James Bercovici - The Big Red Wine Company

They've never been regarded as a bad thing in Champagne but multi-vintage blends (MVBs) have rarely been taken seriously in still, unfortified wines. Ant Rose, in an article for Decanter, has attempted to point out that this is not always justified. I think it's fair to say that the vast majority of non-vintage wines are of low quality, the emerging MVB category is trying to do something rather more exciting. What's the difference between NV and MVB, you may ask? Legally, nothing as far as I can see. They are simply designations conjured up by winemakers and wine critics (and, of course, wine merchants) but, as a rule of thumb, NV wines are probably going to look cheap - thin bottles, dull labels etc - and taste it. MVBs are prestige bottling with price tags to match. If nothing else, that's one way to measure the pretensions of the winemaker. Xavier Vignon , with whom we have been working for about 15 years, is a pioneer of the style. His 'Debut' cuvee, ...

Jancis Robinson has revisited 2006 Chateauneuf-du-Pape making two of our wines her Wines of the Week. She writes: 'I was reminded of how well the 2006 Châteauneufs are showing now when tasting a couple currently on offer from  The Big Red Wine Company  in the UK. I opened  Raymond Usseglio 2006 Châteauneuf-du-Pape  (£24.50, 14.5% alcohol on the label) at the same time as  Domaine de Cristia 2006 Châteauneuf-du-Pape   (£23, 15%) and enjoyed how they played tag in the glass. At first the Raymond Usseglio wine was the more impressive – much denser and richer – but then the Cristia came up on the outside lane and overtook it, offering more elegance and staying power, despite the alcohol level, and making the Usseglio look a little grainy and tired after an hour or so. 'But the main message is that this vintage of Châteauneuf is drinking very well at the moment and, for serious, ageworthy wines that have had almost 10 years in bottle, they are not desperat...