria Wine, Thresher, Wine Rack and Bottoms Up.8998 CLOS MALVERNE PINOTAGE South AfricaSince its creation in 926 as a cross between pinot noir and cinsault, pinotage has become the nearest thing to the Cape’s own indigenous grape variety.