Zarper Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca, Chile 2018 (£8, Morrisons) This week’s choice of bottles is for those of you doing the last-minute pre-Christmas dash around the supermarket – and all for under £10 a pop. For whites, I’d start at Morrisons, which has t wo excellent examples of the ever-popular sauvignon blanc variety. Surfer’s Path Sauvignon Blanc, Western Cape, South Africa 2018 (£7.25) is the work of the talented surfing South African winemaker Duncan Savage and is balanced between passion-fruit juiciness and crisp, clean zip; while Zarper Sauvignon Blanc, from the popular and reliable Viña Indomita, is citrussy and tangy. Both would do well on first-course fish and aperitif duty. For a slightly fuller-bodied, softer main-course white with a gentle floral scent, try Asda Lugana 2016 (£8.49).
Monte Cão Alentejo, Portugal 2017 (£5.69, Aldi) For roast-ready reds with a high character-and-flavour-per-buck quotient, Portugal is a good place to look, with the southern region of Alentejo providing Aldi’s richly plummy Monte Cão. The black cherry tannins of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Lisboa 2016 (£7) come from the Atlantic coast around Lisbon. Southern Italy’s heel, Puglia, and the nero di troia, make for the Christmas spice-dusted, black-berried Il Sarmento Nero di Troia 2017 (£5.50, Co-op) – a soft but full-flavoured red that works with nibbles or at the table with all the trimmings. If you’re after something lighter, Asda’s Extra Special Yarra Valley Pinot Noir, Victoria, Australia 2017 (£7.98), has a subtle earthiness to snuggle up to turkey or mushroom-based veggie alternatives.
Tesco Finest Dessert Semillon, Australia 2015 (£6, 37.5cl, Tesco) The De Bortoli team behind the Asda Aussie pinot also provides a number of supermarkets with some of the country’s best-value sweet wines: the golden Tesco version, made from the semillon grape variety – also a principle ingredient in the wine’s inspiration, Bordeaux’s Sauternes – has a delectable mix of marmalade tanginess and juicy apricot that is at its best with a cheeseboard where Stilton is the centrepiece. With 200-odd grams of sugar per litre, it’s also rather good with a slice of Christmas cake. If you’re still on the hunt for port, then it’s hard to look past the textbook deep, powerful fruits and spices of Taylor’s Late Bottled Vintage 2013 which is, as is the way of things, on offer at most of the supermarkets over Christmas (£9 Morrisons; £10, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco).
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