It’s deathless prose: 52% cabernet sauvignon, 45% merlot and 3% petit verdot. The bald back label tells you everything and nothing about the 2007 Château Brown, Pessac-Léognan, £25.99, Soho Wine Supply (02076368490), an enticingly spicy, blackcurranty Bordeaux grown in that wears its cloak of oak lightly over a perfectly proportioned body. It’s the 3% petit verdot that’s intriguing.

How can such a tiny percentage of make any difference when the major proportions are king cabernet and majestic merlot? In a word, the answer is seasoning. Similar principles apply to the 2006 Château Romefort, £9.99, buy two = £7.99, Majestic, a modern claret only here it’s the 7% of cabernet franc that brings a leafy freshness to the blackcurranty merlot and cabernet sauvignon.

Bordeaux is a region in which blends of different grapes co-exist, each vying for space in the final blend. The late-ripening petit verdot is always in a minor key here, while cabernet franc often dominates on the Right Bank. The Bordelais have cleverly learnt not to put all their eggs in one basket.

In Burgundy, the opposite side of the euro applies. Here growers have found, over time that pinot noir needs no other company. A wine such as the bright, raspberry-perfumed 2010 Mercurey Vieilles Vignes. From Domaine Raquillet, £18.95, Lea & Sandeman, relies for its sumptuous mulberry fruitiness on pure pinot noir.

The Rhône’s north is pure syrah (aka shiraz) territory for the special pepper and spice characters of a wine such as the medium-bodied, fresh, supple-textured 2009 Domaine Collonge Crozes Hermitage, £12.99, Marks & Spencer. Its Mediterranean south blunts the syrah’s edge , bringing the grenache and mourvèdre grapes into focus in a wine such as the spicy, opulently black-hearted 2005 Gigondas, Clos des Cazaux, La Tour Sarrazine, £16, Goedhuis & Co. (02077937900).

Languedoc likes its blends too. In the 2007 Domaine La Borie Blanche Terroirs d’Altitude, Minervois la Livinière, £9.99, buy two - £7.99, Majestic, it’s the grenache at just 10% that adds the white pepper touches to the juicy ripe black cherry fruitiness of the dominant syrah and mourvèdre. The New World knows such rules, so the juicy blackberryish 2009 Willunga 100 The Olive Branch Grenache, £9.99, Sainsbury’s, stands on its own one foot.

Rioja allows tempranillo both on its own as in the vivid, fruit flavoured 2007 Cosme Palacio Tinto, £9.99, Morrisons, or seasoned with mazuelo and graciano in the case of the 2007 Bodegas Ruconia Tubal, Rioja Crianza, £16.50, Lea & Sandeman. Chianti has jettisoned its legal requirement for a dollop of white grapes in favour of pure sangiovese and you’ll find few sleeker examples than the polished sweet and sour cherry opulence of Fontodi’s 2008 Chianti Classico, £18.50 - £21.95, Cooden Cellars (01323649 663), Noel Young (01223844744), Philglas & Swiggot (02074020002).

Something for The Weekend

Something For the Weekend 10 March

Couch Potato

2011 Tierra y Hombre Sauvignon Blanc

Fresh off the wine presses, this aromatic Loire-style Chilean dry white from Viña Indomita is full of elderflower, zingy capsicum and gooseberry flavours with a zesty dry aftertaste. £6.99, down from £7.99, Marks & Spencer.

Dining In

2010 Bourgogne Blanc, Jean-Marc Pillot

A chance to grab a delicious dry white Burgundy from the new intake at a relatively affordable price, this stylish chardonnay is delightfully rich, complex and nutty finishing with a lively lime-zesty fresh acidity. £14.99, buy 2 = £13.99, Majestic

Splash Out

2009 Domaine Huguenot Gevrey-Chambertin Les Crais

The Marsannay-based domaine has come up with a perfumed, richly flavoured Burgundy in which textured dark berry pinot noir loganberry and cherry flavours flourish in a polished framework of toasty oak and sappy freshness. £31.75, Lea & Sandeman (02072440522).