10 Budget Wines Under £6

White

2008 Nederburg Chardonnay Viognier, Paarl, £4.99, reduced to £3.99, until 6 January, Waitrose.

From Nederberg, as much an institution as a Cape winery, this is a modern South African blend made mainly from chardonnay, with just a touch of viognier to add peachy notes to the juicy fresh flavours,, all neatly rounded out with a touch of light toasty oak. With so much going on, you wonder how they can cram so much in at its bargain festive period price.

2007 Enclos des Pins Chardonnay, Foncalieu, £5.99, Marks & Spencer.

From Foncalieu in southern France’s sprawling vine ocean of the Languedoc-Roussillon comes this little oasis of pleasure, a finely crafted unoaked chardonnay, whose cellar craft uses the stirring of the grape lees to add complex flavours to the juicy fruit quality of the ripe and opulent chardonnay, all in all creating an excellent value chablis-meets-the-Mediterranean dry white.

2008 Ken Forrester Tesco South African Reserve Chenin Blanc, £4.69, Tesco.

Not only is restaurateur and bon viveur Ken Forrester one of the characters of the Cape wine scene, but he’s also one of the South African wine industry’s most loyal supporters of its tradition of chenin blanc and, as this deliciously fruity example with its fresh apples and pears-like fruitiness and honeyed undertones suggests, he’s a pretty good winemaker too who can deliver on value. If you like this, try his voluptuously Vouvray-like 2007 The FMC Chenin Blanc, £16.99.

2008 Asda New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, £5.43, Asda.

If you’re after a taste of New Zealand’s pungent sauvignon blanc at a fraction of the price of some of the better known brands, this modestly priced New Zealand dry white from the Winegrowers of Ara is classic Marlborough in style with the telltale grassy-cum-elderflower scents of the grape variety complemented by an abundance of juicy ripe gooseberry and passion fruit flavours and a bracing zip and zing on the aftertaste.

2007 Tagus Creek Chardonnay Fernão Pires, £5.19, Tesco.

This is a distinctive Portuguese blend from Falua in the Ribatejo region whose winemaker, Antonina Barbosa, ably abetted by Kiwi Master of Wine Sam Harrop, has successfully combined the opulent, lightly buttery flavours of the chardonnay grape with the more distinctively rustic and sharp native fernão pires variety in a winning marriage that delivers plenty of flavour for the price, and attractive balancing freshness.

Red

2006 Co-op Bin 99 Argentine Cabernet Franc Reserve, £4.49, down from £5.99, The Co-operative.

Somewhat grandly re-styling itself The Co-operative these days instead of the good old Co-op we know and, er, love, the wine selection is as good as ever when it comes up with reds like this fresh, leafy cabernet franc from Chile’s San Juan region, an opulent vino tinto fino whose capsicum-like aromas and juicy blackcurrant fruit flavours give it the feel of a Loire Valley Chinon in Argentina.

2007 Grenache Noir, Herve Sabardeil, Vin Divin, £5.99, Marks & Spencer.

Not just any grenache…. But Marks & Spencer’s extremely well-sourced southern French grenache from the quite obviously multi-talented Herve Sabardeil (also responsible for the good value White Grenache), who’s produced a vivid, enticingly spicy mulberry and cherryish red whose bright juicy fruitiness makes this an everyday glugging delight.

2007 Yali Winemakers Selection Cabernet Carmenère, Rapel Valley, £5.99, buy 2 = £4.79, Xmas special 25 November to 5 January, £4.99, buy 2 = £3.99, Majestic.

Combining the Bordeaux grape cabernet sauvignon with Chile’s own spicier carmenère, Yali has come up with a winning combination of gluggy blackcurranty fruitiness tinged with the herbaceous borders of slightly minty, lightly spicy carmenère, which, at Majestic’s special one-off Christmas pricing makes irresistible sense if you’re hunting for a suitable party or everyday red.

2006 The Society’s Chilean Pinot Noir, Leyda, £5.95, The Wine Society (01438 741177; thewinesociety.com).

Worth the £40 joining fee alone (and for new members joining before 31 December) to get your hands on a case of this supreme value Chilean pinot noir, whose aromas and flavours of raspberry and black cherry with a lovely succulent juiciness, reflect the cool climate Pacific-influenced origins of what is surely one of the best value pinot noirs on the market. Only Chile can do pinot noir of this value.

