For most of us, getting our hands on the best of the 2005 vintage in Bordeaux is unlikely; the price of this exceptional vintage is well out of reach in the higher echelons of wine production.

For InterWined.com’s standard, that is only rating wines worth drinking, usually in the £5 to £10 range, 2005 Bordeaux would seem to be a challenge. These wines are just now rolling out. The bottlings offered are usually label ‘Grand Vin’ and ‘Bordeaux Superior,’ which translates figuratively from the esteemed wine drinkers of Bordeaux to debt ridden Londoners as ‘table wine,’ yet come at an agonising cost.

Oddbins has a great one for £6.79. Yes, that’s £6.79. A 2005 Bordeaux.

We will, over the next year or so, be sampling such wines with only one purchasing criterion – that the wines do not cost more than a tenner. Trust us, walk into any reputable wine shop, buy a 2005 Bordeaux (red) and drink it. It’ll be good. That’s almost guaranteed.

Chateau Fantin from the Gironde is about as lovely as wine gets for this price. And we aren’t the biggest fans of French wines, take our food guy, Sean Sellers who once declared unequivocally and shamelessly that “I hate Cotes du Rhone”.

The Fantin is light and refreshing for a Bordeaux, but it’s sense of self and place are very much intact. The wine sits medium on the tongue and ruptures with crushed blackberry. The oak aging has balanced the wine, but not overwhelmingly as vanilla comes and goes with the slightest of hints. Quick, dry finish. And don’t go searching for nuances. Don’t bring to a dinner party and declare, “can you taste the toasted malted bread?” Sure, that flavour is there, but don’t be a wine jerk. Set it on the table and set it free. The compliments will come back, especially if everyone else brought a similarly priced Australian Shiraz to the gig: 8.8 points.

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