The price is right

What I enjoy about Majestic is that the pricing is transparent. Yes, they indulge in a great many offers, with 20 per cent off here and there, and they rely a lot on multibuy offers where you have to buy two or more wines from a range or even two bottles of the same wine to get the deal.

But there are no half price offers and there is the overall feeling that the wine is actually worth its full price. Majestic is unusual in that they publish a price list so you can plan for several weeks ahead and buy what you need, and if you are not within striking distance of a store (Beverley, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Leeds, York and Sheffield) then you can ring up and they deliver, free of charge. Their website is one of the best around (www.majestic.co.uk).

The disadvantage of Majestic is that you have to buy a minimum of six bottles, but they always have wines available to taste in store, so if you are not sure how to fill your case, you might just be tempted by something you taste.

Also, since their stores are often sited on major roads with parking outside, a six-bottle purchase is not too much of a burden.

For the summer season, until the end of August, Australia, Chile, Italy and New Zealand have favoured nation status and if you buy any two wines from each of those ranges you get 20 per cent off. There are just a few wines not included in that deal, but these are mainly Australian wines and mainly at the bottom or right at the top of the price range.

Tasting through the Italian range, I found a terrific Sistina Pecorino 2010, from Terre di Chieti, which works out at £6.99 on multibuy.

You might think Pecorino is a cheese, but it is also an historic white grape from the Abruzzo in Central Italy. The wine is zesty and floral, with a silky, food-friendly texture and a dry, but not harsh finish. This is a great wine to team up with fish and seafood, or creamy pasta dishes.

Also good is another old grape variety, Falanghina, which has been growing in the wilds of Campania for centuries. Distinctive for its stone fruit and minerally flavours this is another Italian white that accompanies food extremely well. Falanghina Terredora 2010 (£7.99 multibuy) shines through with greengage, apple and minerally flavours and ends crisp and fresh on the palate.

Australian Chardonnay has not been on my favourites list for quite some time, but I make an exception for a new wine from Neil McGuigan. He has made a small range of wines under the heading The Shortlist, made from grapes grown on some of his best Barossa vineyards.

The Chardonnay 2010 is so far away from what you might remember as Aussie Chardonnay that it will surprise you.

The flavours are fresh, with light peach and melon fruit, backed by complexity from lees ageing in French oak, but the wine doesn’t reek of oak, it is finely balanced and perfect to pour with food. I also loved the Shortlist Riesling 2005 which is sourced from the cool Eden Valley and it has been bottle aged to provide that distinctive whiff of petrol forecourts before moving into a perfectly balanced, lime-zesty floral vibrant wine.

Both wines and their red partners, including a peppery, spicy GSM 2009, (Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvèdre blend) sell for £11.99 on multibuy for the whole of the summer.

Majestic has concentrated on getting good value wines from the south of France for many years so it was no surprise to find a trio of good-value whites including a citrus and asparagus-tinged Colombard and Gros Manseng blend from the Côtes de Gascogne at £5.99 on multibuy.

Slightly softer and more complex with floral notes and green herbaceous bite is Picpoul de Pinet Prestige 2010 from Domaine Guillaume Cabrol at £6.99, but the one that really stood out is Bordière Marsanne Viognier blend 2010 (£5.99) which is like a classic white Rhône wine in casual mode.

Softer, rounder and with the Viognier shining out with honeysuckle and light spice, backed by long minerally flavours, this wine well worth its full price.

Buy several bottles of this to tide you through a season of summer lunches.

Also well worth stocking up with is Domaine Tranquillité 2008 from Bernard Magrez. He is the man who has so much money he has bought up several top châteaux and also makes (very expensive) wine around the world. So when I saw this wine at a mere £5.99 multibuy I was suspicious that there might be a catch, but it is terrific with soft velvety bramble fruit and a creamy, stylish finish.

There is only a small parcel of this wine, so snap it up when you see it and drink it through the summer. It tastes a lot more expensive than its price point.

Although wines from Argentina are not on general offer, the excellent wines from Hervé and Diane Joyaux from Viñalba are reduced to £8.99 if you buy two bottles and these are the kind of wines you want to pour at any meat-fuelled barbecue. The grapes come from their vineyards at the foot of the Andes, where night-time temperatures fall like a stone, preserving fresh fruit flavours and acidity.

The Malbec Touriga Nacional 2009 has terrific concentration, perfectly balanced with violets on the nose and deep mulberry flavours on the palate.

Switch to the straight Reserva Malbec 2009 and you get even deeper flavours, more damsons and chocolate but with the same silky tannins and fabulous length.