Maison du Vin Crémant de Loire France NV

One of Spain’s finest reds, Vega Sicilia Reserva Unico Especial, draws on a long Spanish tradition of multi-vintage blending. I also love Italian producer Pasqua’s fennel-flecked, deftly made, daftly named dry white Hey French You Could Have Made This But You Didn’t NV (£32, Harrods). But the most obvious retort to anyone still questioning the quality credentials of non-vintage is Champagne, where blending vintages developed as an insurance policy in a climate where a healthy crop could not be guaranteed. Champagne cellarmasters are proud of the blending skills that go into such glorious wines as Louis Roederer Collection 243 (£59.99, Waitrose) – skills also used to create the tangy apple and cream of Maison du Vin Crémant, made using the same model in another northerly French region, the Loire. £12.75, Co-op