Sprawling groups of dancers appear and disappear for no good reason; Carlos Acosta blazes across the stage in furious leaps, torn between two women. By the end, Antony McDonald's irritating moving walls and projections reveal humanity on the edge of a black void, but the choreography takes a long time getting there.`A Celebration of International Choreography', Royal Opera House (0171- 304 4000), 16 Dec and 20, 21 & 29 Jan. Not the type of musicians with whom the cutting-edge Turnage is used to working at all, in fact. I think it's really sensuous .. You can almost eat it. When I first heard it live I just thought, `what a sound' - it almost knocks you out." The sound, by which the composer Mark-Anthony Turnage has been seriously seduced, belongs to the classical/baroque Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The mix of modern and traditional dance is paralleled by the choice of 17th- and 18th-century composers interspersed with John Cage's prepared piano pieces. Peter Abegglen, Deborah Bull and Jenny Tattersall have the ease of old hands who participated with members of Davies's company in her Thirteen Different Keys project last summer.Ashley Page's closing Hidden Variables takes the name of Colin Matthews's score, in turn is a response to the Chaos Theory of physics Perhaps that is why Page's choreography looks so hectic.
Even so, the long, low lines of her dance language find sympathy with ballet's geometries, the two styles merging in a creative dialogue. Otto Bubenicek (from Neumeier's Hamburg company) and Darcey Bussell, glamorous in red leotards, imprinted impossible contortions against a sky-blue backdrop, Bussell's endless legs swinging in great arcs like dividers.Siobhan Davies's A Stranger's Taste, which opened the programme, has a characteristically strong, if quiet beauty, yet lacks the concentrated energies of her own company's pieces on more intimate stages. The Royal Ballet's Jonathan Cope, Carlos Acosta and Inaki Urlezaga played refreshing games of exits and entrances with a central screen, freezing against it like life drawings on paper. Among the pas de deux was John Neumeier's "Lento", the only offering specially created for the occasion. But the evening feels misshapen, with a fragmented middle section devoted to overseas choreographers framed by two British world premieres. But allowing each of the overseas choreographers, some rarely seen here, just ten minutes' stage time seems like short shrift.
And, although the selection changes during the run, most of it consists of pas de deux, which becomes monotonous after a while. The exception in Wednesday's five-item sampler was a fluent and original male trio, "Remanso", by the Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato. ROYAL BALLET ROYAL OPERA HOUSE LONDON "A CELEBRATION of International Choreography" has a suitable flourish as the title of the Royal Ballet's first programme in its reopened theatre. From good value wines under pounds 5 to a host of glamorous and exclusive styles - red, white and sparkling - you'll find all you need here for festive season drinking and presents Go on, treat yourself.. And from Victoria, the 1996 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz (pounds 8.99, Unwins) packs a punch of spice and pepper with oak-infused blackberry fruit.From South Africa, the 1998 Stellenzicht Syrah (pounds 8.99, Oddbins) is a double gold Veritas winner (South Africa's top award) from Stellenbosch vineyards with relatively silky tannins for such a young red, and great spiciness, superbly integrated oak and fruit richness.Chile, keen to get in on the act as ever, has a worthy rival in the 1997 Errazuriz Reserve Syrah (pounds 9.99, Oddbins, Tesco, Safeway, Fuller's), an Aconcagua red with a touch of herb and mint and a very juicy, rich, concentrated blackberry-like fruitiness.50 BEST WINTER WINESWhat happened to Wines Of The Month last week? Look no further than today's The Information, where you'll find Anthony Rose's guide to the Best 50 Wines. The syrah revival in Australia (there known as shiraz), along with the huge plantings of syrah in southern France, has placed it in pole position. More stable and consistent than pinot noir, more characterful than merlot, the crown prince to cabernet sauvignon's king produces wines with rich pepper and spice qualities.With more shiraz planted than any other premium red, Australia is still the number one venue for the Rhone Valley's best grape variety.
In traditional style (for Australia), the 1997 Stonyfell Metala Shiraz/Cabernet (, pounds 6.99 Safeway; pounds 7.49 Oddbins) is a blend of mainly Langhorne Creek shiraz (for Australia) from Nigel Dolan, showing smoky oak and sumptuous red-berry flavours suffused with a eucalyptus herbiness. Pablo Morande's 1998 Vina Morande Pinot Noir (pounds 5.99, Safeway) is an appealingly soft, rhubarb and redcurrant-style of pinot noir with a touch of toasty oak, while from the ultra-cool Bo-Bo region, as far south as winemaking goes in Chile, the 1997 Vina Gracia Pinot Noir (currently pounds 5.99 reduced from pounds 7.99, Co-op) is a succulent delight, scented and jam-packed with ripe-strawberry fruit flavours and rustic tannins.Spicy rhone stylesUntil a decade ago, the syrah grape of the northern Rhone was a bit of an also-ran Not so today. A Devon Valley red made by Jeremy Walker of Grangehurst, it is intriguingly burgundian, but more vigorous, intensely aromatic with new oak spiciness and studded with ripe, cherry and loganberry-like flavours.In Chile's cooler regions, pinot noir can give red burgundy more than a run for its money. Its simpering prima donna refuses to make life easy for its admirers, sulking, fussing and insisting conditions have to be just so before it performs.The South Africans found that in their hot climate, crossing pinot noir with the Mediterranean cinsault was one solution. The result, pinotage, works well in the heat and dust of the Cape, reaching new peaks of quality in wines such as the 1996 Hidden Valley Pinotage, (pounds 14.95, Waitrose). Try the 1998 A Few Good Men Merlot (pounds 5.99, Safeway), a spicy, black-fruits and damson-like blend. Or If you're prepared to risk just over a tenner, the 1996 Beyerskloof Cabernet Sauvignon (pounds 11.99, Oddbins) is well worth the outlay for an impressively concentrated, opulent red with refined, cedary notes.Red burgundy lookalikesThe pinot noir grape of red burgundy is an infuriating tease, far harder to get right than its Bordeaux or Rhone (syrah grape) counterparts, not least on the slopes of Burgundy's Cote d'Or itself.