A RATHER worrying thing has started to happen in the wine world which, I for one, have great concerns about.

The vast quantities of wine which have been leaving the shores of the New World on a regular basis has resulted in a significant drop in quality.

For me, this is very bad news indeed. As a fan of Australia and New Zealand, I've noticed a fall in standards which has meant rather too many wines of late of mediocre quality.

This is particularly the case among the wines which are under a fiver. If you spend that much more you are assured of a decent drink but there have been a few tastings lately which have left me exceedingly disappointed.

Let's hope this state of affairs is a temporary blip. Certainly the winemakers need to act fast to reassert the hold they firmly had on the market just 12 months ago.

Having said this there are one or two wines which I've tried lately which I have no hesitation in recommending. The first of these is from Chile.

Available at ODDBINS, the Carmen Cabernet Sauvignon at £4.69 is a rather excellent red which is tremendously full bodied and fruit packed to boot. With great feisty character, this is a wonderful wine to serve alongside steak or similarly mighty red meat dishes.

A sparkling wine worth taking note of, again available through the Oddbins group, is the Mount Disa Brut from South Africa.

This is the first time I've encountered this wine but certainly, at £7.99, it represents excellent value for money and has a marvellously bubbly character and dry charm.

The talk of the trade at the moment is cork technology. During June 1997 MARKS & SPENCER will be introducing a "second generation" of synthetic corks to their wines.

The purist among you will be heartily disheartened by this announcement, yet I'm assured the Supremecorq stoppers will be longer and more malleable than the ones which are already used and can be replaced with ease in the bottle after the wine has been opened.

For myself, this news is rather welcome. Trying to force a traditional cork on to an opened bottle requires a skill which I for one certainly do not possess.

The argument surrounding the use of synthetic corks centres around the increasing frequency of tainted or corked wines.

Research has shown that the reason behind this was a high incidence of TCA - trichloroanisole - which is characterised by very strong musty odours and flavours.

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