2005 Terra Organica Bonarda-Sangiovese, Familia Zuccardi, Argentina, Somerfield, £4.99, or buy two for £4 each until October 10. Fatter, riper, and livelier than the white, this Italian grape-based blend delivers 13 per cent alcohol and lots of scented, bright, inky, burnt fruit.

2004 Montana Marlborough Reserve Pinot Noir, Majestic, £9.99, or buy two for £7.49 each. A step up in quality from the cheaper, standard Montana pinot noir, this classy reserve-level wine has oodles of ripe, gamey, smoky, classic pinot fruit and closes with a pleasing lick of Marmite and a comforting 14 per cent blast of alcohol.

2005 Villa Maria Private Bin Riesling, Marlborough, New Zealand, Majestic, £6.99, or buy two for £5.29 each; Waitrose, £5.59 until tomorrow. This remarkably Asian food-friendly bottle has plenty of elegant, racy, floral, grapey riesling fruit and again a powerful 13 per cent alcohol finish.

2005 Leasingham Magnus Riesling, Clare Valley, Australia, Sainsbury’s, £7.49. Clare Valley riesling is one of Australia’s finest white wines, and this magnificent, steely, spritzy, classic, kerosene-scented ’05, suppported by lots of crystallised lime peel-spiked fruit, is a joy.

2003 Château Barreyres, Haut Médoc, Bordeaux, France, Sainsbury’s, £8.49. The 2003 drought brought with it a wide range of left-bank quality, but this elegant, chunky, green pepper-charged claret is full of fruit and would make a very tasty autumn-into-winter bottle.

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