So why exactly is the Dirty Dozen Tasting the most exciting, least predictable and most hotly anticipated event within the crazy wine circus that London is in September? Why is there such a buzz, such animated discussion, such beatific satisfaction on the face of the enthusiastic tasters? Well, it's the event that allows us to select compelling, unusual but very real wines for our wine lists.

In an ideal world, we would all like to cherry-pick the best, pay handsomely and fairly for the fruit of the producers' labours and make out clients swoon with the finest and most expensive wines - in the real world however we often struggle to put thrilling and authentic wines on our list for less money and this is exactly where the Dirty Dozen tasting delivers and excites.

So while there was no shortage of top-dollar wines (in every sense), here is my pick of favourites in the crucial value-bracket of £7-£12 - wines that make your list "step out of the ordinary" (thanks Heather Small).

Raymond Reynolds
2011 Loureiro by Quinta do Ameal (£11.78): delicate notes of fern, nettle and moss rise against a background of zesty fruit - one of Europe's least-known indigenous varieties at just 11.5% abv. A point of difference on the list.

2010 Casa de Saima's Tinto Bairrada from 50-year-old Baga vines, foot-trodden in lagares and aged in large old barrels belies this humble grape and delivers a huge berry-ish lift on nose and palate with peppery spice and a velvety but weighless texture - it must be the magic of winemaker Graa Miranda's talented hands. An authentic piece of Portugal is all yours for £9.44.

Utterly incredible and unbeatable value is Barbeito's Rainwater Reserva, a true, non-heated, aged Madeira from 80% Tinta Negra and 20% Verdelho, a perfect conflation of green walnuts and sweet citrus, £10.90 (0.5l) - serving this by the glass with cheese will ensure eternal goodwill of your clients.

Aubert & Mascoli
Charming youngster Marco Sara's 2009 Frank (100% Cabernet Franc, £10.67) from Friuli has an elixier-like electricity: pure pepper, perfume and vibrant red fruit, a wonderful exponent of this under-valued variety.

Flint Wines
2011 Nascetta di Novello (£11.25) from Elio Cogno in Piedmont is just another indigenous Italian variety to wow your clients with: a nose of pure lemon curd and on the palate lightness, lemony intensity with overtones of candied citron - where have they been hiding this until now?

2011 Domaine Johann Michel, Cuve Grain de Noirs (£9.95) 100% Syrah from the northern Rhne shines with floral, violet-tinged edges, a lighter body but nonetheless substance. A class act.

Clark Foyster Wines
2011 Adega de Mono Vinho Verde (£5.78) this must be the absolute value cracker of the day: ripe yellow pear and green apple, light, some spritz, zesty loveliness.

Indigo Wine
2011 Rafael Palacios Louro de Bolo (£10.65) and its little brother Bolo (£8.25) are the two wines that re-define what Godello can and should be. This is Valdeorras at its finest, expressive and fragrant, almost like aloe vera and fruit combined, concentration, length and definition. Incredible.

Wine Treasury
2010 Cline Cellars Viognier (£8.00) from Sonoma, California. This pulls of the necessary balance-act between plump, ripe apricots, soft vanilla and refreshing acidity, a very elegant, versatile and varietally truthful offering.

Venturing outside my own brief of £7-£12 for a sparkling wine, at £16.85 the Contratto Millesimato 2007 (80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay) from Piedmont is an elegant serious and textured Italian sparkler presenting extremely good value with beautiful bruised apple fruit and dry definition (dosage is just 5g/l).

H2Vin
2009 Cypress Syrah "White Label" (£11.50) from Hawkes Bay showed New Zealand from its most seductive side: violets and peonies played over white pepper and red fruit notes. Texture, minerality and purity made this delicate, layered beauty extremely inviting. A steal, really.

Vine Trail
2009 Gilbert Chanudet Fleurie ‘La Madone' (£12.45) This is bottled loveliness: perfumed, pure wild raspberry of such prettiness and sophistication, a wine that will seduce anyone.

2010 Gilles Berlioz Chignin, Savoie (£9.10) a fragrant Alpine white, scented with pear and flower meadows, light but textured this is a wonderful and unusual food wine.

The Wine Barn
2011 Clemens Busch Vom Grauen Schiefer Riesling (£11.10) From the Mosel's biodynamic pioneer, a wine with a floral, ripe nose underneath which a whole world of mineral fruitiness lurks. This is modern, clean, straight-laced and uncompromising Mosel Riesling.

Astrum Wine Cellars
2009 Weniger Kekfrankos ‘Balf', Sopron, Hungary (£8.92) Rich, rounded and berry-ish as Kekfrankos should be, full of fruit and pepper, its fresh acidity makes it an ideal wine for food.