Wine Box: The spirit of 2001

Do you hate paying more than you think you should for a bottle of wine? Maybe you have a fixed price limit in mind when you buy - say £4.99? I believe enjoying wine has a lot to do with time, place and the mood you're in, rather than cost. In the coming year, you might experiment with me in your buying.

Paying for a special claret or burgundy as a treat is, in my view, an acceptable luxury. But wine is so subjective. Drinking a cheap local 'primitivo' while watching the sun set in a southern Italian summer sky may provide equal, if not greater, pleasure. And was the £40 claret 20 times better than the £2 'primitivo'?

There's no pleasure in spending on wine if it makes you feel uncomfortable but, on the other hand, why splash out on expensive homes, cars and clothes, yet always buy poor, cheap wine? Untold riches - impoverished lifestyle. So here is my plea for next year: experiment not just with style, grape and region but also with price. Be brave and anticipate some disasters but choose your wines - whether they be £3 or £30 - on what you hope to taste rather than the right price point. These are some to look out for:

Mitchelton Mourv?dre Grenache Shiraz 1995, Goulburn Valley (Selfridges, Corney & Barrow, Bluebird, £12.99). Deep colour, peppery and earthy aromas with a whiff of black cherries and chocolate. Plus a lingering kiss of tannin. Powerful, intriguing stuff from a winemaker who understands how to turn red grapes into beefy wine.

Penfolds Organic Chardonnay-Sauvignon Blanc 1998, Clare Valley (Sainsbury's, £7.99). The New World has, thus far, been slow on organic production but this ripe-fruited, peach-, pear- and floral-flavoured white is a good starting point. An Aussie belter without the hangover.

Idle Rock Merlot Reserve 1998, Dealul Mare (Safeway, £3.49). Sounds like another New Worlder? Nope. It's Romanian, and not bad at all. Fruit-gum-style flavours married to earthy sexiness. A good candidate for downing by the bucketful.

Ryland's Grove Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 1999(Tesco, £3.99). Chenin is often the forgotten white grape - but not in South Africa, which has a glut of it (much of it poor). Yet, when it's treated with care, like this one, it can be mellow with intense flavours of apple and honey. Knockout.