Arbousset Lirac, Rhône France NV

I initially assumed that cost-cutting, or scarcity of supply, was behind the switch to non-vintage, but when I asked Tesco buyer Charlotte Lemoine what was going on, she offered a different explanation. Apparently, Julie Rouffignac, the talented Rhône Valley winemaker responsible for making Tesco’s Châteauneuf, had managed to find some small parcels of wine from the outstanding 2015 and 2016 vintages. Since there wasn’t quite enough of either vintage to stretch far enough to make it worth Tesco’s while, Lemoine’s solution was to use the parcels as the basis of a blend with other, more recent vintages. The result is excellent, a typically robust take on the classic southern Rhône red blend, with herb, black pepper, meaty savouriness, liquorice and hedgerow fruit. £12, Tesco