I don't have a lot of time for Portuguese white or rosé wines but the reds continue to impress me every time I try them. There are reds to suit every palate, every level of wine knowledge and every wallet. One of the problems with Portugal, which is also its redeeming feature, is the unusual grape varieties. How many of these have you heard of? Fernão Pires, Aragonês, Touriga Nacional, Arinto, Castelão, Trincadeira, Baga, Jaen, Tinta Roriz and those are only the most popular. There are several hundred varieties that have odd and sometimes quite humorous, names such as dog strangler - which we would call Mourvèdre - and fly droppings - which doesn't sound any better in Portuguese - Borrado Das Moscas.

Well, someone had the brilliant idea of blending these scary names with varieties we all know and love, in an attempt to persuade us to get over our vinifera xenophobia. Tagus Creek makes a Chardonnay/Fernão Pires, a Shiraz/Touriga Nacional rosé, a Cabernet/Aragonês and others for between £4.99 and £5.49. The Chardonnay/Fernão Pires 2007 is in Tesco and is ripe, fresh and likeable. Its fruity and fairly sweet but has enough acidity to balance this. The rosé is in Waitrose and is quite a dark colour. It tastes of cherry lips and is easy, fruity and yet dry. The Reserve wine, which is £6.99 in Morrisons is noticeably a step up in quality. It's Cabernet with Touriga Nacional and is nicely spicy with some blackcurrant. It's a more New World style - warm and ripe - and definitely worth trying.

If you want to spend a little more and are looking for something rather lovely, I can heartily recommend the Callabriga wines - one from Dão and one from the Douro. Callabriga Dão 2004 is between £8.50 and £9.95 at Davy's of London (0208 858 6014), Berry Bros (www.bbr.com) and The Wine Society (www.thewinesociety.com). Well, it's absolutely delicious. It has a very, very appealing smell of vanilla oak and rich, ripe fruit. It's a fuller, more New World style and finishes with plain chocolate. Definitely worth making a bit more effort than just chucking a couple of bottles in on top of the groceries - visiting websites for wine is now easy peasy.

Callabriga Douro 2004 is made from Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) and Tinta Franca. It has a pretty, violet smell with something deliciously dark and deep in there as well. The taste seems quite a lot younger than the Dão and I'd want to drink it with steak, or keep the bottles for a couple of years. It's a little cheaper at £8.50 to £9.95 also at Davy's and at Bablake Wines, Coventry 02476 228272.

If you want to taste one of the really top wines of Portugal, and there are several, Chryseia, made by Prats & Symington is very good indeed. It's at the Wine Society (£29 for 2003) and also Fine & Rare Wines 0208 960 1995. I recently tasted the 2006, which was quoted at around £35 a bottle. It smelt beautifully of Indian food - astonishingly spicy. The taste was complex and interesting - rich and ripe with some warm, spicy coffee on the finish.