Something for the Weekend: 2001 Gold Label Chardonnay Vin de Pays d'Oc <br></br>2000 Bellingham Pinotage <br></br>2000 Castel di Salve Priante <br></br>

Saturday

2001 Gold Label Chardonnay Vin de Pays d'Oc, £4.49, Marks & Spencer

Attractively, almost exotically fresh on the nose, this understated southern French chardonnay from Domaines Virginie wears its oak treatment lightly and with a degree of incisive, pineappley fruitiness. Could almost be a young chablis.

2000 Bellingham Pinotage, £3.99, Sainsbury's

Reduced until Tuesday from Sainsbury's £4.99 list price, this is a sweetly juicy Cape red from value-conscious Bellingham. A spectrum of strawberry and loganberry-like flavours is nicely rounded out by oak and, though soft-textured and velvety, carries enough tannin and backbone for barbecues. Appealingly well-priced.

Sunday

2000 Castel di Salve Priante, Salento, £6.99, Oddbins

Available in limited quantities only, this is a fine example of the kind of modern blends being crafted from the native negroamaro and montepulciano grapes in Italy's Salento peninsula; aromatic and ripe, this sumptuous southern rosso impresses with its concentration of plum and damson fruitiness leavened with the spiciness of oak.

Any day

2001 Kiwi Cuvée, £3.29, Somerfield

Bargain buy of the week is an aromatic dry sauvignon blanc from its heartland in the Loire Valley. Winemaker Rhyan Wardman's Kiwi touch has succeeded in adding extra zip and zing to the gooseberry fruit flavours and lemon-sherbet crispness. The handy 70p discount until Tuesday adds to its attractions.