2007 Castillo La Paz Tempranillo / Syrah, £5.99, La Mancha, Waitrose.

The rain in Spain rarely falls on the windmill-strewn plain of La Mancha, one of Europe’s biggest, driest and most traditional patches of vineyard, but there’s been a revival here that’s seen wines like this new-wave blend of the native tempranillo with France’s syrah come up with wines like this bright and juicy, strawberryish tinto, whose touch of sweetness on the palate is nicely complemented by its fresh aftertaste.

10 Wines Under a Tenner

White

2007 Spinyback Pinot Gris, Nelson, New Zealand, £9.99, or £6.66 buy two get one free, Wine Rack.

This is a delicious example of new-wave pinot gris, the Alsace grape variety, from Nelson on the north-western side of New Zealand’s South Island. It’s extremely rich and concentrated with lovely fresh pear and spice characters and a honeyed opulence, and while it’s powerful stuff (weighing in at 14.5 per cent alcohol), it wears its alcohol lightly thanks to the saving grace of its maritime-derived freshness.

2008 Taste the Difference South African Sauvignon Blanc, Franschhoek, £6.99, Sainsbury’s.

From the dynamic Marc Kent’s Boekenhoutskloof in the Cape winelands’ restaurant capital of Franschhoek, this new vintage Cape sauvignon blanc has an attractive, tropical fruit exuberance on the nose, with typical gooseberry aromas and zesty freshness. The palate is vivid and bright, with an abundance of mouthfilling flavours and balanced finish.

2007 Duckbill Riesling, Western Australia, £97.80 per case of 12, Armit (020 7908 0660; armit.co.uk).

Sourced by the fine Margaret River winery of Howard Park from vineyards in Western Australia’s Great Southern and Margaret River regions, this bright, zingy aromatic dry riesling displays classic aromas of brown lime with a palate whose apple and limey flavour intensity combines opulent tropical lime fruitiness cut by a trenchantly crisp acidity that cries out for lightly spiced Asian food.

2007 Lanner Hill Sauvignon Blanc, Kumkani, Groenekloof, buy 2 = £9.99, normal list price £11.99, Majestic.

The astonishing progress in the quality of South Africa’s sauvignon blanc styles is typified by this intensely rich and full-flavoured example from Kumkani in the Groenekloof area up the west coast from the Cape. Aromatically nettley and green pea in character, the fruit is classic gooseberry with some of the tropical passion fruit and power more commonly associated with the best of New Zealand. Kumkani, if you didn’t know it, stands for ‘king’ in Xhosa.

2007 Bodegas Docampo Vina do Campo Blanco, £9.95, or £8.95 by the case, Lea & Sandeman (020 7244 0522; londonfinewine.co.uk).

Forget sauvignon, forget chardonnay for once and take a look at one of the more unusual dry whites from an unsung corner of Spain. This distinctive dry white from the Ribeiro region in Spain’s North West is made from a blend of the treixadura and torrontes grapes and it’s perfumed, refreshingly zingy on the palate with an undertone of peachy opulence, yet delectably juicy and grapefruitily refreshing. Lovely stuff.

Red

2004 Chateau Sénéjac, Cru Bourgeois, Haut-Médoc, £8.99, down from £12.99, Co-op.

One of this year’s Christmas bargains at the Co-operative’s generously discounted price, this is a traditional medium-bodied Haut-Médoc style of red Bordeaux, lightly smoky aromas, smooth and ripe on the palate with undertones of cassis and liquorice spiciness and a fresh twist of astringency keeping the whole caboodle in check and approachable now, although at this price, squirreling a few bottles away for a rainy day would be a plan.

2007 Concha y Toro Maycas del Limarí Reserve Syrah, £9.49, or £7.59 when part of a mixed case, Oddbins.

From the up-and-coming Pacific-influenced region of Limarí Valley in Chile’s north, this red from the consistently reliable Concha y Toro stable is one of the new-wave, cool climate, northern Rhône-style syrahs, partially barrel-fermented to create smoky, tarry and peppery aromas neatly complemented by a spicy New World black fruits richness and vivid fruit quality.

2007 Domaine Haut-Lirou, Pic Saint-Loup, Coteaux du Languedoc (Languedoc-Roussillon), France, £8.99, Majestic, or buy 2 = £6.99.

