BELGIUM

St Bernardus Tripel SHELF PRICE: $16 $12

This beer, with high fermentation, has a pale amber colour and a flowery, fruity taste with a harmonious balance between sweet and sour (8% alcohol content). This beer has a thick and vivid froth and strikes by its balanced taste with a delicate bitterness. (99) www.ratebeer.com

BURGUNDY


Simonnet Cremant de Bourgogne NV SHELF PRICE: $32 $25

A medium-bodied sparkler, with tones of vanilla, honey and coffee. Smooth, yet ends with a crisp edge. WINE SPECTATOR www.winespectator.com

Chantemerle Fourchaume Premier Cru 2008 SHELF PRICE: $65 $40

Fourchaume is generally considered (along with Montee de Tonnerre) to be the finest premier cru of Chablis. The five primary sous-climats are l'Homme Mort, Fourchaume, Vaupulent, Cote de Fontenay and Vaulorent. The best wines can age well for 5 to 10 years or more. Both aromatically and on the palate this wine shows more concentration than the AC with its intense lemon / citrus fruit allied to piercing minerality and a really interesting saline/oyster-shell character. The Fourchaume travels across the palate with great coverage of fruit hemmed-in by ripe acid structure. Typical and terroir driven…brilliant Chablis! MICHAEL MCNAMARA, Prince Wine Store

PROVENCE

Chateau Riotor Cotes du Provence 2007 SHELF PRICE: $25 $19

Located in the heart of Provence, 30 minutes from the famous village of Saint-Tropez, Chateau Riotor is the property of the Abeille family for four generations. Jean and Henri Abeille are the direct descendants of their Grand Father, Henri Plantin, who was also the founder of Chateau Mont-Redon in Châteauneuf du Pape in 1923. Powered with the same passion for delicate wines, the family looks forward to producing Rose wines from the Cotes de Provence appellation focusing on elegance, finesse and balance, and expression of the soils and climate. The vineyard consists of 48 hectares (118 acres) of planted vines averaging 25 -40 years old that are surrounded by the hundred year old pines of the "Bastide."

Made from a blend of equal parts of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. This is a beautifully perfumed, fresh, savoury red wine of medium body that partners perfectly with most Mediterranean style foods. Wonderfully fresh and perfumed in style, this is one of the new styles of Provencal reds showing greater freshness of fruit married with traditional savoury characters. PWS

RHONE

Mas de Guiot Rouge 2008 SHELF PRICE: $25 $20

This large, 240-acre estate in the Costières de Nimes turns out a bevy of value-priced wines that offer loads of personality and fruit. They are ideal choices for consumers seeking good value. ROBERT PARKER

A striking southern French grenache-syrah blend, this has a meaty, spicy complexity of aromas, layered and savoury but not oaky or overripe. It's medium bodied at most, nicely concentrated but not tannic nor heavy. Delicious stuff. HUON HOOKE, Sydney Morning Herald

Monredon Cotes du Rhone 2007 SHELF PRICE: $27 $19

This great little Cote du Rhone is made of 70% Grenache, 20% Cinsault, 10% Syrah and offers plenty of sweet fruit and red berries on the nose. The palate is surprisingly fresh showing bright red fruit, cloves, sweet spices and a hint of earth. The wine has fantastic acidity and great length without any jamminess. PWS

PYRENEES


Le Chat Noir Vin de Pays d'OC Pinot Noir SHELF PRICE: $22 $18

Made from grapes grown in two vineyards - Domaine du Treille and de Martinolles - in the Aude Valley. The folks behind this wine like to think of it as the best French pinot noir made outside of Burgundy. It's made in a fresh, low oak style. It's made by winemaker Vinson Charlon. Again - if I was running a bistro I'd be clamouring for this. Ticks a lot of boxes. CAMPBELL MATTINSON

ARMAGNAC

Tariquet Ugni Blanc 2008 SHELF PRICE: $19 $15

Some have called Grassa, who was named IWC Winemaker of the Year in 1987, a genius for having revolutionized the Gascon wine industry, while others have called him the best Australian winemaker in France. But the Grassa family sells almost 10 million bottles of wine annually, much of it being the crisp, fresh, fruity, Vin de Pays Côtes de Gascogne Tariquet white wines that are arguably some of the best-value-for-money wines around. THE WINE ROUTE, 2010

A light- to medium-bodied white, with crunchy green apple, herb and melon flavours. Quite citrusy on the finish. Drink now. WINE SPECTATOR

ADIRAN

Brumont Gros Manseng Sauvignon Blanc 2008 SHELF PRICE: $20 $15

Alain Brumont is widely regarded as the leading producer of the Madiran appellation. He is also acknowledged as being the wine-maker responsible for re-establishing Madiran's fame and glory. Brumont owns several estates in south-west France. The wines are full concentrated and rich, with great structure and depth. They have the balance that allows immediate enjoyment but can also being cellared with confidence. PRODUCER OF THE YEAR - Alain Brumont Le Grand Guide des Vins de France 2010

Freshly cut grass and hints of citrus with a chalky undertone, this wine is dry and classic Sauvignon Blanc on the palate, with clean, racy acidity and gooseberry fruit. This wine has a textural element lacking in some new world Sauvignon Blanc, yet the chalky finish gives the wine fantastic length. PWS

BERGERAC

Grande Maison Cuvee des Anges 2007 375ml SHELF PRICE: $26 $19

At least three estates in Monbazillac - Domaine de la Borie Blanche, Grande Maison, and Tirecul la Graviere - are crafting nobly sweet wine that can compete with the best of Sauternes. More attention needs to be paid to this appellation - but of course more consumers need to be indoctrinated into the mysteries, versatility, and seductive pleasures of these and similar "slow wines." DAVID SCHILDKNECHT, www.erobertparker.com

80 % Sémillon,15 % Sauvignon Blanc, 5 % Muscadelle. Nose reveals candied pineapple, with citrus and tropical fruits. The palate is rich but light, subtly sweet, with chalk, bitter-sweet citrus, apricot and hints of ginger and spice on the palate. This wine reveals good botrytis levels and has a fantastic finish with great length. Killer value for this sticky. SEBASTIAN, Prince Wine Store

BORDEAUX

Chateau Val de Roc Bordeaux Superieur 2008 SHELF PRICE: $25 $20

From just north of Fronsac and made by Chateau Ausone's vineyard manager Laurent Vallet this is a lovely Bordeaux at an amazing price! Deep crimson and gentle palate attack. Delicate red fruits and cassis. Rather large tannins but amazingly flowery and attractive for a Bordeaux Superieur. Sweet and gentle with good length. Attractive Bordeaux from a good vintage. Great drinking wine. PWS

Lillet Blanc SHELF PRICE: $35 $28

Lillet is an aromatic wine from the Bordeaux region in France; though not always marketed as such, Lillet is essentially a vermouth and can be substituted for dry vermouth in any cocktail recipe you'd like. The Lillet brand dates back to 1872, but the Lillet Blanc variety is the baby, created in 1986, when the original Lillet (Kina Lillet) was killed off in a New Coke-like apocalypse.

Lillet Blanc is a medium color white wine, made from sauvignon blanc and semillon grapes. that noses of honey and orange and a hint of mint. While the nose may lead you to expect a sweet dessert wine taste, in fact Lillet Blanc with taste and a firm bitterness, which suddenly diminishes, leaving a lingering trace of orange, honey and bitterness on the palate. www.alcoholreviews.com