Dark clouds may well loom overhead but at least a good bottle of wine raises the spirits.

Fortuitously, there are some splendid, morale-raising potions on offer at Sainsbury's from the 15th of this month.

There's 25 per cent off all Australian and North American wines until March 14. It's worth getting six bottles and benefiting from an extra five per cent off. Here's my half-dozen selection.

Last week I rated Zonte's Footstep Shiraz Viognier 2004, with a weighty, nineteen out of twenty. Snap up this wine at the knock down price of £5.99.

Or ros fans can indulge in the reliable, Californian jam-catapult, Fetzer Syrah Ros (another Tipping's Tipples favourite), for £4.49.

I'm still slightly uncomfortable with supermarket own-labels but that's because I'm a snob.

Sainsbury's Classic Selection Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 is testament to the proof of the pudding being in the eating.

I'm sorry folks but I'm going to use the term, 'pencil-lead textured', again. It just happens to describe this cab sau, just so. It is a classically-styled mouthful of dry blackcurrants, toasted oak, vanilla and tenacious tannins, courtesy of Katnook Estate.

Also showing some refinement is Wirra Wirra Church Block 2003, from Australia's McLaren Vale. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot, it has spent 18 months maturing in French oak. Rich in berry fruit but not jammy, with vanilla and chocolate notes, this wine is exceptionally well balanced.

Look out also for the curiously named Rex Goliath Pinot Noir 2003. This Californian smoothie charms the tastebuds with cherry, liquorice, hot spices and vanilla. The words gluggable and dangerously are marked with an asterisk in my wine notes.

Finally, not forsaking the white wines, here is the perfect tipple for those of you who are tired of chardonnay, pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc (you poor things). Yalumba Y Series Viognier 2005 even impressed a Frenchman I know who, up until trying this, took the partisan line and claimed he only liked French wine.

This South Australian delight is perfume scented and provides entertainment for the palate with lemon and lychees.

Sainsbury's Classic Selection Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, £5.24 from £6.99 at Sainsbury's 17/20

Wirra Wirra Church Block 2003, £7.49 from £9.99 at Sainsbury's 16/20

Rex Goliath Pinot Noir 2003, £5.24 from £6.99 at Sainsbury's 17/20

Yalumba Y Series Viognier 2005, £5.24 from £6.99 at Sainsbury's 18/20

Tippling term of the week: oenophile

The correct word for someone who enjoys wine, not plonkaphile, a made-up word with the same meaning used by Evening Press Bar Talk writer Joshua Titley.

Updated: 16:12 Friday, February 10, 2006