A fine southern French blend of four fifths syrah and a fifth grenache and mourvèdre from the enclave of Pic Saint Loup sandwiched between the Mediterranean and the Cévennes Mountains, this excellent red displays tapenade-like aromas with blackberry fruitiness and an attractive garrigue-spice infused quality on the palate that lends this wine its savoury, black olive undertones.

2007 Gouguenheim Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina, £5.99, normal list price £6.99, Adnams,Southwold, Suffolk, IP18 6JW (01502 727 222; adnams.co.uk).

No relation to a modern art museum in Bilbão with a similar name, this vibrant new vintage Argentinian malbec from Patricio Gouguenheim’s Tupungato estate in Argentina’s Uco Valley displays vivid black cherry and plum fruitiness, easy, gluggy tannins and juicy fresh acidity, making it a perfect winter’s day red for anything from parties to hearty meals.

2007 Negro Barbera d’Alba, Piemonte, Italy, £9.95, Great Western Wines, Bath.

Deep colour, dark fruits aromas and a rich dark mulberry and damson fruit concentration add up to a thoroughly well-made modern north-west Italian barbera from the white truffle capital of Alba, whose rich dark fruits concentration balanced by classic damsony bite on the finish make it an excellent food wine with any kind of Italian dish. The nip n’tuck of fresh acidity really makes this fine Piedmontese rosso something special.

10 Sky’s The Limit Wines

White

2006 Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Les Pucelles, Domaine Jomain, £35, Majestic Fine Wine.

This is classic posh white burgundy, a traditional, elegant Côtes de Beaune style with a yeasty leesy aromatic quality, fine pure seamless peachy chardonnay concentration on the palate with the most elegantly-crafted acidity and a touch of oak that appears not to touch the sides, rather like what will happen when you broach this most stylish and classically dry, mineral of white burgundies.

2006 Olivier Merlin, Pouilly-Fuissé, ‘Terroir de Vergisson’, £21, or £18.90 by the case, Berry Bros & Rudd.

Merlin has wrought his magic on this superlative Côte de Beaune white that stood out even in an impressive line-up of Berry Bros’ white burgundies at its Christmas tasting. Nutty-rich, inviting aromas lead to a concentrated richness of chardonnay whose maize and meal-like textural qualities and mineral finish derive equally from the vineyard and from beautifully crafted barrel fermentation and lees-stirring. A mouthwatering white burgundy to savour.

2002 Demessey Meursault Les Criots, £22.99, Tesco Fine Wine.

2002 was a great vintage for white burgundy, as this pure chardonnay from the Côtes de Beaune clearly demonstrates. Apparently its producer, Marc Dumont, was once a rocket scientist but making white burgundy as sumptuously toasty, rich and nutty as this isn’t rocket science, but rather attention to every aspect of vineyard and cellar management. And not overpriced for this level of quality.

2008 Paddy Borthwick Paper Road Pinot Gris, Hawkes Bay, £138.60 per case of 12, Armit (020 7908 0660; armit.co.uk).

Paddy Borthwick’s superbly crafted New Zealand wines are all about fruit purity and this stylish dry white, halfway between the exuberant zing of pinot grigio and the fuller, more serious Alsace pinot gris, is an example of that attention to detail: intense with fresh pears on the nose, exotically juicy apple and pear flesh and a refreshing citrusy zing providing the satisfying counterpart that brings an elegant dry finish to the proceedings.

2007 Château Mont-Redon Châteauneuf du Pape Le Fussier, £14.99, Marks & Spencer.

To be bored with good white burgundy would be to be bored with life, but the growing quality of top Rhône whites like Châteauneuf du Pape makes this traditional fruit salad of the grenache blanc, clairette, roussanne, bourboulenc and picpoul grapes an appetising alternative. The floral honeysuckle complexity and textured palate of apricot richness with its mineral qualities flavours enhanced by the lack of oak are simply delicious and a good alternative to red with turkey or cold honey roast ham.

Red

2005 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er cru La Bataillière aux Vergelesses, Albert Morot, £19.99, Majestic Fine Wine stores.

The Holy Grail of fine red burgundy is hard to find, especially at under £20, but this fine modern style from Albert Morot really fits the bill, a wine whose red berry fruited aromas are followed on the palate in a vivid modern style with attractively supple raspberry pinot noir fruitiness held in check by beautifully proportioned succulence of texture and balancing acidity. One for delicate meats, simply made.

2006 Salmos Priorat, Torres (secretsalmos.es), £13.99 - £15.49, Booths supermarkets, Noel Young Cambridge (01223 844744; nywines.co.uk).

