Reds

Beaujolais Cuvée des Vignerons 2005, Cave des Vignerons de Bully, France £4.99: Quite a vibrant colour and aromatic nose. Slightly volatile. The high acidity means the fruit is hidden.

Red Burgundy Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2005, Bouchard Aîné et Fils, France £5.99:  Already evolved colour. Simple but pleasant, recognisable Pinot nose with good bite and fruit on the palate. High acidity but very pleasant drinking.

Irancy 2005, Simmonet-Febvre, France £9.99: Light brick red. Redcurrant nose but too green on the palate for real enjoyment. Pencil lead finish. Is this little Burgundian village too northernly for Pinot Noir to ripen fully, even in the '05 vintage?

Côte de Beaune-Villages 2004, Louis Jadot, France £9.99: Brick red. A pretty, ripe nose. Decent entry and a good long finish but perhaps not enough fruit in the middle. 15-

Chorey-lès-Beaune 2004 Domaine Pascal Maillard Père et Fils, France £11.99: Lovely pure nose, still primary. Light and delicate but with enough structure and acidity to have with food. 15+

Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 2004 Domaine Heresztyn, France £20.99: Fuller nose and some complexity coming in. Bright, red fruit which holds to the end. Still quite firm, needs some time before its real gracefulness shows. 16

Gevrey-Chambertin 'Comte du Bas' 2003 De Bortoli, France £25.99: Attractive, expressive nose. Ripe fruit with a generous spread on the palate. Good structure and intensity. Long length. 16+

Beaune 1^er cru Clos des Mouches 2002 Joseph Drouhin, France £35: Ripe, full nose, sweet palate entry gives way to dark cherry, some earthy complexity and a flinty finish. 17

Corton-Pougets Grand Cru 2003 Louis Jadot, France £50: Full, creamy, rich nose. Sweet and thick fruit but carried elegantly. Firm structure, lovely, consistent throughout. Needs some time, still very primary. 18

Saumur Champigny 2005 Domaine de la Croix de Chaintres, Filliatreau, France £7.99: Terrible pastiche pastoral label. Attractive nose, typical Cabernet Franc. Quite soft, but a bit flat fruit-wise on the palate. Dull. 15

Les Rouillières St Nicolas de Bourgeuil 2005 Frédéric Mabileau, France £8.99: Deep colour, ripe nose. Sweet at first, then good acidity kicks in and the fruit shines through. Quite a tannic finish. 16

Chinon Les Petites Roches 2005 Joguet, France £8.29: Deep, animal nose. Very good fruit but despite decent tannin and acidity levels there's a bit of a hole. Too light-weight for its ambitions? 16

Good Ordinary Claret, France £3.49: Ordinary is about right.  A pleasing nose but a very flat palate. No real structure or form. Boring. 14

Ch Haut d'Allard 2005  Côtes de Bourg, France £5.99: Attractive, ripe nose, some depth. Enough ripe fruit to carry it all the way, medium-weight body. A good example of the appellation. 16

Ch Segonzac Oak Aged 2004 Cru Bourgeois, Premières Côtes de Blaye, France £7.99: Very restrictive tannic corset. Ripe fruit but overly extracted. The oak really shows on the finish. 15

Seigneurs d'Aiguilhe 2004  Côtes de Castillon, France £7.99: Fruity nose. Rich and ripe palate, good fruit and structure. Lots of tannins but softly ripe. 16

Ch Cap de Moulin 1996 St Emilion, France £45 / 1.5 litre: Brown red. Evolved but still lively nose with good fruit. Structure still firm, a dry finish but a pretty wine nonetheless. 16+

Ch Rauzan-Ségla 1998 Margaux 2^eme Cru Clasée, France £30: Lovely nose, ripe and soft palate but with enough structure to hold it steady.  Notes of plum, toasted coffee, red-berry juiciness. Drinking very well now. A slightly short finish. 17

Ch Lagrange 2000 St Julien 3^eme Cru Clasée, France £30: Ripe, rich, layered fruit. Great juicy palate with ripe, luscious tannins. Concentrated and perfectly balanced. Wonderful. 18

Ch d'Aiguilhe 2002 Côtes de Castillon, France £19.95: Very deep nose. Ripe, copncentrated and intense. Sweet style but very successful. One of the best from this appellation, riper than you'd expect.

