Wine of the week: BX Crémant de Bordeaux

As I've pointed out on more than one occasion pink champers is pretty pricey so if you’re looking for something a little more affordable this sparkling Bordeaux rosé I’ve just discovered in Aldi’s Spring Wine Festival should hit the spot

Bordeaux isn’t of course noted for its sparkling wine but as it’s what many people want to drink these days it’s got in on the act.

This, I imagine, is made from merlot and has a lovely fresh strawberry flavour.

Although it’s drier than prosecco it wouldn't be too dry to demolish with a white chocolate dessert or a box of milk chocolates or, as they suggest on the label, with sushi which would would definitely appeal to me.

And at £7.99 it won’t break the bank.

For my other Valentine's Day picks see my Guardian column

Tantalus Old Vines Riesling Natural Brut 2013

I don’t often pick a wine you can’t buy in the UK for my wine of the week but as it’s Canada Day I’m making an exception. (Plus there are regular Canadian visitors to the site who may be able to get their hands on it. Lucky them!)

It was one of the highlights of my recent trip to the Okanagan Valley. Tantalus specialises in riesling but this sparkling version which costs 34.70 CA$ (£20.70 at the current rate of exchange) from the winery + shipping is quite exceptional, with true riesling character, gorgeous lime-streaked fruit and an incredible persistence and minerality. The vines which were planted back in 1978 are grown without recourse to herbicides or pesticides

I'd drink it as an aperitif with some south-east Asian-style nibbles

Cheeringly I have discovered that an outfit called Tour de Force, which specialises in Canadian wine, does import the rest of their range into the UK including the 2013 Old Vines Riesling, which is also amazing, for an admittedly pricey £34.99. They also supply a number of top restaurants including Social Wine and Tapas which has it on their list. (How about putting it on by the glass, fellas?)

Reichstrat von Buhl Riesling Sekt

In the meantime if you’re curious to find out what sparkling riesling tastes like Laithwaites is stocking a delicately, grapey, honeyed sekt from Von Buhl in the Pfalz at £18.99 which would make delicious summer drinking (and a welcome break from prosecco). Avery's, bizarrely given that it's part of the same group, charges £23.99.

Wine of the week: Graham Beck brut rosé

I know a lot of you are going to be looking for a well-priced sparkling wine for Mother's Day this weekend and this is the perfect bottle

OK, it’s not prosecco but to my mind it’s a lot more refreshing with a delicate wild strawberry flavour and fine bubbles - champagne quality at less than half the price of most rosé champagnes

It comes from a wild bit of the Cape Winelands, the Robertson region of South Africa - about the last place you’d expect to find a quality sparkling wine producer but Graham Beck has been specialising in fizz for years - so much so that he’s now giving up making still wines under his eponymous label.

I’ve shown it at a number of tastings during the past year and paired it with some unlikely food including sushi, a fish pastilla (Moroccan-style fish pie) and Indian street-food style snacks and it’s sailed through them all. It would be a touch dry for cake and desserts but otherwise it’s remarkably versatile.

You can currently buy it for £10.79 as part of a ‘mix six’ deal at Majestic* which is a good price though even the single bottle price of £11.99 is pretty fair. Some retailers are selling it for £14.50.

* Incidentally if you don't want to buy six bottles of this Majestic is selling a Pays d'Oc syrah from Domaine les Yeuses called Les Epices for £7.49.(It doesn't get good ratings on the site but I thought it was delicious when I tried it the other day.)

Wine of the week: El Bombero Gran Reserva 2009 Carinena

If I saw this wine on a supermarket shelf I wouldn’t pick it up. There’s the name for a start, which sounds like something a marketing department has invented

The old fashioned red and gold label and the fact it’s not a rioja wouldn’t do much for me either.

It also comes from Laithwaite’s, a retailer which has never overly impressed me with its range or pricing

But I’d be wrong. This is a cracking bottle of wine made from garnacha (aka grenache) from the far less fashionable Cariñena region. Despite its age it’s still gorgeously plummy and at £8.99 an absolute steal for a gran reserva which has to be aged for at least 5 years. It’s the perfect wine for a traditional Sunday roast beef (or lamb) lunch and would make any rioja-lovers in the family very happy.

The only thing I’d say is that the advice on the label ‘drink by December 2017’ might be a tad over-optimistic given most domestic storage conditions - I’d be inclined to drink it by Christmas - or the new year, at the latest. Also I’m not sure you need to decant it as they advise. It was pretty good poured straight from the bottle.

Laithwaite’s by the way has just been nominated Merchant of the Year and Online Retailer of the Year by the International Wine Challenge so maybe I’m wrong on that front too. But if you do buy some of the El Bombero beware pushy follow up invitations to buy ‘half price’ mixed cases. And I tried another couple of wines in their range by which I was much less impressed.

PS The other wine I was thinking of making my wine of the week - and might have done if I hadn’t featured them last week is the Charles de Fère Brut Premium Vin Mousseux which is currently on offer at M & S at just £7. It’s a really attractive soft sparkling wine which looks very much like champagne at a casual glance. Perfect for weddings it struck me, if you want an alternative to prosecco.