Wine of the week: Millton Te Arai Chenin Blanc 2015

This is not so much a new find as a rediscovery. I’ve been a fan of James Millton’s wines since the early 1990s when he was virtually a lone pioneer of biodynamics and each time I revisit them they get better and better.

This is one of the cheaper bottles in the range but just gorgeous with all the opulent peachy fruit you find in chenin but a beautifully balancing salty edge and a streak of green apple acidity on the finish. Rich and refreshing at the same time - and surprisingly light at 12.5%. If you’re a fan of good Vouvray or Montlouis you’ll love it.

It would be perfect with simply roast or poached chicken and summer vegetables or a Vietnamese-style chicken salad or simply to sip on its own.

You can find it at GP Brands for £16.60, Just in Cases for £16.75, £18.95 at Drinkmonger in Scotland and £21.80 at New Zealand Cellar. (Other suppliers have older vintages which I haven’t tasted recently but chenin ages well. The recommended drink-by date for the 2015 is 2024)

Saltram Mamre Brook Shiraz 2008

If you want to drink interesting wine pop into your local indie. Shouldn’t need saying but even I sometimes forget

I dropped by my local, Davis Bell McCraith in Clifton, Bristol to see what they were suggesting for Christmas and they said ‘try this’!

It’s a really luscious Barossa shiraz with its glorious ripe supple fruit still very much in evidence eight years after it was made. (Too often I think we drink Aussie reds too young.)

They’re selling it at the bargainous price of £14.99 as they snapped up the last bottles in the country (and only have about 180 left so it's a genuine bin end). The brand, which was established in 1859, is apparently no longer being exported to the UK by its owner Treasury which nevertheless describes it in these glowing terms:

"No history of the Barossa Valley or Australian wine industry is complete without the mention of Saltram …..This wine stands proudly today as the flagship Barossa Shiraz, highly awarded and respected amongst Australian wine lovers for being a classic statement of intensity and finesse."

If you love mature Aussie reds it’s a brilliant buy, not to mention the ideal wine to drink with The Bird. Even Morrisons is charging £20 for it!

Oh, and they do mail order too ....

Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Courlandes 2015

Regular readers of my Guardian column will know that I’m always banging on about how there are cheaper alternatives to Chateauneuf-du-Pape but I know how much many of you love it and like to put it on the Christmas table.

And here’s a good one at a really keen price.

It may be young (it’s from the recent 2015 vintage) but it is a full 14.5% and really looks the part.

It’s normally £14 at Sainsbury’s but if you buy it (and 5 other bottles*) on the current 25% if you buy 6 promotion you can get it for £10.50. I doubt whether any supermarket will have one of comparable quality for a better price than that before Christmas.

What to drink it with? Well, The Bird obviously but it would also be good with roast beef, rich stews or a cheeseboard. If you’re a Chateauneuf fan snap it up!

* Sainsbury's very decent Taste the Difference Prosecco is on offer currently at £8 bringing it down to £6 on this deal which lasts until next Sunday November 13th. Ideal for a Christmas party.

Delas Grignan-les-Adhemar 2013

One of the problems about buying wine these days is that there’s just too much choice. But if I had to stick to just one wine this Christmas it would be this gutsy red from the Rhone.

It comes from a large but obscure appellation called Grignan-les-Adhémar (formerly Coteaux du Tricastin) in the southern Rhône but, as a typically Mediterranean blend of grenache and syrah it could easily pass for a good Côtes du Rhône Villages). The big draw - assuming you’re a member of the Wine Society - is the unbelievable price. It’s just £6.95 which for such a handsome-looking bottle is a complete steal.

I fell in love with the 2012 vintage at the autumn tasting which was if anything even better but it sold out almost instantly and as I hadn’t tasted the 2013 I had to leave it out of my Guardian Christmas column next weekend. Now I’ve had the chance to try it I still think it’s a great buy and as I imagine other Wine Society members do too I’d get in quick if you want some.*

As I say it would go with practically anything in the way of Christmas food short of the mince pies - the turkey (a much cheaper alternative to Chateauneuf), Christmas ham, roast pork, roast beef, a hot game pie, the cheeseboard … With any luck you’ll still have a few bottles for the chilly days of January.

* And if you’re passing by the Wine Society’s shop in Montreuil you’ll get it even cheaper though you’ll need to pre-order it I seem to remember. For those of you who aren't Wine Society members, lifetime membership costs £40.