In Tipping's Tipples this week, MIKE TIPPING tries a white and a red, one happy drinking, the other not.

I WAS reminded while scrubbing pans of the part-time job I had when in the sixth form. Being a kitchen porter paid for my weekend beer and cigarettes but was no enjoyable task.

It involved lugging bins of scraps, changing kegs of radioactive dishwasher detergent and, worst of all, trying to clean a mountain of pans. I still hate scrubbing pans. I have to dangle a glass of wine as a reward. Perhaps this is a throwback to my kitchen days when the restaurant's French chef would share an after-work bottle of red with his hard-labouring team.

This week I have a red and white, the thought of which has seen me through some heavy duty shock and awe assaults on the Tipping's Tipples oven ware. Both are from the Origin range at Thresher, featuring wines from all over the world.

The first is a delight. I've said before that I'm not a big fan of Sauvignon Blanc.

There again, I'm not a big fan of reggae but I love Bob Marley's music. So to this wonderful white from New Zealand's Marlborough region. It's full of delicate lime flavours, tempered to perfection and very light but with enough about it to temporarily convert even the most ardent red drinker. Just excuse me while I pour another glass. . .

. . .Mmm, as I said, tempered to perfection and deliciously moreish.

I wish I could say the same about the red. I had hoped that the Garnacha from Spain would make an interesting change from my staple Aussie and Chilean reds. My palate remains unrewarded. This Garnacha is fairly smooth and its acidity is OK, although there is not much to mention on the flavour front. What really drags this wine below an acceptable level is a distinct bitterness in the aftertaste. I suppose it may just be drinkable with a big plate of food, but I for one wouldn't bother.

It's fair to say that I'm not comparing like with like but these two wines are in the same Thresher range.

Continents apart geographically and worlds apart in drinkability.

Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, New Zealand, £8.99 at Thresher.

Sublimely limey

Garnacha, Calatayud, Spain, £4.99 at Thresher

A bit less bitter would be better

Updated: 14:27 Tuesday, April 20, 2004