Salad Niçoise is the perfect lunchtime meal as the thermometer goes past 30°C and heads for 40°C but what to drink with it? During the holidays, I unearthed a bottle of Graham Beck The Ridge Shiraz 1997 from the depths of my father-in-law’s Wellington cellar, and it proved an excellent companion to the food: elegant with red fruit, pepper and fresh acidity.

For one thing, it was served chilled. For another, it had an alcohol by volume of only 12.5%. The rise in abv of local red wines over the last ten to fifteen years has been thoroughly discussed in recent times but I believe it is a topic that we can’t let fall off the agenda. The 1997 was the maiden vintage of what is now The Ridge Syrah, Graham Beck’s ultra-premium offering in the Shiraz category, and if you want an illustration of how alcohols have climbed, then consider that the current-release 2006 is 14.33%.