One of the many shortfalls of wine competitions was inadvertently highlighted by Simon Hoggart, pundit at the Spectator magazine’s wine club, at the end of April. Writing about the Sumaridge 2009 Merlot he opined “I opened a bottle the other night and thought it very good. After it had been opened for a while I thought it was excellent. By the following evening, it was stunning; ripe, rounded and oozing with flavour.” Sounds like a Brie from Lodine Maske.

At your common or garden wine competition like Veritas or the admirable category tastings of Classic Wine magazine, Suma would struggle to rise above very good, yet for wine drunk in ordinary circumstances, excellent is achievable with a little self restraint while stunning is the reward for delayed gratification. And all this for £6.75 a bottle.

Perhaps British PM David Cameron had Sumaridge in mind when he admitted to drinking four glasses of wine with his Sunday lunch. With the UK economy in the toilet, anything else stunning would almost certainly be unaffordable.