Lawyers will appreciate the indecipherable back label in three languages; anyone else should enjoy the excellent pure fruit quality of this fine Catalan blend of cabernet, syrah, cariñena and garnacha grown in Torres’ sculpted terraced vineyards for its aromatic spice, its seamless mulberry and damson fruitiness and supple textured tannins all held in check by a lovely sweet-savoury juicy quality. Most Priorat is a lot more expensive than this, but Miguel Torres, the Spanish brandmeister, has kept his pricing within reason.

2004 Les Tourelles de Longueville, £19.99, Majestic.

From a good Bordeaux vintage sandwiched between the more expensive, more vaunted 2003 and 2005, this youthful Pauillac, a merlot, cabernet sauvignon and franc chip off the old Pichon Longueville Baron block, has the pedigree of its sibling at a relatively affordable price. Sweet with smoky vanilla cedary aromatic overtones, a core of cassis fruit richness is underscored by an already highly drinkable supple-textured palate of juicy acidity and supple tannins.

2006 Alana Estate ‘Le Coup’ Pinot Noir, Martinborough, New Zealand, £24.40 or £18.40 by the case, Berry Bros & Rudd (0870 900 4300; bbr.com).

The Martinborough terraces are the origins of the first great New Zealand pinot noirs, and they remain a focal point for burgundian styles like this fine pinot, whose stylish red berry fruit perfume and delicate oak spice with a seamlessly pure, strawberry flavour, opulence and silky texture makes this seductively rich yet subtle Marlborough red the equal of premier cru red burgundy.

2005 D’Arenberg, The Dead Arm, £24.99, or £19.99 when part of mixed case, Oddbins Fine Wine.

Of all the many weird and wonderful D’Arenberg labels produced by the flamboyant Chester Osborn, a tousled winemaker with dubious taste in floral shirts, The Dead Arm is consistently the best for the richness and intensity of its old shiraz vine concentration whose blackberry fruit qualities are tinged with spicy oak and fine balancing acidity and tannins. Although not cheap, it’s price pales into insignificance next to other Australian icons of similar quality, which makes it all the more worthy of your attention.

10 Fizz

2006 Codorniu Vintage Rosé Cava, normally £10.49, but down to £5.49, Tesco.

There are not many half-price deals that are worth having but here’s one that is. Slashed in two for the Christmas period, this modern Catalan sparkler made by the traditional champagne method using pinot noir and Spain’s homegrown monastrell grapes offers a summery glassful brimming with strawberry cut fruitiness with a touch of sweetness, but tacks on a lively dry finish that puts it a cut above your average common or garden cava.

Montana Chardonnay Pinot Noir Brut Cuvée NV, around £8.99, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda, Thresher, Majestic, Tesco, Budgens, Londis, Co-op, Nisa.

Amidst a growing number of good value sparkling wines made from the champagne grapes pinot noir and chardonnay coming out of Australasia, this pale salmon pinot fizz from Montana stands out: a thoroughly seductive and classy Kiwi sparkling wine with a powerful aromas of raspberry and sumptuous strawberries and cream fruitiness floating on a juicy mousse of bubbles to almost champagney effect. Can you or your friends tell that this isn’t pink champagne?

Domaine Collin Crémant de Limoux Brut Selection, £8.95, Yapp Brothers, Mere, Wuiltshire (01747 860 423; yapp.com.uk).

I did mention this excellent southern French sparkling wine earlier in the year but as it’s one of the best sub-£10 fizzes on the market, it’s only fair to remind you if you missed it first time round that this bottle-fermented blend of four-fifths pinot noir and a fifth chardonnay is rich in champagne-like biscuity personality with a suitably creamy mousse and lively tang that will grace any festive occasion.

Simmonet-Febvre Crémant de Bourgogne, £8.99 - £11.99, Private Cellar, Ely, Cambridgeshire (01844 239 333; privatecellar.co.uk), Kensington Wholefoods Market, Wimbledon Wine Cellars.

This is a stylish dry chardonnay-based, champagne-method sparkling wine which may not have quite the complexity of champagne but delivers lemony aromatics, a soft mousse of bubbles, nutty flavours and crisp, dry citrusy finish that makes it particularly good value at under a tenner at Private Cellar (before reverting to £9.89 at end December).

Tesco’s Finest Prosecco, Bisol, £9.49, Tesco.

