There is an ongoing change with the Bordelais in relation to how they label their wines. Up until a few years ago, the prevailing attitude was, why should I label my wines? Everyone knows that Bordeaux wine is made up of a combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet franc and Petit Verdot.

That was fine and dandy as long as the only wine choices available were Bordeaux, Chianti and Rioja. But over the last 20 years, with the influx of wines from the New World (often good quality wines at a great price), consumers began flocking to buy Australian Cabernet or Californian Merlot.

The Bordelais have now realized that they cannot rely on the emerging markets to know what the wine is made of, if they continue to market themselves as “Bordeaux”. I am of course, referring to everyday Bordeaux, wines that cost less then £20 and often less then a tenner. The lofty Premier Crus, like Ch. Margaux, Petrus and Mouton Rothschild don’t need to label their wines but they represent only a small amount of Bordeaux sold to the world. The majority is made to be drunk with in a few years not to be stored away for decades before opening.

Calvet has been making wine in the Bordeaux region for almost 200 years and I have tried their Reserve 2009 in the past, which I quite liked as an every day wine. I was sent their La Fleur Baron 2010 which  is labelled Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon, so you know it’s more Merlot than Cabernet. An easy drinking red wine but with structure and acidity, it’s another great wine for these increasingly cold Autumn nights. It retails for £7.94 from Asda.