Mother’s Day is on the 3^rd April this year and with this date moving ever closer you might be thinking of inviting your mum to lunch or dinner on her day, if you haven’t done so already. Apart from deciding what should be on the menu, you’ll need to give some thought to what you would like to accompany the meal, and/or what you might like as an aperitif before you eat, to make it an extra special occasion for her. We have looked at a four wines that you might want to consider buying for your Mother’s Day meal, these might help you select the right ones for your table on this special occasion.

The Banrock Station Sparkling Rose NV is a lovely pink colour in the glass and its soft bubbles rise to the top very invitingly. You breathe in its aroma and get fresh light strawberry and raspberry notes. As you drink it there are good dry strawberry, raspberry and redcurrant flavours on the palate, making it a really refreshing fruity mouthful with some nice acidity. The stream of bubbles give you a good tingle in the mouth as you drink and you’re left with a good length of fruity flavours on the palate after swallowing. This sparkling rose works perfectly as a standalone aperitif before a meal, but it would also pair well with some fruity desserts.

You can find Banrock Station Sparkling Rose NV at Waitrose priced at £8.54

The Nobilo Regional Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2009 has a lovely greenish hue in the glass, it’s bright and clear and as you take in its bouquet you get notes of straw, minerals as well as mango, passion fruit, green apple and citrus. On the palate this is a vibrantly fruity and bold wine that has clean sharp apple and citrus, notably lime and a good acidity making it a refreshing mouthful. You also get some tingle on the edge of the tongue as you wash it around your mouth. The wine has good length that develops into a grapefruit zest like flavour. This is a wine that is nicely challenging in the mouth and it would pair well with lighter starter style dishes or with white meats and fish. But like the Banrock Station, it would also stand alone as an aperitif that would absolutely get the juices rolling.

The Nobilo Regional Collection Sauvignon Blanc is widely available, including at Sainsbury’s and Tesco stores at a RRP of £7.99

The Fish Hoek Shiraz 2009 is a great ruby red colour in the glass and as you raise it to the nose blackberry, blackcurrant, cherry and damson notes leap out of the glass, as does a slight peppriness. When you take a drop in your mouth you get forest fruits together with cherry and blackcurrant and there is a tingly tang to it. This is a lovely soft medium bodied red that has low tannins and a great fruity length that finishes with a slight edgy sharpness. We had it with some pork fillet topped with Brie and with this the tannins completely disappeared just leaving you with a smooth fruity drink that’s ideal for those among us who are a little wary of drinking reds. This is a wine that would also pair well with any red meat, even those served with richer sauces.

You can find Fish Hoek Shiraz at Waitrose priced at £6.99

The Hardys Nottage Hill Cabernet Shiraz is another wine that is gorgeously ruby red in the glass and as it reaches the nose you can smell blackberry, blackcurrant, forest fruits and vanilla in its bouquet. As you wash it around the mouth you get good blackcurrant flavour up front then there’s a hint of sloe creeping in behind. There is some acidity to this medium bodied red and in its finish you get vanilla notes and a little peppery heat together with some slight drying from its medium tannins in the length. We drank it with some roast lamb and trimmings and with this dish the wine became softer, the tannins having disappeared. Certainly an excellent choice to accompany your mother’s day mains, or the Sunday roast generally.

You can find Hardys Nottage Hill Cabernet Shiraz at Waitrose and through Ocado priced at £7.49

These are just a few wines that you might like to try, we enjoyed each and every one of them.