Why not print this page off as your shopping list?
Links to the left feature an archive of previous round-ups.

week beginning 01/10/2007

the Times - Jane MacQuitty

leafy, floral sauvignon blanc with lots of ripe, racy fruit

terrific, gamey, truffley fruit is definitely ready for drinking now

gorgeous fat, ripe, spicy, classic, kerosene-scented riesling

delectable, ripe, spicy, pineappley-redolent winter white

seductively spiced; blessed with lots of rich, juicy, plummy fruit

lovely, fat, inky, spicy, black fruits-charged, syrah-dominant minervois

the Sunday Times - Joanna Simon

Crisp, appley, citrusy lager from Alsace

Toasty, wheaty, smooth.

Powerful, fruity, malty beer.

the Independent - Anthony Rose

Argento has cherry-picked this crisp, dry rosé

fresh, floral aromas and peachy opulence

smooth, cherry-raspberry, herby red; great for roasts

the Observer - Tim Atkin

juicy, plum- and cherry-like

a nutty, dry Sherry at a giveaway price

one of the best non-vintage Champagnes

broad, brambly red with real guts

silky, textured, palate-caressing

the Telegraph - Jonathan Ray

ideal match for a big, fat, juicy steak

crisp, ripe and rounded - an excellent aperitif

Classy stuff indeed, with a nice bit of bottle age

soft, buttery, toasty example, fermented in steel and aged in oak

the Guardian - Victoria Moore

Bull's Blood, about as robust a wine as you're likely to find, does go rather well with goulash. And peasanty (or at least not super-posh) wine is about the best thing you can drink with most simple, rustic one-pot dishes, which is just as well, because they're usually budget meals. Even with casseroles and stews, though, you could do worse than look for a wine from the same region (or at least country) as the dish, so as to find some sort of taste correlation. So, a Spanish dish with onions fried to caramelised softness and scented with sweet, smoky paprika will meld with a soft, hay and ripe strawberries tempranillo. A heavy Gascon meat and beans stomach-stretcher can be met by an equally sturdy cahors, or lightened with a spry marcillac. Italian garlic sausages with lentils like a slightly medicinal sangiovese. And so on. But don't ignore New World reds - their firm, no-nonsense character is especially good with strident tomato- and pepper-flavoured stews. Including Hungarian goulash.