This is the moment to celebrate two significant anniversaries, one here, the other in Spain.

First comes 150 years of The Wine Society, which has grown from a two-man effort to drink up a forgotten consignment of Portuguese wine languishing in cellars beneath the Albert Hall, to a 180,000-member organisation selling some 12 million bottles a year.

In this case, big is certainly beautiful. The choice is splendid: at the latest press tasting selection drawn from the 1,600-plus wines on The Society's list there were pleasures below £9 and a mass of delights at the great value £12-£15 price point, as well as temptations all the way up to £50.

This Is Local London: The Society's old London cellars are now replaced by modern warehouses at StevenageThe Society's old London cellars are now replaced by modern warehouses at Stevenage (Image: The Wine Society)

Many aren't available anywhere else in the UK, or if they are, they're likely to be more expensive.

Factor in prompt free delivery, even on a single bottle, a very helpful phone/online sales team and lots of informative online or live events, and the £40 for-ever membership fee is a bargain - especially as half is refunded against your first order.

How do they do it? Simply, by being a very well managed mutual where profit goes straight back into the business, not to shareholders. But what also makes me happy to be a member, recommend TWS wines and buy them for myself is the civilised relationship with the wine producers. It's exceptionally fair to both sides.

The longest partnership, with Gratien & Meyer, goes back well over a century, beginning with Loire sparkling wines rather than the champagne for which G&M is better known.This Is Local London: The Wine Society's Celebration Cremant de Loire is a fine example of its quality and valueThe Wine Society's Celebration Cremant de Loire is a fine example of its quality and value (Image: The Wine Society)

The Celebration Crémant de Loire 2021 (£13.31) is so good, from its fine bubbles through to a lingering finish where you can taste the chalk from which the valley's châteaux were built. I like it even more than the appealing new G&M crèmant (£14.50) from the limited-edition Generation Series introduced this year to add a 21st century touch to past classics.

One of those Generation Series wines, smoothly citrussy-fresh Bucelas 2022 (£13.50) is the 2024 version of the very first wine the Society sold, then known as Portuguese Hock and costing 1s 7d a bottle!This Is Local London: The Wine Society's BucelasThe Wine Society's Bucelas (Image: The Wine Society)

Wine is so much about people, and The Society's buying team is crucial. When Jo Locke and Marcel Orford-Williams take well-deserved retirement later this year they will have been selecting bottles for Society members for 20 and close to 40 years respectively - continuity like that, now carried on by newer colleagues, is special.

The second anniversary is the 100th birthday of Ramón Bilbao, a big name in Rioja that retains a family ethos from the time Ramón Bilbao Murga saw the potential of a career in wine in the golden age of pre-phylloxera Spain.This Is Local London: It's 100 years since the birth of Ramon Bilbao who founded the Spanish wine producer of the same nameIt's 100 years since the birth of Ramon Bilbao who founded the Spanish wine producer of the same name (Image: Ramon Bilbao)

He died only five years after establishing his own bodega, but his son Enrique continued the winemaking journey. Now, under the inspiring leadership of head winemaker Rudolfo Bastida, Ramón Bilbao ticks the boxes on environmental awareness and sustainability, on wine tourism and education - and it adds in innovation, both in its Rioja homeland and at the newer estate in Rueda white-wine country towards the Portuguese border.

One project I've admired - and very much enjoyed its results - is wine-making in the northern and south-eastern extremes of Rioja, using rare grapes.This Is Local London: The Cuzcurrita vineyard for Ramón Bilbao Límite Norte white rioja and inset Rudolfo Bastida, head winemaker at Ramón BilbaoThe Cuzcurrita vineyard for Ramón Bilbao Límite Norte white rioja and inset Rudolfo Bastida, head winemaker at Ramón Bilbao (Image: Ramon Bilbao)

White Limite Norte combines tempranillo blanco and maturana blanca, while the red Limite Sur is pure garnacha (grenache), once the region's major grape, now barely 8 per cent of plantings. In each the new wine is matured three separate ways - in concrete, terracotta amphoras and French oak barrels - before blending and time to integrate.

They're fine, characterful wines, examples of how Rioja should move forward to solve its current problems of too much quantity, too little quality (both £21, greatwine.co.uk, which also has Ramón Bilbao Rueda verdejos).

To finish, two whites, both ideal to greet spring sunshine, from another birthday business, Laithwaites, which will be 55 later this year. Borgo Thaulero Pecorino (£12, mix-6), from Abruzzo, is characteristically Italian, vinous, herbal, with stone fruit, lemon and a hint of food-friendly bitterness on the finish.

And Kir Yianni Assyrtiko (£15, mix-6), from vineyards high in northern Greece, offers even more complexity and layers of flavour, long and fresh.