ON Wednesday evening I got together with some 33 Worcester News readers at the new Waitrose store in Droitwich.

to taste a few wines for drinking this summer.

For over two hours we sipped and slurped our way through eight wines, starting with a welcoming glass of chilled 2004 Stoneleigh Pinot Noir Ros from New Zealand (£6.99) and ending by drinking to the store's success with it's own Blanc-de-noir champagne (£15.99).

In between we tasted three white and three red ranging in price from £4.49 to £7.99... and not a dud among them. Even those stalwarts who don't drink pink wines from choice were impressed with the excellent ripe red fruit of the Pinot Noir Ros with its refreshing acidity.

Certainly worth a try should summer ever return!

Their favourite white also came from New Zealand. This was the 2000 Villa Maria Private Bin Riesling (£7.05) whose kerosene aromas and rich long flavours was a sure hit. An easy drinking wine, it can be enjoyed on its own with friends or accompanying lightly spiced dishes. The self-styled 'Arrogant Frog', Jean-Claude Mas, also won admirers for his crisp and vibrant 2004 Sauvignon Blanc from the d'Oc, but the rather rustic non-vintage Italian organic white from the March (£4.99) seemed to attract few followers. Certainly the reds consistently got higher scores, with a £4.49 wine from the Douro topping the popularity poll by a long way. This was the supple and juicy Altano 2003 made by the Symington family, of Port fame, in the modern style from traditional Port grapes.

The least expensive wine of the evening, it showed what a tremendous future Portugal has with everyday drinking reds.

Cono Sur's full, rich, red-fruited Chilean 2004 Pinot Noir (£4.99) was beaten by a short-head into third place by a South African organic Syrah, Bon Cap (£7.99). Its pepper and spice flavours and outstanding elegance won my heart when I first sampled it last October when I was out in the Cape.

Waitrose kindly donated a bottle of its own 1996 vintage champagne for a draw in aid of St. Richard's Hospice, founded in Droitwich some 20 years ago.

This champagne, from an outstanding year, was made by the late Daniel Thibault, Charles Heidsieck's masterful cellar-master, who sadly died far too young from cancer.

He would have applauded our readers' generosity that raised £130 towards our own hospice.