Recognising that most wine drinkers buy their wines in supermarkets, this column doesn’t indulge in gratuitous supermarket-bashing. Nonetheless, with a collection of wines based on new additions to their ranges. The Bunch, representing six of the country’s most established independent wine merchants, showed that they, and many other independents, have a consistent nose in front of the supermarket pack when it comes to exploring new territory, on quality, and occasionally even on value. So let the Pandora’s box open.

Berry Bros. & Rudd might not be your first port of call for Mediterranean adventure, but in the 2012 Perricone, Porta del Vento, Sicily, £14.95, it’s unearthed a distinctive, bright red full of sweet and sour cherry fruit with barbera-like bite. And the grand Corney & Barrow shipping in a Sicilian red at £7.50? Yes, for a more than decent quaffing rosso in the juicy, herb and plum-laden 2012 Il Barroccio. Speaking of which, Adnams too had a gluggy red on show , a succulently plummy bright damsony 2011 Cala N.I. Bodega Tineddo, Vino de la Tierra, La Mancha, £7.99.

It’s good to see Croatia featured too in the BBR range with a 2011 Mateo Vicelic, Dingac, from the Peljesac Peninsula, £25, whose powerfully smooth sweet dark cherry and plum flavours retain the typical freshness breezing in to the Adriatic hillsides. Sardinia gets a look in with the 2011 Vin de Corse Porto Vecchio, Domaine de Torraccia, £13.95, Yapp Wines, a sumptuous red full of liquid cherry and strawberry fruit in pinot noir vein yet with greater heft and bite. Yet more Mediterranean marvels in Yapp’s opulently peachy and honeyed dry white, the 2011 Château Simone, Palette, £36.

Unusual bubbles were on the agenda, and in the Crémant de Bourgogne Brut, Domaine de la Croix Montjoie, BBR has discovered a delicately fresh and creamy fizz with marshmallow mousse in champagne mould for a bargain £17.50, while those who’ve discovered the joys of English sparkling rosé can take their ambitions a step further with a toasty, rich, cranberry–sherbety Ambriel Rosé Brut from the Outhwaites’ West Sussex Redfold Vineyards, £28.95, Lea & Sandeman and a biscuity-flavoured polished Cape sparkler with appley bite in the Villion Blanc de Blancs, Viljoensdrift, £13.70, Tanners.

Ok, time to get serious and remind ourselves of the best of The Bunch. From Lea & Sandeman, a super-elegant 2012 Rosso di Montalcino, Fuligni, £22.95, all smooth cherries and strawberries etched with juicy acidity, from Tanners a 2003 Chablis 1er Cru Côte de Léchet, Daniel Dafaix, £29.90, with seamless chablis purity and tensile mineral content; while Corney delivered with the concentrated stonefruit flavours, backed by a complex nuttiness, of the 2011 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Tardieu-Laurent, £35.25. It was just an autumn snapshot, with the promise of more, much more, to come.

Something for The Weekend

Night In

2014 Curator’s Choice White

The curator in question is the charismatic Swartland winemaker Adi Badenhorst, who’s crafted an unoaked blend of chenin blanc, chardonnay and semillon into a pristine dry white with juicy apple and pear flavours and zingy, new season’s freshness. £7.99, The Co-operative.

Dinner Party

2011 Cuvée d’Automne, St.Joseph, Northern Rhône

From the quality-minded Cave de Saint-Désirat, this is typically stylish Northern Rhône syrah with its trademark tar, pepper and spicy scents supported by vividly succulent blackberry fruit tinged with pepper and showing true St.Joseph elegance and freshness. £14.99, Tesco.

Splash Out

2012 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Margaret River Chardonnay

This superbly crafted dry white combines the rich, delicately toasty, white peach concentration of flavour of a meursault with a complexing ‘struck match’ character and a mouthwatering grapefuity zesty freshness. £28.95 - £40, slurp.co.uk, australianwinesonline,.co.uk, freerunjuice.co.uk, amazon, hangingditch.

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