Help in the search for great wine

The Great Crusade is the title of the new 1995 wine list from Bibendum Wine. Buying director Simon Farr says the name comes from "the challenge of finding wines that combine exciting style, compelling appeal and affordability".

This, he says, requires a real crusader's zeal and single-mindedness to achieve.

Mr Farr says the problem is not the number of "gut-rot horrors" to avoid, but the blandness and monotony of so many wines which seem to be affected neither by terroir nor by tradition.

"The plethora of new, inexpensive wines is too cluttered with worthy examples of ‘no-one's going to die' cleanness and character-free banality," he says.

Bibendum's crusade is to rediscover character. The redesigned list will help as it is bursting with information about brands and producers and makes ordering easy.

For details, tel: 0171 722 5577.