The M&S wine list is an epic. There are 35 different champagnes, few of which you are likely to find anywhere else. There are more than 20 wines from Argentina, and I stopped counting the Italian wines when I went past 50. Australia and New Zealand account for 100. And these are all wines unique to M&S.
Andrew Bird, manager of the wine department, is proud to be different. 'We're determined,' he says, 'to ensure our customers have a great alternative to the ubiquitous brands dominating the ranges of our competitors. M&S is determined to stay true to its principles of quality, value and choice by bringing you new, exclusive wines every year and taking more than a few risks along the way.'
The risks he speaks of are no doubt the one-off wines that so liberally decorate this enormous range. examples are the intensely likeable Barolo-alternative Renato Ratti Nebbiolo Langhe (an irresistible name, surely), a gorgeous Gascon dry white St Mont from the esoteric Gros Manseng grape, and the best Pinot Grigio in Britain, Palataia, which is made in Germany by former M&S wine staffer Gerd Stepp. If wines like these were not marketed by M&S, I doubt very much that they would appear anywhere else in the mass-retail sector.
I fervently hope that they are all selling well, because they add significantly to the sum of human happiness. Mind you, the quirkier the wine, the less likely you are to find it in any but the biggest stores. But do remember the website at www.marksandspencer.com. I have used this with great success, and it seems to have not only all the wines on the store list, but a great many 'online exclusives' as well - some of which I've reviewed in the following pages.
A further attraction of the site is that it regularly offers huge discounts, sometimes just on particular wines, or on all the wines from a particular nation. And quite often, for a week or two at a time, there is a blanket 25 per cent off the entire range. These discounts apply to case sales - six bottles or 12. Delivery is sometimes free if you tick the right box.
Red wines
Argentina
8 Fragoso Merlot 2009 £6.49
Pleasant midweight plum-and-cherry party red.
8 Vinalta Malbec 2009 £6.49
Straight unoaked, unblended Malbec of pleasing pliancy with 14% alcohol.
Australia
8 One Chain The Opportunist Shiraz 2007 £6.74
Chocolate-and-chili centre to this dense, soupy, almost spirity Mclaren Vale monster (14.5% alcohol), and very likeable. Online only.
7 Snapper Cove Shiraz 2009 £6.99
Soupy, muscular barbecue red.
9 Harrowgate Victoria Shiraz 2006 £8.99
Opulent-coloured dense oaked smoothie with 14.5% alcohol is trimmed up with spice and acidity to make a meaty but finely balanced whole.
8 Knappstein Shady Grove Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 £16.00
Blood-coloured clare Valley monster (14.5% alcohol) is silky and even elegantly poised; an Aussie aristocrat worth the money.
Chile
8 Soleado Merlot 2009 £4.29
Dark, dense new-squished blackberry fruit in this bouncing bargain.
7 Los Nucos Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 £4.99
Purple blackcurranty young-tasting gripper with a liquorice middle.
8 Tierra Y Hombre Pinot Noir 2009 £6.49
Don't be put off by the pale colour, this is a generous (14.5% alcohol) raspberry-ripe Casablanca palate-refresher with a citrus tang; could serve cool.
8 Corriente del Bio Pinot Noir 2009 £7.49
Very pale, strawberry-nosed, seductive soft fruit smoocher with a toffee background and 14% alcohol. Drink cool with chicken dishes.
8 Los Molles Carmenère 2008 £7.99
It has the dense, rich, carmine colour that gives the grape its name, and corresponding dark, creamy fruit with a pinch of pepper; 14% alcohol.
France
7 Vin de Pays de l'Ardeche Gamay 2009 £3.99
I am cast down. This isn't a patch on the 2008, which I gave 10 points last year. Decent purple plonk, cheap.
8 Gaston de Veau Rouge 2009 £4.99
Briary gripping Merlot-based Languedoc blend with layered flavours.
8 Old Vines Grenache Noir 2008 £5.99
Soft, even sweet, easy-drinking Pyrenean party red with 14.5% alcohol.
9 Les Orris Rouge 2007 £7.99
Plump, spicy and long Carignan/Grenache food red from Roussillon with mature oak richness and a keen edge.
