Star white

2005 Ladoix, Bois de Gréchons, Domaine Chevalier Père et Fils, France, MAJESTIC, £12.99 or buy two for £11.99 each until December 6.

Majestic’s Christmas gift to the nation has been to slash the price of this sensational white burgundy from a top vintage – a previous winner in the under £20 section. At this price, this ripe, sweet, creamy, hazelnut-scented wine, with lots of superb steely, nutty, lemony fruit on the finish, is a steal.

Star red

Justerini & Brooks Burgundy, Baron d’Avelin, France, JUSTERINI & BROOKS (020-7484 6400), £8.42.

J&B has traded up and switched suppliers for this gorgeous red burgundy, made exclusively from the 2006 vintage of special parcels of Côte de Nuits grapes, though it does not say so on the label. With minimal oak, the result is a magnificent rose-scented, game and strawberry-laden, deeply elegant wine, with fine, almost chocolatey spice on the finish.

Whites

2006 Fié Gris, Domaine de l’Aujardière, Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France, Eric Chevalier, France, LEA & SANDEMAN (020-7244 0522), £10.95.
Fié Gris, better known as the sauvignon gris grape, is an old Loire variety and a pink-skinned mutation of sauvignon blanc that delivers gorgeous, zesty, green-bean and green tomato-spiked fruit with a fatter, fuller greengage-packed finish. No wonder this grape is staging a comeback among vignerons across France.

2005 The Society’s Exhibition Gewürztraminer, Hugel & Fils, France, THE WINE SOCIETY (01438 740222), £10.95.
Johnny Hugel, the sprightly octogenarian head of the firm, and his capable nephews Etienne and Marc continue the family tradition of producing fat, rounded wines with seductive silky fruit. This joyous gewürz, made from superior Riquewihr grapes, oozes gorgeous, supple, lychee and rose-scented, smoked fish-suitable spice.

2006 Sancerre, Les Comtesses, Chavignol, P. Thomas, France, MAJESTIC, £9.49.
Paul Thomas is the sixth generation of his family to live and work at Chavignol, a tiny village to the east of Sancerre, and here he has produced one of the most elegant, smoky, steely, minerally sancerres I have tasted all year, with the sort of mouthwateringly juicy, yet fragrant, flinty sauvignon blanc finesse that made this appellation famous.

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• English wine has always been possible
• AA Gill reviews Foxtrot Oscar
• The authentic taste of Italy: Veneto