There were some good value reds at the recent Sainsbury’s tasting. Here’s my pick of them and the kind of food I’d match with with them:

Merlot Vin de Pays de la Cité de Carcassonne 2008 £3.99
Not a blow-your-socks-off Merlot but a perfectly serviceable one, particularly at this price. Soft, fruity - a good inexpensive all-rounder. Would make a good Friday night pizza wine.

Domaine du Colombier Chinon 2007 £5.99
I love Loire reds in the summer, just lightly chilled with seared salmon or tuna. At a time when Loire whites seem to have dramatically increased in price this is a bargain.

Taste the Difference Côtes de Rhône Villages 2007 £5.99
A very good example of inexpensive Côtes de Rhône with attractive ripe supple fruit. Would be good with grills, garlicky sausages and French bistro-style food generally. The kind of wine I always want in my cellar.

Crozes-Hermitage, Cave de Tain 2006 £7.99
Again, a well-priced Rhone - dry and savoury with a nice peppery kick. Similar food to the above.

Taste the Difference Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2007 £13.99
A classic Châteauneuf - ripe, warm and generous. Good value for money though you may resent having Sainsbury’s branding all over what is still a comparatively expensive wine (in which case spend an extra £6 on the Perrin & Fils Châteauneuf-du-PapeLes Sinards 2006) Would be great with slow-roasted pork or shoulder of lamb.

Connubio Nero d’Avola Shiraz 2008 £5.99
A dark, exotic Sicilian red. Would be very good with baked pasta dishes, especially with aubergines and with cheese.

Campo Al Moro Chianti Classico 2007 £8.99
Chianti Classico doesn’t come cheap so this simple but attractive example is good value. Lovely with grilled lamb, pasta, chickpea and rosemary soup, bean dishes . . . pretty well the whole Tuscan repertoire

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano San Colombaio 2005 £10.99
Again a good price for a mature Tuscan wine. You wouldn't want to overwhelm its delicate gentle fruit so keep the food simple. Roast lamb would be good, for example

Taste the Difference Amarone 2006 £14.59
If you like Amarone - and I do though I think it’s getting a bit pricey - this is a good example. I love it with cheese and dark gamey dishes such as venison and oxtail.

Olarra Clasico Rioja Crianza 2006 £6.99
A perfectly decent basic Rioja with that classic soft cooked strawberry fruit character.  Think fashioned English roasts, lamb chops with herbs, shepherds pie . . .

Tinto da Anfora 2006 £5.99
A wine that’s been around since I started writing about wine in the early ‘90s, and still good. Typically Portuguese, with ripe brambly  fruit - it would be good with (or even in) beef stews, with cheese and probably also with slightly spicy meat dishes like rogan josh and lamb and prune tagines

Taste the Difference Chilean Merlot 2007 £5.99
An excellent own label made for the TTD range by the very competent Errazuriz. Some lovely ripe velvety fruit but with an interesting minerally edge. A good steak wine. Terrific value

Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Noir 2007 £10.99
This well-established Marlborough Pinot Noir is one of the better big brands. A slightly funky nose but some gorgeous sweet, seductive fruit. It’s very hard to get comparable burgundy at this price. A dead ringer for duck. Good with pork, veal and Asian-spiced tuna dishes too.

Stamford Brook Shiraz Viognier 2007 £5.99
The bottle at the tasting smelt slightly reductive (pongy) but basically this is a really good value rich fruity Aussie shiraz that would be great for a barbecue.  Hopefully not all the bottles will be as funky

Boschendal 1685 Shiraz 2007 £7.99
Slightly fresher and less jammy than some Australian Shiraz at this price with lovely clean, ripe berry fruit. Good with any kind of chargrilled meat.

Ravenswood Lodi Zinfandel 2006 £8.69
Another well-established brand though re-packaged in an unnecessarily heavy bottle (boo!). Rich, dark and brambly - great for winter stews, grilled or roast Portabella mushrooms or blue cheese

Sainsbury’s Sangria £2.99
Not the greatest sangria I’ve ever tasted but dead cheap and useful if you only want a small amount. (Expensive to buy it this way for a crowd though) Good barbecue drinking.