Italy
9 Piedmont Barbera 2009 £5.49
Fresh, brambly, bouncing affordable juicy pasta red made by Araldica. Love it.
8 Baglio Rosso Nero d'Avola Sicilia 2008 £5.99
Vigorous volcanic red with a crisp citrus rim; good food-matcher.
9 Ripasso Valpolicella 2007 £7.99
Perennial souped-up Verona wine of irresistible ripeness, concentration and cherry essence. There's nothing quite like it with Italian meaty dishes.
8 Merlot Friuli DOC Grave 2007 £9.99
'Chocolate and cherry,' it says in my note, to which 'sleek, juicy and even claret-like' needs adding.
9 Umberto Fiore Barbaresco 2005 £9.99
Barbaresco at under a tenner is a rare thing, and this one is of real quality with orange rim, earthy, cherry perfume and toasty, nutty sweet fruit in a silky texture.
9 Renato Ratti Nebbiolo Langhe 2007 £10.99
Endearing riverbank name has not helped this limpid, savoury poor-man's Barolo sell out since last year; I believe it's a better buy than most Barolo, and a bargain (14% alcohol).
New Zealand
8 Kaituna Hills Reserve Pinot Noir 2008 £10.99
Dark raspberry-eucalyptus compote with silky oak and a nice green-pepper twang.
8 Earth's End Pinot Noir 2008 £14.99
Unattractively packaged but delicious spare, pure, cherry-ripe style to this Central Otago luxury Pinot with 14% alcohol.
South Africa
7 Charles Back Barbera 2008 £9.99
Nice brambly Cape spin on a familiar Italian (Asti) theme seems rather expensive; 14% alcohol.
Spain
9 Graciano Rioja 2006 £9.44
Not really Rioja, as it's 100% Graciano grapes but gloriously wild-fruit juicy plump brisk-finishing stuff by Bodegas Ondarre. Online only.
8 Rioja Pago Real 2007 £12.99
Dark purple reserva style with rich cassis fruit and 14% alcohol that will keep pace with the oak for years ahead. De luxe.
USA
8 Bonny Doon Mourvèdre 2008 £11.99
Savoury, gripping, opulently oaked fruits-of-the-forest Californian of character by cult winemaker Randal Grahm.
Pink wines
England
7 English Rosé 2009 £9.99
Onion-skin colour, bright with summer soft fruit and light in weight, but heavy on price.
France
7 Gascogne Rosé 2009 £4.99
Confected colour, gobstopper smell, sweet lollipop flavour, and cheap. Bound to be popular.
Italy
9 La Prendina Estate Rosé 2009 £7.49
Best of all the M&S pinks, with discreet coral colour, floral whiff and beguiling strawberry fruit. Dry, but gutsy.
White wines
Argentina
9 Vinalta Chardonnay 2009 £5.49
Nice gold colour, apple nose and straight mineral unoaked fruit. Instantly charming and great value.
8 Argentina Pinot Grigio 2009 £6.49
Yellow, smoky, pungent, racily balanced friendly PG.
Australia
8 Snapper Cove Chardonnay 2009 £6.99
Old-fashioned chardy has gold colour, rich but bright aroma and dollops of peachy fruit.
8 Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon 2008 £7.99
Unoaked, bracing blend by Evans & Tate in the bordeaux manner is strikingly fresh and stimulating.
8 Fox Hollow Hunter Valley Verdelho 2008 £9.99
Interesting aromatic vegetal-citrus refresher from a grape once known only for Madeira. I warmed to it.
Chile
9 Elqui PX 2009 £4.99
A bracing orchard-fruit refresher from Pedro Ximinez, a grape better known for the sweetest of sherries. Bargain.
10 Tierra Y Hombre Sauvignon Blanc 2009 £6.49
Chilean Sauvignon gets better and better, and here's a scintillating example: crisp, tangy and grassy but also lush and long. Tastes way above price.
8 Secano Estate Sauvignon Gris 2009 £7.49
Asparagus nose and matching fruit flavours in this likeably exotic variation on the Sauvignon theme, with 14% alcohol.
France
7 Sauvignon Blanc Vin de Pays du Val de Loire 2009 £4.99
Bracing party white is good, clean fun - and cheap.
