Drink: Wines of the week

White of the week

1997 LPA Cotes de Saint Mont Blanc, pounds 3.99, selected Sainsbury's.

From D'Artagnan country in south-west France. The Three Musketeers in question are the local Petit Courbu, Arrufiac and Gros Manseng grapes which give this well-made zingy dry white from the Plaimont Co-operative a refreshingly, almost Sauvignon-like aromatic quality with undertones of gooseberry and grapefruit zest on the palate. A crisp, early-summer aperitif.

Red of the week

1994 Domaine de Valette Saint Chinian pounds 4.99 Victoria Wine Cellars/ Martha's Vineyard. From the 1994 vintage, this is a surprisingly youthful, violet scented southern French red tinged with Mediterranean herb characters, and oozing the kind of robustly spicy fruitiness that's tailor-made for barbecues. Victoria Wine only has 250 cases of the 1994 vintage left, so hurry on down, as they say.