​Magnificent wine from the bargain bucket

Back in the good old days when money was plentiful and prices were cheap. Since then everything has been pretty great. Who says money doesn't buy happiness? Trust me, tipplers, it does.

I took a photograph of this lovely new home, Rose Cottage, perched atop a cliff overlooking the ocean on the majestic North Antrim coastline, to Paris and showed it to an even more beautiful woman I'd met there while studying theology at the Sorbonne. Soon after, she agreed to leave the capital of romance, marry me and live here in our rainy little country. Or "this bloody cold, dark, windy rock in the middle of the Atlantic where no-one in their right mind would choose to live" as I've heard it described several times. Still, she came and she stayed. Hardly ever complains. Who says money can't buy love? Trust me, tipplers, money can buy anything (though you need lots and lots of it just to stock the cupboards these days, never mind the wine cellar).

You see, tipplers, the truth is that people are extremely practical creatures who know the value of a pound. And a pound matters more than ever now in these uncertain economic times. Market research indicates that the average amount of pounds we're prepared to part with for a bottle of wine is seven. It's a fact that you only really get proper value by spending a pound or two more than that. But the deeper truth is that most of you won't want to part with even seven pounds right now.

So I've been cruising around the bargain buckets trying to find a couple of decent bottles for less than £6 for you to enjoy this weekend. Something for you to soothe the pain of your poverty with and also to distract my darling wife, the redoubtable Madame G., from the cold winds which she seems to be preoccupied by while I'm trying to enjoy the tiny amount of sun that occasionally peeps out from behind our lovely grey clouds. It's tough work but somebody's got to do it.

M&S isn't a store that one normally associates with the words "bargain bucket" and yet today's Wine of the Week is the sumptuously smooth, intensely fruity and deftly spiced 2021 Tierra Y Hombre Pinot Noir (currently a mere £6, M&S) which combines an abundance of ripe cherry flavours with strawberry and subtle strands of violet and vanilla while hints of pepper and unobtrusive spices enrich its smooth tangy finish. Unusually robust for a Pinot, it will withstand strong flavours and should be served lightly chilled with a Sunday roast of duck, game or even goose. Just goes to show how wrong you can be.

Lovers of white may prefer the fabulously fresh and vibrantly aromatic 2022 Gisborne Pinot Gris (£5.99, Lidl). This lively, zesty, plump and delightfully dry New Zealand white has a wonderfully expressive palate full of peach and melon flavours alongside backnotes of white blossom. An ideal match to seafood or mildly spiced curry dishes.

For those of us with a few quid to spare and time to wait for delivery of something slightly finer and more expensive, excellent value can be found in the the ripe, zesty and exceptionally elegant 2021 Benjamin Darnault Viognier (£8.99, Naked Wines, visit www.nakedwines.com). Pronounced apricot and stone fruit flavours mingle pleasantly with honey and subtle spices in this delightfully dry French white which will go wonderfully well with seafood, poultry or salads.So as my dear Granny, whom I sometimes think I married such are the likenesses twixt her and my Madame, used say- just because it doesn't cost much, that doesn't mean it's cheap. An ambiguous and perhaps not entirely satisfactory note to end on. But then as every great artist knows, one's audience should never feel entirely satisfied. Otherwise they won't be calling out for more. And you'll certainly want more of today's magnificent wines once the bottles run dry. Till next week, tipplers, sante!