Bottle Of The Week

"I love the wines of the Languedoc," Jancis Robinson says, "because they have real character and ripeness without too much alcohol". To see what she means, treat yourself to a bottle of Chateau Pech-Redon Cuvee Reservee, Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape, 1998 (Tesco, £6.99). The flavours of ripe, dark fruits and chocolate, the faint aromas of tar or molten rubber that will make you think of southern French roads in the baking sun . . . and, at 12 per cent alcohol by volume, it won't flatten you. All too drinkable already, it should taste even better in six months.