In Tipping's Tipples, Mike Tipping finds a fine family of reds all for under a fiver.

I can never resist dipping into the ramblings of other wine writers. Some I enjoy, others not so much.

The writer in the magazine of the Sunday paper I buy is interesting but hugely London biased.

I'm sorely tempted to try some of the wines she writes about but hey, I wasn't planning on a trip to Walter Farquhar's Wine Emporium in Chelsea, where those wines are exclusively available. Others, well respected, London-based hock hacks, have been known to exchange insults in between the lines of their wine notes.

Like blows between squabbling siblings. Perhaps I should start a similar campaign against Tony Fox, wine correspondent on the Evening Press sister title the Gazette And Herald. Save for the fact that Tony is a jolly good egg and I wouldn't consider it.

The internet has it's fair share of vino scribes too. One online writer gives Krug non-vintage Champagne a way off-the-scale of human reasoning, rating of 95 out of 100. Bollinger to that! I can think of many better ways to spend £80 on wine.

Tipping's Tipples is, of course, dedicated to bringing you wines that are available locally. I haven't the space, time or intention to include sneers at other writers, save for these paragraphs. And I won't be giving top marks to any wine that isn't worth the outlay.

Take the following three, value for money, medium-bodied Argentinian reds, from the Familia Zuccardi's, Santa Julia label.

Santa Julia Fuzion Shiraz/Malbec 2003 offers economical glugging at £3.99. It's all purple hues and warming peppery spices, as you might expect from the grape varieties in the blend. It manages to be silky and mellow, with damson and cocoa but at the same time, that pepperiness packs a punch.

Santa Julia Bonarda/Sangiovese 2004 is fairly soft and full of ripe bramble flavours.

There's some dark chocolate too and just a hint of strawberry. Sangiovese is the grape major player in Chianti whereas bonarda is lesser known.

Bonarda is also an Italian grape variety but just to confuse the issue this is Argentinean bonarda, a different variety altogether.

There's nothing so complex about the wine itself, which like the shiraz/malbec is a good value quaff.

Best of all is Santa Julia Tempranillo 2004. It's flavoursome stuff indeed but not jammy, in fact quite dry. This tempranillo exhibits under-ripe strawberries and raspberries, good tannins also.

A versatile wine that drinks well on it's own, it's light enough to serve lightly chilled on a hot day.

Equally, simple, fruity wines such as this are a good foil for many curry dishes.

Santa Julia Fuzion Shiraz/Malbec 2003, £3.99 at Waitrose. 14/20

Santa Julia Bonarda/Sangiovese 2004, £4.49 at Waitrose, Morrison's and Safeway. 15/20

Santa Julia Tempranillo 2004, £4.99 at Tesco and Somerfield. 16/20

Updated: 08:30 Saturday, March 12, 2005