Something For The Weekend: <br></br>2000 Mont Gras; <br></br>2001 Villa Cafaggio; <br></br>2001 Pazo de Barrantes

Under a fiver

2000 Mont Gras Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Colchagua Valley £4.99, Waitrose (to 31 August)

This is an appealing, spicy blend from Chile with juicy, cherry and blackcurrant fruitiness in the smooth, plummy, fruit-to-the-fore Chilean style.

Under a tenner

2001 Villa Cafaggio Chianti Classico £8.99-£9.99, Unwins, The Wine Bureau, Harrogate (01423 527772)

This mouthwatering, new-wave chianti classico with its promising aroma of dried herbs, delivers rich and ripe sour cherry fruit on the palate rounded out with a light touch of oak and a food-enhancing, savoury acidity. A Tuscan red that goes satisfyingly well with pasta - say, tagliatelle with black olive and pinenut pesto.

Splash out

2001 Pazo de Barrantes Albariño, Marques de Murrieta £9.99, Wimbledon Wine Cellars (020-8540 0400); £10.99, Peckham & Rye, Glasgow and Edinburgh (0141 4454555)

One of the best Galician albariños on the market, this is a fragrant and fruity, spritz-fresh dry white from the Rias Baixas region on northern Spain's Atlantic coast. Its rich, dry, minerally fruit character makes it a natural partner for shellfish. Grilled scallops or crab and a bottle of this and you'll be close to heaven.