Tesco’s Finest Prosecco, or to give it its full due, Bisol Prosecco di Voldobbiadene Spumante, is all about froth and fun, a lively soft sparkling wine from between Venice and the Dolomites whose juicy apple and pear freshness of fruit is complemented by a creamy mousse of velvety soft bubbles with the saving grace of a zippy, sherbety zing that makes it a perfect party fizz on its own, or with peach juice for Bellini-heads.

2006 Clover Hill Brut Rosé, £16.99, or £13.59 when part of a mixed case, Oddbins.

It’s no longer any secret that most of Australia’s best fizz comes from the relatively cool, maritime state of Tasmania and this stylish Tassie devil is made from pure pinot noir in the Piper’s River area of the island’s north-east. Using the champagne method of secondary fermentation in the bottle, it’s a bronze pink fragrantly raspberryish fizz with a richness of fruit and creaminess of texture that’s suitably sliced by the trenchant tang of mouthwatering acidity. A stylish, good value alternative to pink champagne.

2002 Waitrose Brut Special Reserve Vintage Champagne, £24.99, Waitrose.

Of all the current batch of high street champagnes, this rich fizz from the Charles Heidsieck and Piper Heidsieck stable comes from one of the best vintages in the Champagne region since 1996. After six years including three resting on its lees, but not laurels, in the dark subterranean chalk cellars of Reims, it’s a fizz of intriguing aroma and biscuity flavour with a heady, creamy mousse and lovely seductive freshness, and while it’s just coming into its own now, it’s worth sticking a few bottles of this away, as it will get even better.

2005 Hush Heath Balfour Brut Vintage Rosé English Sparkling Wine, £29.96 - £35, Marks & Spencer (larger stores), Bibendum (0230 7722 4120), The Vine King, Reigate, Weybridge (01737 248833).

Even better than the already impressive first vintage, the latest incarnation of this champagne-style blend of pinot noir, meunier and chardonnay from near Tunbridge Wells, in its own lipstick pink box, boasts a delicate bronzey blush and an intensity of full-flavoured raspberry and cranberry fruitiness contained in a lively foaming mousse of bubbles that leave a refreshingly tangy crispness on the tongue. You don’t have to be patriotic to enjoy this lovely bubbly.

1999 Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Champagne, £31.99, special Christmas offer, normally £33.99, Corney & Barrow, Newmarket and Ayr (020 7265 2430).
Delamotte, which uses the grapes from the amazing Salon champagne in vintages when Salon isn’t declared, comes from the greatest grand cru chardonnay village in Champagne: Le Mesnil in the Côte des Blancs. It’s hardly surprising then that it’s an ultra-stylish and full-flavoured fizz, whose yeasty aromatic quality with its undertones of peachy fruitiness refreshed by a tongue-tingling citrusy acidity, make it a stunningly well-crafted sparkler whose near-decade of age has added softness of texture and balance.
1988 Veuve Clicquot Rare Champagne, £64.99, Oddbins Fine Wine, or £56.00 when part of a mixed case, buy 2 = £60, Majestic Fine Wine.

This sprightly 20-year old, a pinot-noir based blend with a third chardonnay from good old widow Clicquot is a hedonist’s dream, a ready-to-drink champagne with a mature bouquet of toasted honeycomb and bruised apple, little sign of age on the palate beyond an evolved, luxuriously, toasty-rich mousse with the most elegant of sparkles and a luxuriously dry, winey, mouthwatering finish. Veuve by name, verve by nature.

10 Sweet and Fortified

2004 Château Romer du Hayot, Sauternes, half-bottle, £6.99, Aldi.

If you’re looking for a classic French sweet pudding wine, you’ll struggle to find anything better than this remarkable good value, classic sauternes blend of semillon, sauvignon blanc and muscadelle, whose lusciously concentrated sweet barley sugar viscosity and honeyed botrytis fruit cut by a cleansing blade of fresh acidity make for a delightful and remarkable value confection.

2006 Jeff Carrel, Ultime Récolte, Vin de Table Français, £13, The Real Wine Company. (therealwineco.co.uk).

A mysteriously understated name, last harvest, for such an intriguing pudding wine, this is a delicious dessert wine from the South of France, fresh and peachy on the nose, with a richly textured palate of peach and dried apricot tinged with a stem-ginger like spiciness and richness, and topped off by cleansing fresh acidity. It’s pure late-harvested viognier and a delicious treat that will go equally well with fruit tarts or blue cheeses.

