Wine Rack est mort, vive Wine Rack, or so, at least, the London and suburban residents of the 20 locations now served by the revamped Wine Rack are hoping. When the premium arm of the Thresher group decided to offload its entire chain in November 2009, it looked like curtains for the ailing high street brand. But after Venus plc bought the company with 13 stores, refurbished them and added seven more, along with a Gerrys in Leeds, Wine Rack has once again risen like the proverbial phoenix. Mind you, holding its press launch on the day of Majestic’s Spring tasting wasn’t perhaps the best timing in the world.

It was inauspicious because comparisons, however odious, were inevitable as Majestic is the competition to beat. Where the high street has drastically contracted in recent years, Majestic, like a mighty salmon swimming upstream, has expanded. It has improved its offering, and, by reducing the minimum purchase from a dozen to six bottles, brought in new customers. It trains and retains its loyal staff, not least an experienced, skilled wine buying team that juggles existing suppliers with bringing new ones on board and sourcing great ‘deals’ like the recent parcels from Houghton and Ravenswood.

With its nose to the ground, Majestic’s buying team has also started to snap up surplus wines from premium suppliers, selling them under a new Prestige Parcels label. Like good journalists, they won’t divulge their source, but the 2009 Prestige Parcels Pinot Gris, from Marlborough, £9.99, buy two = £7.99, is an example of the type, a vibrant, concentrated, fresh pear fruity ringer for an Alsace dry white. There’s a Gewürz in the same series but I’d pay the extra for a pot pourri-scented, liquid Turkish Delight special in the refreshingly dry 2009 Spy Valley Gewürztraminer, Marlborough, £12.49, buy 2 = £9.99.

Among other smart white buys, the 2009 Domaine de Villargeau, Coteaux du Giennois, £9.99, buy 2 = £7.99, is a snappy, refreshingly tangy, gooseberry fool-rich sauvignon blanc, and a perfect alternative to pricier sancerre. On the reds front, I was struck by the quality of the 2008 Givry Rouge from Antonin Rodet, £13.99, buy two = £11.99, an elegant raspberryish pinot noir spliced with an accomplished touch of toasty oak, and, on Bordeaux-style lines, the vivid, intensely cassis flavoured, 2008 Craggy Range Te Kahu, Gimblett Gravels, £13.99, buy 2 = £11.99, from New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay.

Back to Wine Rack, who’ve been beavering away at fashioning a new list. There was something of an old-fashioned flavour however to the proceedings: a plethora of negoçiant burgundies and Bordeaux petits châteaux, some drab and tired, apparently bought off-the-peg from UK agents rather than the result of footslogging research. Of the sauvignons, the 2010 Mudhouse Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, £11.49, stood out for its pungent elderflower and zesty tropical fruit, as did the excellent toasty, lemongrassy 2005 Elizabeth Mount Pleasant Hunter Valley Semillon, £9.99.

Fine reds included a youthfully mellow 2004 Baron de Ley Reserva Rioja, £13.99, a vibrant and powerful, raspberryish 2007 Vacqueyras, Domaine Grand Montmirail, £13.49, and a damson-rich satisfyingly mature 2004 Clos Les Fites Priorat, £23.99. With so many new wines, some looking a little pricier than they might be, there’s still a work-in-progress feel about the list. But with 5% off any six wines until tomorrow, a good time for Wine Rack locals to check out whether the phoenix has the wings to fly or not.

Something for the Weekend 19 February

Under £6

2007 Gérard Bertrand, Minervois

A typical Mediterranean blend of syrah with and carignan, aromatic and intensely fruity with delicious dark berry flavours, rustic tannins and a refreshingly savoury edge to the fruit that makes it so moreish. £5.19, reduced from £6.99, until 7 March, Waitrose

Under a Tenner

Bluff Hill Rosé NV

This salmon pink Kiwi blend of the champagne grapes chardonnay and pinot noir smells sweetly of strawberries, its refreshingly dry strawberry cup mousse enough to put a spring in your step. £7.99 down from £9.99, until 27 February, Marks & Spencer.

Splash Out

2008 Montessu, Agricola Punica, Isola Nuraghi, Sardinia

From the same stable as Barrua, ‘the Sardinian Sassicaia’, this is a five-way island blend based on carignano, displaying dark cherry and plum concentration in a framework of spicy oak and lively Italian bite. £19.45, Jeroboams shops, London.

Ends