Bordeaux, Burgundy, Beaujolais. My first editor assumed, and so therefore did I, that this was the holy trinity of Bs at whose altar the Indy wine reader would sip and worship. And so it was until the New World cocked an irreverent Life of Brian snook at the French, using the same grapes but undercutting the frogs on price. It worked as a boot up the derrière and while the three French Bs are now required to take their place alongside cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir (less so gamay) from the unlikeliest nooks and crannies, remembrance of things past has re-kindled a new love-in with today’s Bordeaux.

I was reminded of this at a tasting of the 2009 Bordeaux vintage hosted by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux at London’s Royal Opera House. From Covent garden tube to squeeze, there was barely room to move, let alone taste, in the spacious, well-lit Paul Hamlyn Hall. Two superb successive vintages in 2009 and 2010 have brought home that even if the shackles of Britain’s time-honoured enslavement to claret have been loosened, the rest of the world is still in thrall to Bordeaux. One classified château, I was told, now sells two-thirds of all its produce to China.

They’ve also shown us that there’s a lot more to good claret than a great vintage to cellar or a must-have investment château. The hoo-ha over the extravagant 2010 en primeur prices has obscured the fact that there’s a plethora of mouthwatering clarets on the market. For anyone waiting for their ‘05s and ‘09s to mature or with an overdose of excessive New World sweetness, oak and alcohol, the refreshing balance of good red Bordeaux answers a wine lover’s prayers for a wine capable of improving with each passing glass as the bottle empties. And in case you thought, from en primeur prices, that good value claret is an oxymoron, that’s not necessarily the case.

It’s not often that you’ll find a huge amount to shout about at under a tenner but the prosaically named 2009 Bordeaux Rouge from Patrice Calvet is as solid a refreshingly modern blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon you’ll find at £7.99, buy 2 = £5.99, Majestic. From the Right Bank of Bordeaux, the 2008 Château Moulin La Bergère, Saint-Georges, Saint-Émilion, £9.74, reduced from £12.99, until 6 December, combines spicy vanillin oak and succulently textured cassis fruit, while the 2008 Château Lafond Canon-Fronsac, £9.99, Sainsbury’s displays vivid herby, merlot-based cherryish fruit nicely rounded by its short stay in French oak casks.

With a year’s more age in the bottle, the 2007 Château Perron Lalande de Pomerol, £14.95, Lea & Sandeman (02072440522), is all polished cedary spicy oak, with a plush underlying core of fine black cherry and cassis-like fruitiness etched with a lively astringency, while the 2006 Château Grand Faurie Larose 2006, St-Emilion Grand Cru, £19.99, buy 2 = £16.99, Majestic, is an ultra-modern style, showing a coffee bean touch of oak with aa supple red fruits quality supported by spicy oak and savoury freshness. For a stylish Left bank counterpart, the 2008 Château La Tour de Mons, Margaux, £19.99, Sainsbury’s, offers cedary aromatics and a seductively elegant mouthfu,l while, for devotees of the traditional, mature side of Bordeaux, the 1997 Château Potensac, £19.99, Majestic, is drinking beautifully complex undertones of spice, game and dark chocolate. Eyes peeled for more great value clarets in the run-up to Christmas.

Something for the Weekend

Something for the Weekend 12 November 2011

Under £6

2010 Mauregard, Bordeaux

Château Lafite it may not be, but this gluggy, medium-bodied claret is as good as it gets at under £6, a modern style with the ripe blackcurrant fruit, spicy veneer and zesty freshness of the excellent 2010 vintage. £5.99, Marks & Spencer.

Under a Tenner

2008 Plantagenet Samson’s Range Shiraz / Cabernet Sauvignon, Western Australia

This traditional Aussie blend of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon is chock full of bright succulent blackberryish sweet fruitiness tinged with spice and dark chocolate. Serious bang for buck wine at £6.99, down from £8.99, Waitrose.

Splash Out

2009 Delas Saint-Joseph, Les Challeys

A pure, peppery northern Rhône syrah whose delicately spicy and vibrant red berry fruitiness may still be in its first flush of youth, but the supremely elegant St.Joseph freshness makes it game, set and match red right now. Sainsbury’s, £14.99.

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