Wine Club: six wonderful wines from Mr Wheeler

The first red wine I ever drank was a scrumptiously succulent Beaujolais, and I’ve had a fondness for the region and its wines ever since.

At 52, my father was getting on a bit when I was born and he was desperate to educate me in the delights of the grape as quickly as possible. I was weaned on Cyprus ‘sherry’ and was no more than ten when I enjoyed my first glass of enticingly sweet and fizzy Asti Spumante. Light, refreshing, low-alcohol German Riesling followed, and by the time I was off to senior school, I had graduated – at my father’s behest – to soft, juicy, jammy Beaujolais. Once I was 16 I’d mastered the Tequila Sunrise and the Harvey Wallbanger, too, but that’s another – rather messy – story.

At its best, fine Beaujolais is approachable in a way that fine Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhône are not.