Bethany Riesling 1999, Barossa Valley
A really appealing, full flavoured Riesling at a great price. Almost overpowering nose of citrus fruit. Full, rich, concentrated citrus-laden palate. Delicious, full-on wine. Very good+ (Majestic £5.49)

Oxford Landing Limited Release Viognier 1999
A brilliant example of super-trendy Viognier at an attractive price. Luscious ripe nose with varietally true characters of peach, melon and apricot. Soft, full and fruity on the palate, showing nice balance. A bargain. Very good+ (Majestic £5.99)

Santa Sabina, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1997
Very attractive wine with real character. Dense, concentrated red/black colour. Bright smoky/herby nose with tar and spice notes. On the palate there is smoky, complex cherry and red berry fruit, backed up by firm tannins, spicy oak and high acidity. Quite serious stuff for the price. Very good+ (£7.99 Majestic)

Delas Frères 'Les Launes' Crozes Hermitage 1998
An impressive inexpensive Crozes Hermitage, with more concentration and character than you'd expect at this price. Big nose, initially a little sweet, but then stinky and meaty. Lovely sweet and sour palate, with ripe fruit and earthy, slightly animal notes. Grippy tannins and a bitter edge; beefy and rustic, but pleasant. Good concentration here and real interest, but avoid if you like polite, refined wines. Very good + (around £5.50, Worldmarechal)

Château Coupes Roses Les Plôts 1999, Minervois
Deep red/purple with a delicious nose: pungent, meaty and exotic. Tannic and full on the palate this is super stuff, with lovely herby complexity. Very good/excellent. (Majestic £6.99)

Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage 1998
Deep purple/black in colour, this is a meaty, intensely savoury wine, with flavours of herbs, olives and tar backed up by firm tannins and high acidity. There's a wild, medicinal edge to this powerful but expressive wine. Drinkable now, although it really needs to be paired with food in this youthful stage of its development. I'm very glad I picked up several of these. Very good/excellent (about £9, Worldmarechal)

Rosso della Fabriseria Tedeschi 1998
A delicious, full flavoured red consisting of 35% Corvina, 30% Corvinone, 30% Rondinella and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, from a 3 ha vineyard in the Valpolicella classico area. Concentrated red/black colour. Lovely spicy, exotic nose is followed with a palate of rich fruit and herby, medicinal complexity. Very good/excellent. (Majestic £11.99)

Tatachilla Foundation Shiraz 1998, McLaren Vale
A remarkable, inky black wine with an enticing, ripe nose of blackcurrant, mint and eucalyptus. Dense, licqouricey and balanced on the palate: a huge wine, but approachable now. You know the deal: if you are a confirmed 'old world' wine drinker, looking for refinement and subtlety, you will hate this wine. But this is a brilliantly done example of the archetypal new world 'big' wine, and in its genre it's impressive. Very good/excellent. (Majestic £15.99)