Mike Tipping tries some wines full of animal magic.

The Tipping's Tipples household has taken stock of a gorilla and an orang utan this week. Don't worry, not the real thing. My pet crocodile would try to eat them.

The apes in question are in fact wines. Gorilla 2002 and Orang Utan 2002, which form the Primate range at Oddbins, are both from the south of France. Fifty pence from each bottle sold is donated by winemaker Bertie Eden to the Rainforest Foundation. So that means you have even more of an excuse to indulge.

Gorilla, as you might expect, is a bit of a beast. It's full-bodied and peppery, yet velvety smooth. There are flavours of cherries coupled with the sweeter taste of chocolate and vanilla. This is strong stuff and very drinkable. Not that it comes cheap, this indulgent old vine grenache/carignan will set you back £14.99.

The Orang Utan wine is a party animal. This is a ridiculously fruity chardonnay. It's got zest, oranges, zest, lemons and zest, with a bit of zest added for good measure. There's a lot going on in this aromatic example which errs on the side of too fruity for my taste. But if big, fruity whites are your glass of wine, then you'll love it and won't object to paying £8.49.

If these wines aren't on the shelves in store yet, they soon will be. A word of warning, however. The Gorilla is an Oddbins' 'Odd-Bin'. In other words there's only a limited supply. So make sure you tie it down to your wine rack. It might just try to escape.

If you would like to know more about the Rainforest Foundation, check out its website at www.rainforestfoundationuk.org or send off for information by snail mail to City Cloisters, 196 Old Street, London EC1V 9FR.

Gorilla 2002, £14.99 at Oddbins

**** big brute of a red

Orang Utan 2002, £8.49 at Oddbins

*** very fruity white

Updated: 14:14 Tuesday, April 20, 2004