Ch Fonteil 2003 Fronsac, France £20:  Very high acidity and tannins attack the palate and hide the fruit. 15

Ch Le Crock 2003 Saint-Estèphe, France £20:  Dumb nose but lots of fruit on the palate. Should open out, there is a good balance of ingredients.

Ch Cos d'Estournel 2003 Saint-Estèphe, France £115: Great, full, expressive nose that rises from the glass to greet you. Very pure fruit and amazing delicacy. Iron fist in velvet glove. So well-handled. 19

Ch Mouton Rothschild 2003 Pauillac 1^erCru Classée, France £180: Delicious nose, makes you want to dive in. Great fruit and crispness to palate. Crunchy and delicious. Incredibly long and pure to the end.

Fitou 2005 Mont Tauch, France £4.99:  Intense, chalky, chocolate, liquorice nose. Chocolate liqueur on the palate, but light bodied and quite green. Not too harmonious. 14

Le Renegade Minervois No.1 2004 Osborne & Lynch, France £5.99:  Simple but clean and honest fruit.  A good drink, perhaps lunch wine? 15

Ch Pech-Latt 2005 Corbières, France £5.99: Pretty, herby, heather nose. Quite ripe and animal on the palate. Decent fruit and firm structure. Pleasing medium weight and length. 15+

Côtes du Rousillon Villages 2002  Vieilles Vignes, Gérard Gauby, France £24: Concentrated, chocolatey nose. Spicy, full-flavoured and rich but with good levels of acidity keeping it fresh. Very nice. 16+

Tautavel Reserve Gérard Bértrand 2003 Côtes du Rousillon Villages, France £7.99:  Weird, filthy nose. Surely this can't be right? Cat's pee.

Le Petit Clos 2003 Cahors, France £7.99: Slightly reduced but the ripeness and fullness of fruit comes through on the palate. Good structure and again good value. 16

Calvet-Thunin Cuvée Constance 2004 Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes, France £8.99: Pretty, floral nose. Very ripe palate, bit too sweet for me but a firm finish and enough acidity to keep it lively. 16

Le Grenache de Ch Maris 2004 Cru Minervois La Livinière, France £11.99: Slightly volatile nose, very sweet palate, out of balance but you can see that there's potential with the fruit if the winemaking gets sorted out.

Barrel Selection Green-Harvested Merlot, Domaine Sainte Rose 2003  Vin de Pays des Côtes de Thongue, Languedoc-Roussillon, France £8.99: Intense cat's pee again - not putting this in my mouth!

Mas Janeil le Tiradou 2004 Côtes du Roussillon Villages, Jacques & Francois Lurton, France £15: Slightly volatile on the nose, good fruit underneath but you have to really search. Palate the same. Even a touch of brett I think.

Domaine Calvet-Thunevin Les Dentelles 2003 Côtes du Roussillon Villages, France £19: Good concentration on the nose, quite a sweet palate entry but good intensity and structure. The fruit is quite constant throughout. 16

Classic Côtes du Rhône 2005 France £3.49: Quite a jammy nose. Light, even a bit thin but some simple pleasure here. A bit Beaujolais-ish. 15

La Vieille Ferme 2005 Côtes du Ventoux £5.49: Easy drinking, every day wine. Decent and honest even if there's not much in particular going on...15

Crozes-Hermitage 2004 Jean-Luc Colombo, France £11.99: Closed nose, thin and acidic palate. 14-

Crozes-Hermitage 2004 Alain Graillot, France £13.99:  Perfumed, heady nose. Ripe and crisp. Very good. 16

