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I’ve got loads of exciting white wines at the moment, but I’ve got a problem with reds. I’ve suffered in the past from deciding that I like one and buying a few of them, and as a result I’ve got a few bottles of wines that I’ve already had too many of. I’m thinking Maycas del Limari Reserve Shiraz and, most glaringly of all, a Berberana Etiqueta Negra Rioja Reserva, which I must have bought a year and a half ago and still can’t get through. I must learn that there are lots and lots of exciting wine and there’s no need to get more than a couple of bottles of any of them unless it’s something genuinely exceptional. But then, there are moments when having a stock of your favourite wines comes in handy. For example, I was emailed last week by the man who owns the winery that produced the EOS Petite Sirah that I blogged about a few months ago, thanking me for a positive write-up. So I opened another bottle and, thankfully, it’s still excellent. A meaty, mighty beast that’s really good to crack open every now and then. Sometimes familiarity is what you’re looking for after all.

This is my last bottle of a half-dozen I bought from Tesco’s about a year ago, half-price at around £4, and I don’t know if it’s a fruit day or what but it’s really great tonight. I’m certainly enjoying it more than on previous occasions. I originally thought it was a bit wood-dominated, but now the balance seems spot on. Good, but not overpowering, tannins and great acidity – it’s really mouthwatering. It doesn’t smell of much, which I guess knocks it down a few points, but it’s got wood, liquorice and plums oozing everywhere. Delicious, and absolutely kicking a lot of butt at this price. If I’d known then what I know now, I’d probably have another half-dozen downstairs still.

Bought from Wine Rack a while back. Everywhere else this goes by the name Churton. Why it’s called Tummil Flat over here I don’t know. Anyway, it’s quite good. Not good enough, though. If I’m going to spend over a tenner on a bottle of wine, I want it to be a bit better. On the nose, it’s a winner: dark fruits, but extremely pleasant foresty earthiness. In the mouth, it doesn’t deliver enough. Those fruits again, but not a whole lot else. Soft tannins, not too intrusive. It’s a £6 wine that costs double that because of where it’s from and what grape it’s made from.

From Concha Y Toro, via Oddbins who were knocking it off at three for £20 a few weeks ago, encouraging me to snap up half a dozen. People talk about rubber flavours in Chilean wines, and for me this is extremely obvious here. But it’s not unpleasant – a deep, dark ruby colour, dense velvety texture and lots of spicy, blackberry flavours. It’s a good wine, definitely pleasurable to drink, but I don’t find it wildly exciting. It’s a good second wine to open up when you’ve got friends around one evening, but it’s not the brilliant opening gambit which will convince them you’re tremendously stylish and tasteful. Worth what I paid, but not the £9.99 standard price. Others though have been more enthusiastic, so maybe it’s just a root day.

So here’s a reason, albeit a base and cheap one, to love the Wine Society: it’s really good value. Here’s a wine I got in their January clearance for £5.75, down from their usual £7.50. You can’t get it there any more (what with it being in the clearance and everything, it’s been cleared), but you can still get it at Tanners for £9.50. £9.50! That, for me, is quite a posh bottle. £5.75 is everyday drinking. £7.50 is something in between.

So what’s it worth? I like it, but I’m not about to start gushing. A mixture of Syrah (“une bonne moitié pour le fruit”), Grenache and Mourvedre (“pour un assemblage bien languedocien”), it is “un assemblage bien languedocien” – I think you’d probably guess where it’s from pretty quickly. This is country wine, and even if it’s a good example – flavours of dark berries and herbs, length on the good side of medium – it’s not brilliantly refined. The Wine Society priced it about right at the £7ish level.