Wines of the week: Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2010; Mon Plaisir Bergerac 2010; Weinert Carrascal, 2008

Terry Kirby selects the best bottles to buy

Weinert Carrascal, 2008; Mon Plaisir Bergerac 2010; Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Sunday lunch

Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

January detox? Not now… some of us need big reds to warm our souls in the bleak midwinter, such as this rich and robust South African wine, full of characteristic tobacco and leather flavours with a hint of mint. Meaty casseroles and braises will be needed here. £11.49, cellarviewines.com; £13.49, sawinesonline.co.uk

Midweek meals

Mon Plaisir Bergerac 2010

Bergerac wines are often claret in all but name – this has all the smooth, darkly velvet, warming charm of the Merlot grape, with plenty of up-front brambly fruit to keep it lively. Ideal for a rosemary- and garlic-spiked lamb steak. £9.99, laithwaites.co.uk

Bargain basement

Weinert Carrascal, 2008

Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon reappear here, blending seamlessly with 40 per cent Argentine Malbec to deliver more complex, cedar and leather-type flavours, given added depth with ageing. Wonderful value for the money. £7.95, thewinesociety.com