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Sorry, damning with faint praise. I should have said “as always” …

Thanks, Quisling - 'always' would have been incorrect, you're obviously overlooking some of my ....less than perfect parsings! Even 'as usual' is on the generous side.

I thought bra was the usual support! I can think of another, being from St Andrews.
Thanks all, I'll think on.

Finished now, nice puzzle, unusual theme.
Glad for help on 26d which I thought was the toughest one of all. Was sure ran and ran was definition.

Lumen, glad you got it all finished, glad the help with 26 D turned out OK!

Cracking puzzle. Not my musical glass of (Aldi Chilean) Merlot, but it kind of spurned the wonderful Blondie and Jonathan Richman😊

Way out of my normal areas of this territory, but (almost) complete thanks to Google. Extras and perimeter all complete and understood - having identified the work and line. But I can’t see the “collection” in the grid. I assume I am looking for a 9 letter word ending in N. (Or, more accurately, n’)

Given the vinous comments earlier in the thread, may I be permitted a shameless plug for the Wine Society for the benefit of anyone who isn’t already au fait? Membership was probably the best investment I ever made,

Jack, you’re looking for 8 letters, 2 x 4 in different halves of the grid.

I am a Wine Society member, but I’ve found their offerings average. Please give me some recommendations from their list, if you would. Red, Old World, if possible.

Bobby, there’s nowt wrong with Aldi Chilean Merlot, Same varietal as Pétrus, after all. I'm sure I couldn't tell the difference blindfold 😎

And what is the difference? Only a few grand ...

Thanks, Quisling. All sorted now, Google first led me to a smaller collection which I couldn’t find in the grid for the very straightforward reason that it wasn’t there. (That may be a negative of a basic law of physics - as adumbrated by Spike Milligan.) searching again took me straight to what you hinted at.

Does your “Old World” extend to South Africa and Lebanon? There are growers there who become (not unreasonably given the foundation dates of their estates) apoplectic when the word “New” is used. And many European vineyards are stocked with what are very much new vines when compared to counterparts in Lebanon, South Africa and other parts of the allegedly “New” World.

In Western Europe, I would generally look to Portugal, Italy and Spain rather than France - which is overpriced and unreliable in my view. Further east, Croatia and Moldova are well worth exploring. Into Asia, Georgia holds some gems - albeit of a very particular character - and a really ancient history of viticulture.

I am a sucker for some Chilean Carmeneres (maybe it’s the romantic story, maybe I just love the country). And some Canadian “Tabac” (Pinot Noir) bottles have wooed me, too.

Sorry, I am rambling. It’s probably the effect of the bottle of Valpolicella that - unaccountably - appears empty….

My apologies to Serpent. Getting involved in wine talk meant I omitted to congratulate you on an excellent piece of construction. You could convincingly argue that the perimeter actually implements (in part at least) two lines from the work.