There is an enduring myth that many people believe about wine - the older it is the better it is. I am sorry to disillusion you but in 9 out of 10 cases the complete reverse is true - the younger the wine the better it is.

Let me explain. With top quality wines from classic regions such as Bordeaux and Burgundy the liquid changes over time, firstly as it reacts with the wood in an oak cask, and then the more gentle evolution after bottling. As time quietly passes these highly sophisticated wines develop subtle nuances of flavour which are masked by the fruity freshness and relatively large amounts of tannin and acidity that are present in their youth. But these wines are made with the utmost care, in relatively small quantities, from the best grapes, in the best locations. They are consequently expensive.

The vast majority of us wine lovers can’t afford to drink these ‘fine’ wines on a regular basis and in fact, as I have previously discussed, many are suitable really only for drinking with food, and we like to drink wines with or without. Therefore we don’t want wines with large amounts of tannin. These can pucker your mouth leaving it feeling coated and dry. We need fresh, fruity wines.

For white wines and rosés, in the ‘Old World’, grapes are generally harvested in September/October. The wine takes about a month to make and is ready in late November/December. The wines are at their best from this time through to April/May and if the grape selection and wine making has been good the quality should be fine until the next harvest. But in less well made white wines the flavour will start to drop and some of the zingy freshness will be lost. So as a rule of thumb when buying white wine - always buy the latest vintage.

Reds can be slightly more tricky to recommend as some will be aged in oak casks before bottling, such as our Premium Oak Aged Claret, and some e.g., Ramon Lopez Murillo Rioja Reserva, are aged in oak and then must be further aged in the bottle before being released to the public. These wines are more robust than their unoaked counterparts, as oak ageing adds ’structure’ to the wine as tannins pass from the wood into the wine and will therefore keep better on the shelf. However my guidance remains pretty much the same for reds as whites - for unoaked reds buy this year’s vintage, for oaked reds buy the youngest vintage on the shelf.

When you start paying over the £10 for a bottle then it’s time to dig out the vintage charts and discover which year is going to give you the best value for your hard earned money.