As it walked away with both a Gold medal and a Food Match Trophy, Neil Tabraham of Paris House praised this red blend’s ‘crunchy black fruits, chewy tannins with cassis and a chocolate richness on the finish’, while Dario Barbato of Individual Restaurants found ‘blackcurrant aromas with spicy and toasty notes, and the tannins are there, but rounded and not too aggressive’. Jamavar’s Alessandro de Angelis described a ‘menthol aroma, with a lively, fragrant palate and a lovely floral finish’, while WineEd’s Matthew Cocks appreciated its ‘elegant style, with a plush mid-palate and peppery finish, making it a match for a pepper-crusted flank steak’.

£9.08 Liberty Wines

‘Ripe red fruit aromas with hints of tomato leaf and green coffee,’ said Dario Barbato of Individual Restaurants, also noting its ‘soft tannins and good, lingering finish’, while team leader Olivier Marie enjoyed its ‘great varietal character of black berries with rustic bramble notes, hints of chocolate with dark cacao beans and tonka beans, and good complexity’.

£7.50 Eurowines

‘Warm and spicy fruit style, cassis and blueberry with cedar and pencil lead notes, complex on the palate with great menthol character and structure,’ said an impressed Neil Tabraham of Paris House, with team leader Olivier Marie noting a ‘well-made wine with a sense of place, minty eucalyptus freshness with chocolatey richness on the finish’.

£25.04 Enotria&Coe

This was good value, and a ‘spicy, crowd-pleasing wine’, according to team leader Simon Woods. WineEd’s Matthew Cocks appreciated the typicity demonstrated by this blend, describing notes of ‘smoke and black fruit’, while Dario Barbato of Individual Restaurants enjoyed it as an ‘easy wine, with pleasant black berry Cabernet character’.

£6.68 Majestic Commercial

£6.99 Tanners Wine Merchants, House of Townend, Maidenhead Wine Company, LWC Drinks, Oxford Wine Company

£13.16 Molson Coors

£9.25 Enotria&Coe