In Tipping's Tipples this week, MIKE TIPPING tries a red and a white from M&S.

I WAS glad to receive a 12-month subscription to expertwine. com. It's a winespotter's website by wine buyer Matthew Jukes and wine lover Quentin Johnson. Nice for really serious wine fans but a year's subs will set you back thirty quid. Or, put another way, six bottles of Honeytree Cabernet Merlot, 2002.

This dependable Aussie red goes really well with my mum's casseroles.

Which is why my dad is going to get a bottle for Christmas. There's a two for £10 offer on this wine and others in the range at M&S. If I wasn't so tight I'd give him both, but I am, so I'm going to keep one for myself. My dad will respect my dedication to the art of being a Yorkshireman when I explain it to him.

The wine smacks the palate with blackcurrant and throws in a few ripe plums as an afterthought. Not much subtlety, however, and I wager you may find something superior for the normal asking price of £6.99 a bottle. All in all it's 75cl of very quaffable, does what it says on the label Australian essence.

If you're entertaining big-time over the festive season and want a good, reliable, economical runner of a wine to buy in quantity, then you won't go far wrong with Gold Label Chardonnay Vin de Pays d'Oc , 2002, also from M&S. This time you get a pound off the normal £4.99 price tag. It's creamy and peachy with a little touch of oak.

Tipping's Tipples was puzzled to find that Chablis premier cru, 2001, (also on the M&S promotion list) was not available at the York branch. Perhaps they think it's too posh for us Northerners.

However, I'll be moving up a price bracket next week as I'm trying out a few wines for the Christmas table.

Happy wine buying.

Honeytree Cabernet Merlot 2002 (on offer at M&S, 2 bottles for £10 throughout December)

Ribena for grown-ups

Gold Label Chardonnay Vin de Pays d'Oc, 2002

3 glasses out of 5.

Nice at the price

Updated: 14:30 Tuesday, April 20, 2004