Caburnio Tenuta Monteti 2010

If you like the style of super-Tuscans but find the prices a bit steep the Tenuta Monteti wines, which are stocked by London merchant Lea & Sandeman, are for you.

The Caburnio doesn’t even have any Italian grapes in it - it’s a blend of 55 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Alicante Bouschet, 15 % Merlot and 5 % each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. - but the Tuscany terroir shines through in its fresh acidity and sweet, supple tannins. It’s the perfect bottle to drink with some Italian style roast lamb and beans, Tuscan style sausages or even a simple steak. You can buy it from Lea & Sandeman for £14.50 or £12.95 if you’re buying a case*.

I also love its big brother, the ripe, lush, sexy 2008 Monteti (50% Petit Verdot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon) though at £24.50 a bottle (£19.95 if you buy a case) it’s quite a bit more expensive.

Tenuta Monteti is based in the Maremma region which is known for its more modern, fleshy reds but both these wines have real elegance and balance along with their gorgeously seductive fruit.

* which can be mixed.

Berry Bros & Rudd Reserve Red

Only a merchant with a pedigree like Berry Bros & Rudd could consider an £8.45 bottle a ‘house wine’ but if your usual fare is classed growth claret I guess it is.

And they’ve managed to come up with three very appealing wines in their new ‘Reserve’ range. The wines come from their existing supplier, Jean-Luc Terrier who is based in the Limoux area of the Languedoc.

I particularly like the deliciously warm, juicy Rhone-ish red which is based on Merlot with a dash of Syrah and Grenache (the Syrah particularly comes through). It’s hard to think of a type of food with which it wouldn’t appeal but it would be especially good with roasts, grills, pies, sausages and robust pasta dishes.

The Reserve White, a blessed relief from pure Sauvignon, is based on the excellent chardonnay of the Limoux region given an intriguingly musky spin with some Sauvignon Blanc, Mauzac and Vermentino. I immediately thought 'fish pie' when I tasted it.

And the pale, salmon pink Reserve Rosé, mainly Cinsault and Syrah with a smattering of Grenache and Mourvèdre is refreshingly dry with far more 'bite' than the typical Provencal rosé. The ideal wine to drink with seared salmon or tuna.

I also approve of the 13% ABV of all the wines - enough to give them character without being over-alcoholic.

These are reliable, crowd-pleasing but far from bland wines that really show off what the Languedoc has to offer. Given that BBR has the royal warrant I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Queen didn’t have some in her cellar.

* Although all the wines, as I’ve mentioned, are £8.45 you pay only £7.60 if you buy an unsplit case of 12. Which is a bit of no-brainer.

Dard & Ribo Crozes-Hermitage and Vinujancu Etna Bianco

I couldn’t make up which of these terrific wines to recommend from yesterday’s London Wine Sessions so I’m going for both.

They were featured in a ‘Moonwalk’ or biodynamic wine tasting by wine writer and blogger Jamie Goode and Doug Wregg of Les Caves de Pyrène

I was familiar with Dard & Ribo but this is a particularly delicious vintage, so alive and vibrant with incredibly fresh-tasting mulberry fruit. Or “a wine with edges’ as Jamie nicely described it. You can buy it from Les Caves de Pyrène for £22.02 or for £24.22 a single bottle from Wine Bear (£21.38 if you buy a case of six).

And the 2011 I Vigneri Etna Bianco was extraordinary - sumptuously rich and peachy, with a luscious lick of honeysuckle and a surprisingly fresh finish for a wine that’s made in such a hot climate.

According to the Caves de Pyrène list it’s made from grapes that are grown in a vineyard 1200m above sea level and is a really unusual blend of Carricante, Rhine Riesling, Grecanico and Minnella.

"The winemaker [Salvo Foti] doesn't use any chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. The grapes are harvested by hand from the end of September until mid October. Fermentations are done in open vats, without the use of yeast inoculation, enzymes or thermal control and racking and bottling are done by the lunar cycle. The wines are bottled with little or no filtration."

We enjoyed the bottle I brought back with a warm roast chicken with herbs tonight but apparently it’s a good match for artichokes according to a blog called The Italian Wine Geek - one of the few wines that are.

As a caveat I’d say you'd be likely to enjoy the Dard & Ribo even if you've never tasted natural wine before but you might find the Etna Bianco challenging. I’d strongly recommend it though if you’re adventurously minded. It’s not remotely weird or cidery, just different - and in my view gloriously different - from conventionally made wines.

You can buy it from Les Caves for £23.02 a bottle.

Parcel series Cabernet Merlot Reserve 2012

South African reds are on a roll right now but few are better value than this elegant Bordeaux style red from Majestic.

It’s part of the so-called 'parcel series' which, as the name implies, consists of parcels of wine which are released from various unnamed wineries who presumably have wine to flog but don’t particular want it to be known they’re prepared to sell it at the price. A bit like lastminute.com’s Top Secret hotels.

The only clue on Majestic’s website is that it’s “a well-known, multi-award-winning organically farmed estate in South Africa. Hand-harvested, fermented in traditional open tanks, and matured for 18 months in French and American oak.” I could have a guess but wouldn’t be fair to let on.

Whatever. It’s a lovely wine - smooth, ripe and generous without being at all jammy. One that would make any Bordeaux-lover very happy, especially on the current ‘buy two bottles save 33% deal’ which brings it down to a very attractive £6.66. Perfect for a roast leg of lamb.

(If you’re looking for a white to make up your six bottles try the As Caixas Godello 2012 - a crisp citrussy white that tastes a bit like a cross between a sauvignon blanc and an albarino. On the same promotion at £6.66 and an ideal seafood wine.)