ROOM bar and restaurant at the top of King Street offers an interesting mix of cocktails (excellent), food and music (David McAlmont DJ-ed there last weekend). It also hosts an interesting wine dinner every month.

I was lucky enough to catch Joseph Lombardt - assistant wine maker at the Boland Cellar winery and South Africa's first black winemaker - who introduced his company's range of white and reds over the course a four-course meal (no spitting at this tasting!).

Of the wines tasted - Boland's mid-range, commercial, consistent, fruit-driven - I was marginally more impressed by the whites than the reds (the peachy, off-dry 2006 Chenin Blanc is available at Room at é3.75 a glass, é14.75 a bottle). Best of the reds was that South African speciality, Pinotage, but the Boland Cabernet/Shiraz 2005 blend (é4.25 a glass, é15.50 a bottle) was a chunky, plummy mouthful, perfect for a steak.

Like Boland, the 200-year-old Nederburg winery, at Paarl, offers a range from standard supermarket wine to top quality. Under the guidance of innovative Romanian winemaker Razvan Macici, Nederburg won an unprecedented three gold medals and 14 silver at the 2006 International Wine and Wine and Spirit Challenges.

Morrisons stock the four wines I tasted, all of which were excellent value for money

Nederburg Chardonnay-Viognier 2006 is a lovely soft, apricotty mouthful with a touch of wood (é4.99, also at Waitrose). From the same vintage, the Nederburg Sauvignon Blanc (é5.79) is even more impressive - offering a large whack of exotic fruit with a pleasing grassiness on the nose.

Nederburg Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2004 benefits from oak-ageing and offer lots of upfront spicy fruit for é5.79 and is more attractive than slightly rubbery stablemate Nederburg Shiraz/Pinotage 2004 (é4.99, also at Waitrose.

Wine Relief is back as part of the Comic Relief fundraising and the Café Rouge is chain donating 10 per cent of sales of two new French wines in the five weeks running up to Red Nose Day on March 16.

Both wines cost é14.95 in the restaurants and are from the Languedoc - Laroche Terret 2005 is a nutty almondy white with a hint of camomile and good aciity, while unoaked red Laroche Grenache 2005 is a supple, red fruit quaffer.

Somerfield is also donating ten per cent of the sales value of 10 of its most popular wines to Wine Relief, pick of which is the Australian Zontes Footstep Shiraz Viognier (é7.99), and the Co-op is doing the same with 18 wines (try Kiwi red Montana Cabernet Merlot)

THERE'S a very attractive Chilean tasting next Wednesday from John Booth Wines of Stockport (0161 427 0446) at the Arden Arms. It starts at 8pm and costs é8. Featured are wines from Vina Tabali and Casa Marin.

One of Chile's northernmost wineries, Tabalé has stewardship of the mystical Valle del Encanto (Enchanted Valley), which borders their vineyards.

A sacred site of the ancient Molle and Diaguita culture, the many rock drawings and carved Tacita stones depict an ancient way of life. The Tabalé mask logo has been taken from one of these rock carvings, which only become visible at certain times of day when the sun's alignment makes them magically appear. And the wine's superb, too. Tweet