Wine: Red alert

Winter and red wine go together like Italian restaurants and pasta, but finding good wine among the mountains of supermarket mediocrity can be harder than persuading a Sicilian not to pay their "taxes" to the Mafia. Inadequate knowledge can land you in more sour grapes than you bargained for. The global wine glut means there are bargains to be had, but it can be tricky knowing which ones to take a punt on and which ones not to touch with a barge pole. Steering clear of bottles with animals on the label is one rule of thumb, but then how do you choose?

This guide will help you find top-tasting bottles without the price tag to match. I sniffed, swirled, drooled longingly over and, in the worst cases, happily spat out each of 47 wines, in a quest to find the best 10. All had their identities concealed.

Of the 47 wines, 34 came from New Zealand; seven from Australia; five from Italy and one from Spain. All of the wines sampled cost between $15 and $20 a bottle.

Enjoy this top 10 - but when venturing over to the low-priced stands at your local supermarket, remember two things: cheap doesn't always mean cheerful and knowledge means more pleasure for the palate.If its striking packaging doesn't get you, the dark chocolate taste and full body of this Spanish red will. Expect mocha flavours because this is made from one of the world's most chocolatey grapes, monastrell (aka mourvedre). It is blended into this silky-smooth red with Spain's great red grape, tempranillo, the backbone of great rioja. Winemaker Joaquin Galvez Bauza included smaller amounts of syrah, cabernet sauvignon and merlot to give upfront fruity appeal. Available at specialist vintners nationwide, at Bonita Tapas Bar in Ponsonby, Auckland and Tabou restaurant in Kingsland, Auckland.

2008 Rolling Shiraz, $19-20
This runner-up wine is always good. It comes from the Central Ranges in New South Wales, Australia, whose warm location and rolling hills account for its plump, fleshy, warm fruity flavours - and its name. Widely available.

2008 Cosmo Red, $19-20
To call this wine quirky is understating the case. It's made from a quirky - and secret - combo of four red grapes grown in Gisborne, a place better known for whites.

Winemaker James Millton is a biodynamic guru in the wine world. And it follows that he's adventurous, hence this unusual and delicious blend, which is full-bodied, fleshy and fruit-driven but complex. Bottles of this wine are selling fast, so if you see last year's vintage instead of this 2008 Cosmo, grab it.