Under 10
Delheim Three Springs Red 2004, South Africa, 7.99 Delheim is a very go-ahead family-run winery based in Stellenbosch. They produce a string of excellent wines, but perhaps their most impressive achievement is the way they manage to produce some excellent inexpensive wines under 10. Normally, it is the white that impresses me (and it is a real bargain), but this year the Three Springs red, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, is well worth buying. Light ripe dark cherries and plums in a very easydrinking style. Drink it on its own, with cheeses or lighter meat dishes.

Under 20
Monte Real Rioja Reserva 2000 Normally 16.99, on promotion at 12.99 Smooth and rich, with abundant plums and damsons overlaid with swathes of coconut and spicy new oak. A very good example of modern Rioja . . . powerful and mouth-filling with concentrated very ripe fruits.

Good value at 16.99, this struck me as a real bargain at 12.99. Locally they would drink this with milk-fed baby roast lamb or lamb cutlets grilled over vine cuttings . . . but it would make a great accompaniment to lamb of any sort.

Anything goes
Chateau Bertineau St Vincent 2001 Lalande-de-Pomerol, normally 32, currently 27 This estate belongs to Michel Rolland, celebrity wine consultant to a bewildering number of wine producers around the world. We should therefore expect something pretty good, and this certainly does not disappoint. A big lush powerful wine full of sweet ripe plum fruits, some vanilla spice, with a good tannic structure, giving a dry finish. Expensive, but worth it, and the perfect partner to your best roast.