Wineline is occasional look at various aspects of wine. We look at where the best special offers and discounts are to be had - whether from the local supermarket or the poshest of wine merchants. There are food and wine matching tips, “words of wisdom” to help in getting the best out of the wines we buy and an elegant garnish of wine trivia.

We occasionally send out more detailed notes on supermarkets' and merchants' offers. If you would like to receive them, just send a blank e-mail to: subs@petergrogan.com 

'ON SPESH AT...'

Somerfield is Fairhills Pinotage-Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 with a pound off at £3.99 until the end of July. I've been doing quite a bit of "work" on fair trade wines of late and this is worth a go if you’re sceptical (I know I was). "It's good for me ... tonight," said Mrs. G. thirstily when I proffered a glass, leaving me with the impression that she might well have said the same of a carafe of late Soviet-period tank anti-freeze. It's certainly one of the best-value fair trade examples I’ve tried (but watch this space), with bags of bright cherry fruit and it can hold its own against anything else at the discounted price.

Berry Bros have 10 % off a case of 2006 Domaine Boudau Rosé, Languedoc-Rousillon at £6.52 (and who doesn’t need a case – either for a party if summer ever arrives or to drown our sorrows if it doesn’t). The rosé renaissance has a lot of dull, “confected” stuff to answer for but can also be thanked for giving us wines like this. Really vibrant strawberry fruit combined with the sort of stuffing to match the salad Niçoise that Berry’s helpfully recommends. One of the best rosés I’ve had this year.

'THOUGHT FOR FOOD'

 ... is that all those reds you’ve been lightly chilling (see below) somehow become more versatile in terms of what you might want to drink them with. They’re more of an option for lighter foods – salads, cold collations and all sorts of summery tarts and egg dishes – where you might normally pick a white or a rosé. They’re a natch for barbecues, of course, and if you’re hell-bent on matching red wines with fish (and who am I to stop you trying?) then this could be the place to start.

'CAN'T GO WRONG?'

Top independent merchants like Justerini & Brooks, Tanners, Berry Brothers, Adnams, The Wine Society and Lay and Wheeler have large ranges of very good “house” wines which are often terrific value. They are amongst their biggest-selling wines and extreme care goes into the selection process for what becomes, for example, Tanner’s Famously Juicy Claret or Berry’s Good Ordinary Claret. These wines are the face that these merchants show to the world so it comes as no surprise that they’re usually made by leading producers. They are always first-class examples of the characterstics of whatever region they’re from so they can be a great learning tool if you want to tell your St.Estèphe from your St.Emilion. There’s a great tradition to it as well as up until the 1960s pretty much all wine was imported in barrel and bottled and labelled by the merchants (even though pretty well everything is now bottled at source.)

'A GOOD IDEA...'

...is to put your red wines – yes, all of them – into the refrigerator for 15 or 20 minutes before you drink them. (Of course, if you have a cellar at a constant 55-60ºF you are excused this task. But you haven’t, have you? No, nor have I.) The reason behind this treasonable madness? Simply this, that red wines aren’t intended to be drunk at much over the mid-60s˚F because the quite crude smell of the alcohol starts to mask the real bouquet of the wine. Our over-heated homes can have this effect but try leaving a bottle out in the sun for a couple of hours to really get it at its worst. If you’re a bit nervous about this whole plan, perhaps you should start off with a few lighter summery reds – think Beaujolias and the Loire - that indisputably benefit from a spell in the fridge or even the ice-bucket (keep a close eye, or hand, on it if the latter is the case) while you toddle off to light the barbie.

'BUYS OF THE MONTH'

2005 Pinot Noir, Matetic “EQ”, Chile, (£14.95: The Wine Society) Intense, come-hitherish summer-pudding aromas, ravishing raspberry fruit and all finished with the silkiest, toastiest oak. If it were from Burgundy it would probably say “Premier Cru” on the label and cost a tenner more. Thinking of it with a simple roast chicken makes my mouth water.
BUY

2005 Côtes-du-Rhône, The Adnams Selection “La Truel” (£6.99: Adnams) Lovely clarity of bright, red and black fruit flavours and undertones of pepper and spice keep this organic newcomer’s roots firmly planted in Rhône terroir.
BUY

2004 Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne, Domaine du Tariquet (£4.99: Somerfield and Majestic) The ebullient Yves Grassa stylishly negotiates the tightrope act of producing large quantities of wine without sacrificing quality. This is exuberantly grapefruity and refreshing stuff for a large crowd. Not so sure about Monsieur G. putting his grinning Gascon mug on the back-label though ...
STAND-BY