Ken Forrester is best known as one of the Cape’s most famous Chenin Blanc producers, but he produces some very decent reds, too. This is made from Cinsault, one of the parents of local Pinotage but also gaining a following in its own right. Think of it as a South African Beaujolais, all strawberries, raspberries and red cherries with some stems adding notes of white pepper and tobacco leaf. Drink it chilled as an ideal wine with a barbecue, or braai.
2022 Taste the Difference Côtes du Rhône White, Rhône Valley
( £9, 12.5%, Sainbury's )Who needs to age a white wine in oak when it has as much flavour as this southern Rhône blend of Grenache Blanc, 20% Viognier, 12% Roussanne and 10% Marsanne? Honeysuckle, jasmine and ginger aromas segue into a palate that’s light, zesty and refreshing, with peach, lemongrass and wild mountain herb flavours and a bright, appealingly tangy finish.
2021 M&S Collection Ebenezer & Seppeltsfield Barossa Shiraz, Barossa Valley
( £14, 14.5%, Marks & Spencer )The kind of thing that made me fall in love with Australian wine back in the 1980s, this is a classy, full-bodied Barossa Valley Shiraz from the Langmeil winery. Combining grapes from two vineyards, Ebenezer and Seppeltsfield, on different soil types, it has plenty of texture, structure and concentration, blackberry, summer pudding, liquorice and five spice flavours and some vanilla and coconut sweetness from ageing in French and American oak.
2023 Tenute Pieralisi Monte Schiavo, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico
( £8.99, 11.5% )Part of a really good new range of Italian whites from Majestic – look out for other arrivals over the next month – this is a bright, tangy, unwooded Verdicchio from one of the highest vineyards in the Marche region. As crisp and a freshly ironed white shirt, it has fennel and chamomile aromas, flavours of citrus and quinine, racy acidity and a waft of mountain herbs. Long and refreshing.
2021 M&S Found Saperavi, Kakheti
( £10, 13%, Marks & Spencer )If Saperavi were French, it would be one of the world’s most famous red grapes. Instead, Georgia’s premium variety remains something of a secret to most UK wine drinkers. This tasty, toothsome example, sold under Marks & Spencer’s very good Found range, comes from the premium region of Kakheti, where the limestone soils always seem to give the wines a chalky frisson. Plum and damson fruit flavours are supported by protein-friendly tannins and racy acidity.
NV Taste the Difference Cava, Catalonia
( £7.50 until May 14, 11.5%, Sainsbury's )Just the thing if you’re looking for a party fizz – especially at the reduced price until May 14th – this is a Cava made from traditional local grapes, rather than interlopers like Chardonnay. Blending 40% Xarel-lo with 30% each of Macabeo and Parellada, this is a bargain bubbly from Castillo de Perelada, with lots of zip, notes of cream and petrichor, citrus and yellow apple flavours and a hint of sweetness.
2022 Casa Ferreirinha Planalto White Reserva, Douro Valley
( £8.99, 12.5%, Majestic )The Douro Valley may be better known for Port and red table wines, but its whites can offer tremendous quality and value for money too. This brilliant, unoaked blend is a cuvée of seven different local grapes – Arinto, Codega, Godello, MalvasÃa Fina, Moscatel, Rabigato and Viosinho – from cooler, higher altitude sites. Spicy, pithy and intense, it’s a bright, tangy, seafood friendly number with citrus, lime, white pepper and fennel flavours and a lingering finish.  Outstanding value.
2022 Juan Gil Monastrell, Jumilla
( £13, 14.5%, Aitken Wines, Cheers Wine Merchants, D. Byrne, Noel Young, Premier Cru Wine Merchants, The Battleship, The Bottleshop, Vin Neuf )Thanks to its preponderance of old vines and a new generation of winemakers, Jumilla is becoming one of Spain’s most talked about regions. This is an understated, sensitively wooded, organically farmed Monastrell from Familia Gil with lots of sweet spices, red berry, bramble and raspberry fruit and plenty of supporting acidity from its high-altitude terroir at 700 metres. Great value from the Castilla a Mancha.
2021 Sierra de Toloño La Dula Garnacha, Rioja
( £21.95, 14%, Lea & Sandeman )This is the fourth vintage of Sandra Bravo’s brilliant, cool climate old-vine Garnacha from Rivas de Tereso in the high part of the Rioja Alta sub-region and it’s every bit as good as its predecessors. Aged in 300-litre clay amphoras, it’s wonderfully perfumed and intense, with engaging bramble and red cherry fruit sweetness, fine tannins and a long, energetic palate. A majestic expression of the wonderful 2021 vintage.
2021 Gallina de Piel Manar dos Seixas, Ribeiro
( £23.98, 13%, Shelved Wine, The Fine Wine Company )David Seijas was the sommelier at El Bulli, considered the best restaurant in the world at the time, for 11 years, but is now making an excellent range of Spanish wines under his Gallina de Piel label. This is brilliant cuvée of mostly Treixadura with lesser amounts of Godello, Albariño and Loureira, sourced from the granite soils of the Ribeiro region. Intense, stony and bone dry, it has flavours of lemongrass and pink grapefruit, plenty of grip and intensity and top notes of green tea, chamomile and juniper. Utterly delicious.
2019 Tesco Finest Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscany
( £10, 13.5%, Tesco )Chianti Classico is one of those wines that it’s easy to take for granted. It’s the kind of thing that often gets overlooked in our scramble to try new things. But when it’s good, you remember why it’s a staple of the wine world. This very lightly wooded Riserva, made by Melini, is a blend of Sangiovese with 15% Canaiolo and Malvasia Negra. Plum, red cherry and sweet spice flavours are completed by bright, tangy acidity, polished tannins and a lingering finish. The perfect treat with a plate of pasta.
2022 Villard Grand Vin Le Pinot Noir, Casablanca Valley
( £21, 13.5%, The Wine Society )The best Pinot Noir yet from Chilean-based Villard père and fils, Thierry and Charlie, this is the sort of thing that should have Burgundy lovers reaching for their wallets and purses. Fermented with 10% whole bunches and aged in 20% new wood, it’s sappy and intense, with a waft of vanilla spice, subtle reduction, raspberry and black cherry fruit and a thrilling mineral core.