At a recent wine tasting I got to try some extraordinary “New World” wines. Granted the cheapest of the bunch was just over £12 topping out with a stunning Shiraz from a true Masters private stock, price unknown. I left the tasting with a mouth full of zest and excitement where every taste bud was doing its job to the maximum and my mouth was tingling.

My disappointment came the next evening when I went to enjoy a glass of “house” red, a common Spanish wine picked up at the local supermarket. I anticipated those big bold flavours I’d experienced from the night before. I picked up the glass, the colour was similar, the smell less intense than I’d imagined with plain purple berry aromas and the taste well . . . simply flat. Could it be that my normal red that I have been drinking for years and been more than satisfied with is not good enough anymore? Have my taste buds expanded so much that nothing but the unexpected will suit them? In my quest for more wine knowledge have I actually now limited myself to better wines, meaning I will actually drink less because of the extra expense. Are there any good inexpensive wines out there?

I’ll ponder that question tonight . . . at another tasting. This evening it’s South African wines at Oddbins on Little Clarendon Street in Oxford. It will be my first Oddbins wine tasting. I’ll report back and let you know how it goes.