In Tipping's Tipples this week, MIKE TIPPING tries something a little unusual.

She dreams of nineteen sixty nine

Before the soldiers came

The life was cheap on bread and wine...

SO GO the opening lines of The Lebanon, by Eighties electro-popsters the Human League. This handy reference to wine and to Lebanon leads me to the first of three red wines featured in Tipping's Tipples this week. The trio all come from countries you may not immediately associate with wine production.

From Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley to be precise, comes Chateau Musar. A wine I've read about but never had the chance to sample. This bottle, of the 1997 vintage, has been lying around in my wine rack for a few months now. Every time I go near it the bottle shouts, "Try me! Try me! I may be the best bottle of wine you've had for ages... Go on, TRY ME!"

So I succumbed to the bottle's wishes and uncorked it. I can't say I was over enamoured with the contents. It's got pineapple, redcurrant and Earl Grey tea flavours, which combine awkwardly, and there's a nail varnish aroma as a distraction. Best not sniff it too much, I'll go all dizzy. Best not drink any more, come to that. This is cult stuff. I didn't find it undrinkable just very, very odd.

My second wines of the unexpected hail from Morocco. Bonassia Estate Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 is dry and succulent with berries and minerals. There's a sharp bite to this wine but it may mellow nicely if cellared for a year or two. At the Oddbins clearance price of £4 a bottle, it may be a good investment.

The last of the three wines, Accademia Del Sole Carignan 2001, is from Tunisia. It's good and fat with pepper and raspberry flavours. There's something of the summer in this wine with its crushed nettle, palate prickling style. Pair it with a barbecued steak.

Chateau Musar Bekaa Valley 1997, £11.50 visit sales@playfordros.com

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I hate it, you may love it

Bonassia Estate Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, £4 from £4.99 at Oddbins

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Big on berries

Accademia Del Sole Carignan 2001, £4.99 at Sainsbury's

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Nettle soup

Updated: 16:19 Friday, April 23, 2004