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Our shoppers’ guide for the best-buys for Christmas wines

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There’s a bewildering choice of wines on offer this festive season. Croydon wine expert ROZ LAWSON offers her best picks from local supermarket shelves – all priced at £10 or less, and starting with a Champagne 

£9.99 for Lidl members, otherwise £13.99

This Champagne from Lidl is highlighted as a “Best Buy” and “Great Value” in a Which? review of supermarket fizz. It is a Champagne – produced in the Champagne region by the traditional method (with the second fermentation in the bottle, giving it fizz and flavour).

It has gentle aromas of citrus and apple, with hints of honeysuckle and nuts. Taste-wise, it’s not the most complex Champagne, but it is well-balanced with lots of juicy apple flavours and hints of candied lemon.

It really is excellent value, so buy it while you can… it looked to be flying off the shelves of the big West Croydon Lidl!

 £10, reduced from £17.50

I love this wine. It’s a bright, unoaked white from Burgundy’s Mâconnais region. Yes, it is a Chardonnay, but it’s not been made with any oak.

I poured it at a recent tasting, and it got the most votes, with people saying, “I don’t usually like Chardonnay, but I love this!”

On the nose, there’s citrus, ripe apple, apple blossom and that minerally, wet stone note that can really elevate a Chardonnay. These flavours are there on the palate, along with ripe peach and melon, and a hint of sweet vanilla. It has a lovely creamy texture and a long, mineral finish.

This would pair beautifully with smoked salmon on Christmas Day. It would also work well with seafood and with starters generally, or can be happily sipped on its own.

£8.95, reduced from £11.50

The south of France is a top tip for great value wines. The Pays d’Oc region gets plenty of sunshine and warmth to ripen varieties such as Grenache, which is best-known as a variety for making red wine. The Grenache Blanc grape originated in Spain and is planted widely in the Rhône Valley and the Languedoc.

This white Grenache is soft, fruity and very drinkable! It has aromas of peach, pear and a hint of dried herbs. It has refreshing but not sharp citrus acidity, and flavours of ripe peach, pear and nectarine. It has a nice, rich texture and a reasonably long finish.

It’s quite a versatile wine, and would work well with seafood, chicken or vegetable dishes, or once again, on its own.

£9.00

This is another one that was a favourite at a recent tasting evening. It shows that Pinot Noir can be delicious, but doesn’t need to be complicated… or expensive!

The delicious red fruit aromas are all there: raspberries and ripe berries. On the palate, expect juicy, sweet red berries along with ripe blackberry and black cherry flavours, and a hint of earthiness. Our tasters all loved how smooth it is, with one reviewer describing the moderate tannins as “nicely slippery”, which I love.

This super-smooth sip would be perfect with your roast turkey. It would also pair beautifully with duck, pork, charcuterie meats and anything with mushrooms in it.

£7.50 for 37.5cl

So this one is a sherry. But forget the cream sherries that your granny might have had at Christmas – this is deep, dark, decadent and super-sweet. Pedro Ximenez grapes are laid out to dry in the hot sun before spending time in the traditional solera system which is used to age sherry in Jerez, Andalucia.

When you pour it, it’s very dark – almost black – and it tastes like Christmas pudding in a glass – raisins, figs, coffee and caramel mingling together in a velvety smooth, syrupy dessert wine. Helen McGinn describes it as “a guilty pleasure bottled”.

Serve it chilled on its own, with the Christmas pud or mince pies, or even poured over vanilla ice cream. And yes, that price is for a half-bottle, but it’s so luxurious that a little goes a long way!

Read more: Our journey through Beaujolais provided a nouveau experience

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