Domaine de Comberousse 1998 'Roucaillat', Coteaux du Languedoc
A tasty, strongly-flavoured white wine (a blend of the varieties Grenache Blanc, Rolle and Roussanne), this has an attractive mineralic nose with bright, smoky note. It has a lovely rich palate: rounded, soft and full with nutty, herbal character. Quite fat textured; full flavoured and delicious. Very good+ (£6.95 La Vigneronne)

Domaine Terre Mégère Merlot 1998, Vin de Pays
A great bargain from the South of France. Deep purple/black, with a lovely blast of sweet leafy/herbal fruit on the nose, underlain by a touch of smoky complexity. On the palate this shows great concentration and lovely, ripe, mineralic fruit. All you'd want in an inexpensive red. Very good/ excellent (£5.50 La Vigneronne)

Forrest Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2000, Marlborough, New Zealand
Wild, exotic nose, grassy and aromatic. This is a huge Sauvignon with masses of ripe fruit, nice texture, and good balance of fruit and acid. Stunning stuff in the classic Cloudy Bay/Marlborough style. Very good/excellent (Adnams £7.95) 11/00

Villa Maria Private Bin Chardonnay 1998, East Coast
Very attractive full-flavoured and thick-textured new world Chardonnay. It's ripe and spicy: the toasty oak is well integrated with the buttery tropical fruit flavours. Great balance. Very good+ (£6.99 Sainsbury)

Domaine la Citadelle Côtes du Luberon 1999 Cuvée le Châtaignier
The Luberon is an upcoming wine region of Provence, to the east of Avignon. This is a dark, chunky, chocolatey southern French red with soft, liquoricey fruit balancing the firm tannins. Showing good concentration, this is a really nice wine for the price. Very good. (About £5, World Marechal)

Millton Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 1998, Gisborne
From a New Zealand's best known biodynamic producer, this is quite restrained on the nose, but it has a great impact on the palate, showing flavours of rich, nutty, bready flavours. Complex and seamless, this is a very classy Chardonnay: subtle and restrained. Very good/excellent (£8.99 Tesco)

Yorkville Cellars Petit Verdot 1997, Rennie Vineyard, Mendocino, California
It's rare to find varietally bottled Petit Verdot, so I was keen to try this example from Californian organic producers Yorkville. It's a fairly serious wine, with an opaque purple colour and deep extraction. There's an exotic nose of herbs and olives, which is followed up with a firmly tannic palate showing licqouricey fruit and a dusty, chalky texture. It’s a very attractive, powerful red which wears its new world origins on its sleeves. Tasty stuff. Very good+ (Waitrose £8.99)

Mas de Daumas Gassac 1996, Vin de Pays de l'Herault
Possibly the most famous wine from the south of France, this almost lives up to its huge reputation, but there's a touch of greenness that stops it being really great. Deep red/black colour. Intense nose of complex cassis with a leafy mineral streak. Good concentration and complexity, with ripe fruit, firm tannins and a slightly green streak (although this isn't unpleasant). Almost claret-like in its balance. Very good/excellent (£12.99 Tesco)