Rouzé Reuilly Rouge Pinot Noir 2014

Domaine Jacques Rouzé Reuilly Rouge Pinot Noir 2014, France

(£130 per case, Lupton Wines) 

It’s rare to find a wine region described as somewhere ‘Jeremy Corbyn would buy his Y-fronts’, or a winemaker ‘who makes Jeff Capes look like John Inman’.

But then not every wine merchant is like my friend Mark at Lupton Wines.

I used to work with Mark and his affectionate nickname was ‘Maverick’. He has a brilliant palate, wears his heart on his sleeve, and writes some of the oddest, funniest newsletters I receive. A few years ago, he left his blue-chip wine career to set up his own operation. This is one of his wines, which we tried round his Sunday lunch table.

Wine lovers will be all too aware that January marks the season when the Burgundians come to town en masse. This year, the 2015 reds are looking sumptuous – and prices are equally stratospheric (that’s if you can get the stuff, given the short supplies). So a refreshing, scented, beautifully poised but wonderfully affordable Pinot Noir like this provides a nice, gentle reminder that there is quality in Pinot to be had outside the hallowed turf of Burgundy, and at a very fair price.

Even if it is from the land of lingerie and giants.

(7/10, Peter, Nov 2016)