Eyebrows were raised heavenwards this autumn when the trophy for a Bordeaux blend over £10 was snatched by a Chinese red from beneath the out-of-joint noses of Argentina, Australia and California. Sneering journalists questioned the integrity of the Decanter World Wine Awards. Then they queried the authenticity of the wine itself. How could China possibly make a wine capable of taking on and beating the world? D Loh commented in the China Daily: ‘If the wine is good, connoisseurs query if it has been secretly imported and then placed in a Chinese bottle’.

Pinot Noir is in the air, and, I’m pleased to say, in the glass. In the last few weeks, I’ve tasted German pinot noir against the rest of the world, fine red Burgundy at a pre-sale tasting by the American auction house, Acker Merrall & Condit, Australian pinot noir against New Zealand, and, most recently, an ‘emerging classics’ tasting of Chilean pinot noir. That’s quite a lot of pinot noir even if you love the thrill of great red Burgundy and its vinous acolytes, which fortunately I do.

On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War, it seems inconceivable that while the Sun was gloating Gotcha!, few souls in Argentina gave the malbec grape so much as a second look. It was known as the uva francesa, the French grape, and mostly used for blending into above average plonk. Robert Mondavi-inspired visionaries like Nicolás Catena had cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay on the brain, while the overseas investors who today populate the Argentinian wine industry only piled in in the late 1980s.

Independent Christmas Food & Drink Special

Best party budget red

2007 Torre del Falco Nero di Troia, Puglia, Italy

This distinctively bright and spicy and rosso made from Puglia’s Nero di Troia grape shows a sweetly juicy dark berry fruit quality with a sinewy feel and vivid freshness. £4.99, down from £7.99, until 6 December, Waitrose.

Best party red

2010 Viñalba Cabernet Malbec Merlot

Bordeaux, Burgundy, Beaujolais. My first editor assumed, and so therefore did I, that this was the holy trinity of Bs at whose altar the Indy wine reader would sip and worship. And so it was until the New World cocked an irreverent Life of Brian snook at the French, using the same grapes but undercutting the frogs on price.

It might make members of the House fidget in their seats, but for all but Tower Hamlets Council, which has banned Guy Fawkes, the idea of blowing up the Houses of Parliament brings a little wistfully anarchic glee into our lives. There’s nothing like a sparkler to get you into the mood for, er, sparklers and the like, and so if you don’t want to push the boat out too far on bonfire night, Marks & Spencer’s Sparkling Burgundy NV, £11.99, will give you a biscuity, weighty and richly mouthfilling fizz at an affordable price.

Despite the fact that truly innovative cooking in Mendoza is a yet to-be-discovered El Dorado, the steak is so good, the wine so juicy, and the Italian tradition so alive and well that even if Michelin is still only a rubber tyre in these parts, there’s much to be said for Mendoza’s food and wine. Argentina made history last month by winning the most International Trophies at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2011 by any single country since the competition began.

It was a happy coincidence that New Zealand staged two important wine events in the lead up to tomorrow's Rugby World Cup final. The first was the annual new release tasting that gives the press a sneak peek at the new vintage while the harvest in Europe is barely under way. The second was a review of Craggy Range with the big (for New Zealand) cheese, Steve Smith MW. If you don't know Craggy Range, get acquainted, because I can't think of another wine company that's managed to roll Bordeaux, Burgundy, Loire and Rhône styles into one harmonious group of wines so successfully.

It had taken a while for Arthur van Hoogstraten, who ‘won’ me at the last Independent charity auction, and I, to sync diaries. After scanning the options, Arthur plumped for the tasting of Clark Foyster (www.clarkfoysterwines.co.uk) followed by a seminar on terroir with the Plaimont Co-operative. I was delighted because Clark Foyster is member of the bright new Dirty Dozen group I recently mentioned and only sells wines that its affable MD, Lance Foyster MW, believes in.

Was it the prospect of the Dirty Dozen yapping at their heels that prompted The Bunch to pull out the stops at their autumn tasting a fortnight ago? Let me explain. The Dirty Dozen is a new grouping of some of the UK’s top independent wine importers, the Bunch an association that’s been going strong for a little while now. No-one’s suggesting that the Bunch has been resting on its laurels, far from it, but The Dirty Dozen is a new force in the land.