Adi Badenhorst has created some increasingly smart wines since he set up on his own, post-Rustenberg, in the Swartland. This lightly-oaked red from a region that is growing in importance and stature is elegant, smoky and gentle with appealing red fruits and a fresh, yet well rounded finish. A good wine to serve with turkey. Or at a Christmas party.
Price Range: £5-£10
2010 Berry Bros & Rudd Good Ordinary Claret, Bordeaux
( £9, 13.5%, Berry Bros & Rudd )Not quite as sumptuous and fleshy as the 2009 GOC, but you’d expect that based on the character of the 2010 vintage. Just give this a little time to fill out, because it’s an appealingly fresh, well structured red with attractive berry fruits and medium tannins.
2011 The Society's Verdicchio Dei Castelli di Jesi, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, Marche
( £6.25, 12.5%, The Wine Society )Good value Italian drinking from the Wine Society, made without oak to allow the variety to express itself, this is fresh and zesty with some weight and texture, notes of aniseed and spice and a breezy, zesty finish.
2011 The Society's White Burgundy, Mâcon-Villages, Burgundy
( £7.50, 12.5%, The Wine Society )Hugely quaffable white Burgundy from the southernn end of the region, made without oak but with some lees contact to fatten it out. Peach and pear flavours are underpinned by some carbon dioxide and a lift of acidity.
2011 Allegrini, Valoplicella, Veneto
( £8, 13%, Liberty Wines )Juicy, modern Valpol with more weight than most examples of Italy’s wine bar red. Unoaked, packed with brambly, raspberry fruit and bright acidity. A wine that surprises you with its seriousness. Perfect for a screwcap closure.
2011 Coeur des Anges, Vin de France
( £9.99, 12.5%, Laithwaites )The palest of rosés made from the Sauvignon Gris grape in the south-west of France. The wine is delicate and fragrant, with a touch of green pepper and summer fruits and plenty of crunchy, food-friendly acidity.
2011 Changyu Cabernet/Gernischt, Ningxia, China
( £9.99, 12.5%, Waitrose )One of the more drinkable Chinese wines to cross my tasting bench, this is a quaffable, sweetish blend with slighty angular acidity and pleasant cassis and red cherry fruit. Not masively (or even slightly) complex, but certainly drinkable.
2010 Los Molles Carmenère, Limari
( £9.99, 14%, Marks & Spencer )Maybe I’m finally coming round to Carmenère, Chile’s USP. This hails from coastal Limari (it’s sourced from the Tabali winery) and has more freshness than most examples. It’s typically deep in colour, with notes of mint, blackcurrant pastille and plum, overlaid with sweet chocolatey oak and a zesty, grassy finish. Good now and should develop in bottle, too.
2011 The Society's Australian Chardonnay, McLaren Vale, South Australia
( £6.50, 12.5%, The Wine Society )It’s a measure of how far Aussie Chardonnay has advanced in recent years, that even a Chardonnay from warmer climate McLaren Vale is light-bodied and unoaked. This is appealingly dry with flavours of stone fruit and a bite of lemon zest-like acidity.
2007 Concha y Toro, Otorio Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, Maule Valley
( £6.99, 12%, Tesco, www.tesco.com )It’s comparatively rare to find Sauvignon Blanc made as a sweet wine on its own (as opposed to blended with Semillon), but this value-for-money sticky from Chile suggests that the grape is well suited to these styles. Honey and quince with an undertone of pink grapefruit.
2011 Elki Pedro Ximenez, Elqui Valley
( £8.50, 13%, www.thedailydrinker.co.uk )If you’re used to PX being a sweet grape from Jerez, this wine may surprise you because it’s dry and refreshing. It’s also from the edge of Chile’s Atacama desert. It’s zesty and crisp with a mealy texture and a slight edge of bitterness, which works well with food.
2011 Château Clément Perlé, Gaillac, South-West France
( £8.99, 12.5%, Marks & Spencer )It’s great to see a supermarket championing the undervalued wines of south-west France, so a round of applause for Marks & Spencer for listing this unusual blend of three local grape varieties. It’s quite a weighty wine for its 12.5% alcohol, with notes of honey and fresh earth, a soft, yet refreshing palate with a slight spritz and a tangy, refreshing finish. Try it as an aperitif or with fish or poultry.