Marques de la Concordia Rioja Crianza 2004 (£18.99/150 cl Majestic)
Gentle soft wine, with warm vanilla, cinnamon, juniper and slight ginger spice notes pepping up relaxed wild strawberry and orange peel flavours. S(-)

Legaris Ribera del Duero Reserva 2004 (£20.99 Oddbins)
A fuller, richer style than the Rioja, with slightly baked berries and blackcurrants, notes of liquorice and cloves, and a dusty warmth to the finish. Drinking well now, but supple tannins suggest it has plenty of life ahead of it. S-

Scala Dei Cartoixa Priorat 2005 (£27.99 Oddbins)
Powerful plummy wine, awash with brooding fruit – black cherry, damson, strawberry – and with fruitcake spices adding further interest. New oak makes its presence known, but it’s in balance with the boisterous flavours and iron-rich minerality. S(+)

La Vicalanda Rioja Gran Reserva 2001 (£22.99 Wine Rack)
Corked – not atrociously so, but with this bottle you’re getting maybe 40% of what the wine should be. Shame, as that 40% looked very reasonable.