Baron de Guers Picpoul de Pinet 2016

Baron de Guers Picpoul de Pinet 2016, France, 12.5%

(£6.50-£8, Sainsbury’s) 

I’m a sucker for a good seafood stew so I was very excited to find a Saturday Kitchen wine to go with Rick Stein’s take on Cioppino.

His delicious version of this Italian-American fisherman’s stew featured monkfish, mussels and prawns together with hunks of sourdough: yum.

I tried a few things but it was a classic that went best. Picpoul somehow manages to combine freshness with weight, and is such a food-friendly wine, coping even with the chilli in this dish.

‘It’s really lovely – a good one, I love it’, enthused Rick. Show host Andi Oliver termed it, ‘absolutely delicious: that’s what you’d call moreish!’ Show guest Nina Wadia was kindly fulsome in her praise saying, ‘Oh my goodness, the match-up, you’re amazing!’

This one wasn’t rocket science. Sometimes, the simple, classic combinations are the best.

(Susie, 6.5/10, Dec 2017)