Vacqueyras 2004 Les Christins, Perrin et Fils, France £9.99: Enthusiastic nose, sweetly concentrated fruit on the palate and great length. 16

Gigondas 'La Roche Percée' 2004 Gabriel Meffre, France £9.99: Perfumed and open, fresh with layered, silky texture. Marzipan and nutty finish. 16

Châteauneuf du Pape 2005 Cuvée des Antiques, Caves de Fournalet, France £14.99: Very attractive nose but slight VA. Pretty fruit but not too generous. 15

Châteauneuf du Pape 2004  Les Sinards, Perrin et Fils, France 1.5 litres £35:  Intense nose, sweet palate entry then dark, herby nose. Good structure and length. 16+

Châteauneuf du Pape 2004  Usseglio, France £19: Cheesy vomit nose - but not actually in a bad way, how is that possible?! - more or less the same on the palate but a bit light weight. 15

Châteauneuf du Pape Mon Aieul 2004 Usseglio, France £39: Full, fleshy nose, mocha coffee and herbs. Warm, broad and spicy with good levels of acidity. 16+

Châteauneuf du Pape 1999 Ch de Beaucastel, France £38: Heavenly, ripe, concentrated fruit on the nose. Very well-balanced. Tannins still integrating on the finish. Pencil-lead on the end. A little bit light. 16+

Ormanni Chianti Classico 2003 DOCG Toscana, Italy £9.99: Very tasty and typical but an exaggerated version. 15+

Contino Viña del Olivo 2001 Rioja, Spain £45: Gorgeous, toasty, vanilla nose with lots of ripe fruit backing it up. Could hardly stop smelling it. Wonderful intensity and depth. Broad fruit throughout, very well-balanced. Stuctured and long. 18

Prado EneaGran Reserva Rioja 1996 Bodegas Muga, Spain £23: Carmael, sweet nose. Ripe, vegetal fruit palate. Good structure and balance. Very savoury finish. 17

Coma Vella 2003 Mas d'en Gil, Priorat, Spain £16.99: Concentrated and perfumed on the nose but I was expecting/hoping for much more weight on the palate. In the end a bit of a wash-out. 15.5

Torres Mas La Plana Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 Penedès, Spain £19.99: Very pure, minty nose, lovely pure fruit on palate with finesse. Really well carried. Elegant. 16+

Quinta Vale Doña Maria 2003 Douro, Portugal £13.99: Very pleasing nose. Ripe, intense and inky palate. Good length but a slightly hot finish. 15+

The Chocolate Block 2004 Wellington, Western Cape, South Africa £14.99:  Green, metallic nose. Chocolatey (!) on the palate but too soft and flabby for me. 15

Columella 2004 Cape of Good Hope, South Africa £36: Rich and inky and well-composed. 16+

Clos de los Siete 2005 Michel Rolland, Mendoza, Argentina £10.99: Spicy, pure nose. Clean and fresh, some layers of fruit too. 16

Rio Sol Vale do Sao Francisco 2005  Pernambuco, Brazil £4.99: Nice juicy nose, slight VA. Good fruit but a bit under-ripe.

Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah 2004 Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand £29.99: Dumb nose. A bit of a green streak but pleasant. More refreshing for it. Pretty good. 16

Cape Mentelle Cabernet/Merlot 2004 Margaret River, Western Australia £11.99: Green pepper, minty nose. Lovely ripe fresh character, the varieties really shine through. 16+

Ch Reynella Basket Pressed Shiraz 2004 McLaren Vale, South Australia £13.99: Very nice, intense nose and concentrated. Good acidic crunch, could afford to be a bit riper. An Oz wine ?!

Claire O'Leary Walker, Claire Reserve Shiraz 2002 Clare Valley, Australia £36: Ripe, unctuous nose. Sweet and salty palate. Excellent structure, will evolve well. Everything in palce. 17

That's all the reds, whites to come...