2004 Castelnau de Suduiraut, Château Suduiraut, Sauternes, £16.99, half-bottle, Majestic.

It may only be in a half-bottle, but good sweet things can come in small packages too and this luscious sweet Bordeaux blend, the second wine of the grand cru classé Sauternes estate, Château Suduiraut, certainly does just that. A luscious sweet marvel of honeyed richness and complexity, it’s seductively intense and peachy now, but will develop if you can stretch to a few more half-bottles.

2005 Oremus Noble Late Harvest Furmint, Tokaji, Hungary, £14.60, half-bottle, or £13.15 by the case, Berry Bros. & Rudd (0870 900 4300; bbr.com).

Oremus, owned by the famous Spanish wine company Vega Sicilia, is responsible for some of the sleekest and most elegent and modern new-wave Tokaji’s to come from this historic Hungarian region since its post-communist era modernisation. This is a glorious confection of finely oaked, rich marmaladey intensity with undertones of dried apricot, honey and raisin, all beautifully balanced by the typical acidity of the furmint grape, which is very much the hallmark of the style.

2006 Domaine des Baumard, Clos de Sainte Catherine, Coteaux du Layon, Loire, £23.95, Jeroboams (020 7730 8108 ; jeroboams.co.uk).

The tart appley acidity of the Loire Valley’s versatile chenin blanc grape can make Sauternes look almost heavy and this gorgeously luscious sweet Loire white made from chenin blanc, whose baked appley aromas, dried apricot and honeyed richness cleanse and refresh the palate despite the oozing richness of fruit, is just about ready to drink now, but has the legs to go on for another decade. Electrifying stuff.

2006 Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, half-bottle, Vidal-Fleury, £10.95 – 12.50, Hailsham Cellars (01323 441 212; hailshamcellars.com), Weavers of Nottingham (0115 958 0922; weaverswines.com), Handford (020 7589 6113; handford.net), Fortnums.

Intensely aromatic and lusciously rich, this is a powerful, heady sweet wine from the Rhône with the distinctive, exotic flavour of the muscat grape whose unctuous richness balanced by a fresh tangerine-zesty quality and with the power to makes it a match for fruit tarts, pears poached in wine and blue cheeses in the mould, pun intended, of Fourme d’Ambert or Beenleigh Blue.

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference 12 Year Old PX, Williams & Humbert, £7.19, 50cl bottle.

Hairs on your chest blackstrap syrup of figs and toffee treacle are just some of the component parts of this unctuously rich, viscously pruney, dark fortified PX, short for the Pedro Ximénez grape of Jerez, one of the few wines that will stand up to the traditional wine enemies of chocolate or Christmas pudding. Better still, give in to the latest craze and pour or spoon it over vanilla ice cream for the ultimately self-indulgent treat.

Henriques & Henriques Malmsey 15 Years old, Madeira, Portugal, £17.49 - £19, 50 cl., Waitrose, The Wine Society (01438 741177; thewinesociety.com).

From the late John Cossart’s great Madeira company, Henriques & Henriques, this classic, ageworthy Madeira made from the malvasia grape, heated in ‘estufas’ and fortified (to 20 per cent alcohol) is immensely rich and luscious, with the Portuguese island outpost’s typical notes of caramel, coffee and nuttiness offset by a fine blade of tangy acidity that keeps this wine balanced and characteristically fresh.

20 Year Old Tawny Port, £29.99, Marks & Spencer.

From David Guimaraens, this fine 20 old tawny shows the typical pale tawny hue of 20 years’ evolution in big oak casks in the Atlantic air-conditioning of the cool, dark Port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia opposite Oporto, this is a classic aged tawny, with voluptuous fruit concentration and freshness tempered by the ‘rancio’, aged nuttiness that evaporation over time in cask brings to this most delicious of Port styles.

1997 Croft Quinta da Roeda, £15.99, buy 2 = £13.99, Majestic, £18.99, Wine Rack.

At over ten years old now, this fine vintage Port from the house of Croft retains a youthful quality of berry and cassis fruit that’s amplified by its lovely spicy aromas and a juicy-textured, blackcurrant and blackberryish intensity of flavour. If you're after a vintage Port this Christmas, a wine with this maturity at under £20 is a godsend. Remember to stand up for 24 hours (the bottle, that is) and decant a couple of hours before serving).

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