Christine Austin's wines of the week from Booths, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Aldi

Chapter and Verse Chardonnay 2023, south-eastern Australia, 11%, Aldi, £5.19: A great value juicy white wine with peach and tropical fruit flavours. This also comes in a flat PET bottle that saves you money and helps save the planet.

Taste the Difference South African Sauvignon Blanc 2024, 12.5%, Sainsbury’s, down from £8.50 to £7.25 with a Nectar card until November 19: Full of lively citrus and pink grapefruit flavours with a crisp, sherbet finish. It is Fairtrade, so everyone benefits when you drink this wine.​

Le Chant du Cot à la Négrette 2022, Fronton, France, 13%, Booths, down from £9.50 to £8.50 until November 15: A real cold weather wine with robust, chunky black cherry and mulberry fruit, rounded out with liquorice and supple tannins.​

Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Quincié 2023, Burgundy 13.5%, Waitrose, down from £14.99 to £11.99 until November 12: Hundred per cent Gamay from the heart of the Beaujolais terroir, this has cherry and raspberry fruit with a backdrop of autumn savouriness. Team with duck.​

Buon Vino

Judith Beck, one of the pioneers of Biodynamic wine production in Burgenland Austria will be at Buon Vino in Austwick (LA 8AS) next Friday, 8 November to talk about her wines and the way they are made. There will be 10 wines to taste alongside cheeses from The Courtyard Dairy and sourdough bread from the new Courtyard Bakery. Tickets cost £25 which is an absolute bargain, but numbers are limited. Ring 01729 824056 or email [email protected]

Campbells of Leyburn

Next Saturday, 9 November, between 11am and 4pm, it will be well worth heading to Campbell’s of Leyburn for a free tasting of food and drink from many of their suppliers, who will be on hand to tell you about their products. There will be around 100 wines available to taste, as well as beers and spirits. This event is well worth a detour to Leyburn.

Martinez Quiz Night

Brighten up a November evening by heading to Martinez Wines in Ilkley for a Wine Quiz. On Tuesday 26 November at 7.30 Johnny will present a range of wines and questions in his own particular fun way. Expect quality wines and perhaps a not-so-serious evening of tasting and chat. You can bring your own snacks if you want to. Tickets cost £25, ring 01943 600000.

Behind the Glass

Colour, aroma and taste are the criteria we observe when we taste wine – but how does it work? Gus Zhu is China’s only Master of Wine who works as a research and development scientist and has explored the way our senses react to the various elements that work together to create smells and tastes.

There is a lot of chemistry in this book, it is not an easy read, but this is a fascinating deep dive into the way our brains detect flavour compounds and build them into the words we use.

One key fact is that we don’t all smell and taste the same way, which justifies the fact that you may smell strawberries in a wine, while I detect peaches and raspberries.

Behind the Glass, by Gus Zhu is published by Academie du Vin and priced £20, www.academieduvinlibrary.com