2012 may not be a vintage year, but there's always 2010 For cheap wines, on the other hand, bordeaux 2009 was a real winner. Supermarket own-label claret - often green and mean, so that drinking it is like sucking floor-sweepings - became fruity and ample. The same thing happened with 2009 Rhône wines: another lauded vintage whose Châteauneuf du Pape often to me tasted a bit on the blowsy side but played really well for luscious Rhône grenache at around a fiver. At the moment we are hearing a lot of depressing things about 2012: that it has been a dismaying year for English wine; that the harvest in Burgundy is historically small (just wait for prices to go up); that Argentina's production this year is expected to drop by 24 per cent. So this seems a good time to remember the glory that was 2010. Many of those wines are still on the shelves. "Oh, 2010," sighed Tim French, the wine buyer at Fortnum & Mason, with whom I happened to do a short tasting as I was halfway through writing this piece. I was going on and on about this the other day. He leant back in his chair and sighed. Sooooooo delicious. I'm almost turning into Billy Graham eulogising it. Tim was really talking about the classical regions of France - his main focus as a buyer for Fortnum's. 2010 was good in the Loire (there are some wonderful, though pricey, sancerres still around). In Burgundy, it was glorious, for both red and white - the wines have a lucid transparency, tension and precision. And chablis. I had given up on chablis until 2010 came along. I'm not even a fan of the 2008s, which often taste slightly lactic to me - "very 08-ish" is not a good chablis tasting note in my notebook. If the label has 2010 written on it, I can't wait to get it open. As for bordeaux, they raved about 2010 (though I still have anxious misgivings about the high levels of alcohol); it was also a superb year in the Rhône, from the syrah-based reds in the north to the likes of listrac, gigondas and vacqueyras in the south. At the popular end of the scale, which is where I think most of us spend our money, there's an element of WIGIG as the supermarkets would say - When It's Gone It's Gone - about a vintage like this. But that's part of the fun. Victoria's pick of the best vintages on the shelves this week Château Moulin Eyquem 2002 Cotes de Bourg, France (12.5%, £6.99 down from £9.99, Majestic) A cheap red bordeaux from a little region on the right bank where the Dordogne river meets the Garonne. Already a decade old, this wine is opening up to show some cigar box and crisp russet leaf flavours. I like it, but with reservations: 2002 wasn't a brilliant year. This starts well then loses focus. Still, look at the price. Pernand-Vergelesses Les Combottes Blanc 2010 France (13%, £26, M&S 65 stores) A white burgundy from a good vintage and an under-rated region equals good value all round - yes, even at this price. This chardonnay rings as clear as a bell: bright and crunchy, with about 30% new oak (you can taste it, in a good way) and a sort of lemony acidity that pulses through your mouth. La Vidal-Fleury Côtes du Rhône 2010 France (14%, £6.99, Majestic) This ever-reliable red really came up trumps again in 2010. It is a bit spicy, with a fine-grained texture and a good bite, and it is delicious with all sorts of food on the winter menu, from sausage and mash to slow-cooked casseroles or duck rillettes. Like so many of the 2010 Rhône wines, it combines balance with freshness.