Wines of the week: Mas Des Dames Blanc 2010; Domaine de Brau 2009; Altano Douro 2010
Terry Kirby selects the best bottles to buy
Sunday lunch
Mas Des Dames Blanc 2010
The first of three very different organic wines this week is a highly distinctive bottle from a Dutch wine-maker who turned her back on advertising only a few years ago and set up this exciting estate near Béziers in the Languedoc. Hand-picked Grenache Blanc grapes from low-yielding vines grown on limestone soil, given a little ageing in old wood, deliver a rich, complex, concentrated white that needs a firm white fish such as John Dory or turbot as a partner. £12.95, bbr.com; £12.95, robersonwine.com
Midweek meal
Domaine de Brau 2009
Also from the Languedoc, this time from an estate near Carcassonne, organic since 1989, but also demonstrating a real sense of the wine's origins. A lip-smacking and nicely balanced blend of tar and leather tastes of Cabernet Sauvignon and crunchy freshness from its cousin, Cabernet Franc, this is packed with black-fruit flavours and scents of garrigue herbs. Cries out for tomato-based dishes such as a Provençal vegetable tian or baked pasta. £7.85, vintageroots.co.uk
Bargain basement
Altano Douro 2010
The astonishing sun-baked slopes of the Douro River in Portugal also impart a very distinct sense of place to vines mostly used for port, but here combine in an intensely fruity, smoky, but still fragrant red, made from organic grapes in the remote Vilariça valley by the Symington family, one of the oldest names in the port trade. Around £10 elsewhere, so the current 25 per cent discount at Waitrose is a very decent price. £7.49 (until 9 October; normally £9.99), Waitrose
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