10 St Mont 2008 £6.49
This is a wonderful dry white from an obscure appellation in the Gers, south-east of Bordeaux. It is lush and complex and yet also slaking, mineral and brisk. Made by reliable Plaimont co-operative.
8 Quincy Domaine Bailly 2008 £9.99
Satisfying stony-fresh Loire Sauvignon has a lick of caramel in the background.
9 Pouilly Fumé Mathilde Favray 2008 £10.99
Lavish Loire Sauvignon has a fine enveloping seagrass-fresh perfume and broad, intense fruit.
8 Grand Enclos de Château Cérons 2006 £14.99
Viscous de luxe Semillon-dominated dry bordeaux with luxuriant tropical fruit and nifty limey edge. Pricy but special.
9 St Aubin 1er Cru Domaine de Pimont Les Charmois 2006 £17.99
Grand Côtes de Beaune has extravagant nutty-creamy aroma and apple-pie fruit. The real thing.
Germany
10 Palataia Pinot Grigio 2009 £6.99
The best PG on the market, this thrillingly aromatic, exotic and smoky dry wine is at once delicate and assertive. Benchmark successor to 2008, which scored 10 last year.
Italy
8 Grave Sauvignon Friuli 2009 £6.99
Revealingly lively and tangy style to this unusual Venetian twist on the worldwide Sauvignon theme.
6 Prosecco Tranquillo 2009 £7.99
Whatever next? 'Tranquil' spin on eternal Prosecco theme is in fact a bit spritzy, and pear-like, with 11% alcohol.
8 Fiano Sannio 2008 £8.09
Rather green Campania wine is thrillingly stacked with layered orchard flavours. Only available online.
9 Pecorino Contesa 2009 £8.99
M&S introduced me to this lush Abruzzo white. Fine gold colour, exotic sub-tropical aromas and fruit, dry, crisp style. name is of the grape variety; no cheese connection.
New Zealand
8 Shepherds Ridge Chardonnay 2008 £8.99
Ripe (14% alcohol) old-fashioned apple-pie-and-cream luxury chardy by excellent Wither Hills winery in Marlborough.
9 Kaituna Hills Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2009 £9.99
Shimmering flavours in this lovely nettly Montana (Marlborough) classic.
8 Te Muna Sauvignon Blanc 2008 £12.99
Crisp and green at the edge of the flavour and toffee note at the centre with lots of lush grassy fruit between.
South Africa
8 Crow's Fountain Traditional Bush Vine Sauvignon Blanc 2009 £8.99
Marked gooseberry style to this eager green food wine.
7 Knock On Wood Riesling Viognier 2009 £8.99
Rabbits adorn the label of this curiosity, which is redolent of banana and pineapple but actually does express the characteristics of both constituent grape varieties.
9 Villiera Traditional Barrel-Fermented Chenin Blanc 2009 £9.99
Smells like a rich Coteaux du Layon but is quite dry, with a honeysuckle back taste to the vivacious fresh fruit; 14% alcohol.
8 Marmesa Chardonnay 2007 £9.86
Melons, peaches and no oak in this sunnily ripe, 14% alcohol pure-fruit Californian. Yummy, but available only online.
Fortified wines
Portugal
8 Pink Port £7.99
Violent magenta colour, but it does smell and even taste like proper port - sweet, not dry in the style of some white ports. Oddly likeable and 19% alcohol. Serve cold.
8 20-Year-Old Tawny Port £29.99
Fiery, spicy, figgy and nutty - and seductively rich and silky too. Made by legendary David Guimaraens and quite expensive (20% alcohol).
Spain
8 M&S Fino Sherry £5.99
Very pale and very pungent, even briny, fino but not fierce (15% alcohol).
Sparkling wines
France
9 De Saint Gall Champagne Brut Rosé £24.99
Remarkably mellow onion-skin-coloured pink fizz is hugely charming.
8 L'Avenue Rosé £29.99
Alluring smoked-salmon colour and lots of summer fruit in this long, intense, bright and lively mature champagne.
Italy
8 Bellante Rosé £8.99
Prosecco-style Treviso pink fizz has no Prosecco grapes in it, but has a fresh strawberry appeal and 11% alcohol.
7 Le Contesse Prosecco £8.99
Tastes like dry Asti Spumante, only with more alcohol, at 11%.