Wines of the week

Terry Kirby selects the best bottles to buy

Saturday 10 September 2011 19:00 EDT
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Sunday lunch: Clos de los Siete Mendoza 2008

This week we have three bottles that show the stamp of individual wine-makers. Here, in an attempt to create a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Syrah, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon in Argentina, the Gallic consultant Michel Rolland has achieved something more akin to a big and bold New World red. Extremely enjoyable nevertheless, with very forward fruit flavours, velvety chocolate, fig and spice undertones and a long finish. A rare steak and fat chips are in order here. £12.99, Waitrose

Midweek meal: Six Hats Pinotage Rosé 2010

The esteemed South African wine-maker Charles Back has tamed the almost-wild taste of the country's native Pinotage grape to produce a full-bodied, food-friendly rosé, with terrific elegant fruit flavours. It's a Fairtrade wine, so you can feel good about drinking it with any light chicken or fish dishes, particularly if they have gently spicy Middle Eastern or Oriental origins. £6.99, laithwaites.co.uk

Bargain basement: Domaine De Fontesque Corbières 2006

A typically robust, intense wine from Corbières with masses of autumnal brambly, smoky flavours rolling around in the mix of mainly Carignan and Grenache, given depth with some oak ageing. From reliable wine-maker Gérard Bertrand, it is a good buy at the reduced price and a wine deserving the first casseroles of the season that would do equally well with a blackberry crumble for pudding. £7.99 (reduced from £9.99 until 2 October), Marks & Spencer

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