2006 Argento Pinot Grigio, Bodegas Esmeralda, Argentina, Majestic, £4.99, or buy two for £3.99 each. An awesome Argentinian pair that represent some of this country’s finest sub-£5 bottles, with this juicy pinot grigio coming complete with ripe, yet lemony fruit and a rich finish.
2006 Argento Malbec, Bodegas Esmeralda, Argentina, Majestic, £5.99, or buy two for £3.99 each. Malbec is Argentina’s top red grape, and this elegant, ripe, sweet, berry fruit-laden red, complete with a velvety palate and hallmark tannins, is the bargain of the duo, and the perfect barbecue red.
2001 Patache d’Aux, M?doc, Bordeaux, France, Montrachet, £10.75. The northern M?doc’s Patache d’Aux has popped up in the Top 100 before now, and with reason, as its lively, leafy, herby clarets, dominated by the cabernet sauvignon grape, including this dry, almost bricky 2001 vintage, are class acts.
2005 Laurent Miquel Verit? Viognier, Vin de Pays d’Oc, France, Waitrose, £11.99. Big, bouncy yet summery whites with enough oomph to cope with coronation chicken and spicy kebabs are not easy to find, but this ripe, spicy, French oak-aged, apricot and peach-laden classic viognier hits the spot.
2005 Bourgogne Rouge, Jean-Jacques Girard, France, Montrachet (020-7928 1990), £9.50. In a great red burgundy vintage such as 2005, lesser wines from top producers, including this plummy, leaf mould-scented bourgogne rouge, can deliver starry, superior, village wine flavours.
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Waitrose Brut Champagne, P & C Heidsieck, France, Waitrose, £14.99. In this summer’s mostly miserable collection of own-label supermarket fizz, Waitrose’s Brut stood out like a beacon, with youthful, lively lemony fruit and a fine, yeasty, nutty finish: what a pity it has so few competitors.