Wines of the week: Sunday lunch Wither Hills Pinot Noir 2008; The Society's White Burgundy 2009; Palais des Anciens Côtes-Du-Rhône Villages 2008

Terry Kirby selects the best bottles to buy

Saturday 26 March 2011 21:00 EDT
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Sunday lunch

Wither Hills Pinot Noir 2008

Having reinvented Sauvignon Blanc, the Kiwi wine-makers of the Marlborough area have turned their attention to Pinot Noir, with considerable success. This is a perfect wine for an early spring lunch of roast lamb or duck – medium-bodied, elegantly structured, made with intense fruit flavours and given a touch of French oak as a nod to the grapes' traditional Burgundian home. Open a day before to let it reveal itself. £12.99, Waitrose; £11.95, thewinesociety.com; £12.49, majestic.co.uk

Weekday supper

The Society's White Burgundy 2009

Of course the Burgundy region itself is also about wonderful whites such as this excellent-value Chardonnay from the Mâconnais villages. A remarkably pure, austere, clean, mineral quality distinguishes this wine, derived not from oak barrels this time, but the steel tanks in which it is housed. An uncomplicated wine that demands an equally straightforward grilled white flat fish for a midweek treat. £7.50, thewinesociety.com

Bargain basement

Palais des Anciens Côtes-Du-Rhône Villages 2008

Although not from Burgundy, this wine is a great match for beef bourguignon because of a robust complexity that belies even its full price, although there are a couple of days left before the discount ends. Made from vineyards near Cairanne in the southern Rhône, this is reassuringly earthy, spicy, leathery and full of the warmth of the "galet" stones that insulate the vines at night. £5.49 (until Tuesday; normally £6.99), Co-operative stores

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