August Spectator Wine Club

El Vino is the celebrated, even revered, wine bar in Fleet Street. Lawyers and the crustier type of journalist drink there, usually selecting wines from the old reliables: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne. Château Thames Embankment is Rumpole’s soubriquet for their house claret, and very good it is too. But El Vino now has several other branches, and they attract a younger crowd, more likely to go for lively, fruity New World wines. The company now combines tradition and innovation with considerable success.

So we can start with the two house wines, the red Velvin (6) and the white Choisi de Boyier (1). They’re not allowed to say so, but I can — the postcode on the label reveals that both wines are made in the Côte d’Or, and both are overproduction of Burgundy. Strict French laws mean that only a certain amount can be sold as vin de Bourgogne, but in an overflowing year they have to do something with the rest, so they sell it to us.