On the face of it, classic wines are much like classic cars or a designer dress – they’re timeless, we trust them enough to buy with confidence and tellingly, they typify a certain style.

Whether it’s a label or producer, classics are a force to be reckoned with. They’re from our best-loved wine regions, their names mean a lot to us and they’re famous for their enduring quality.

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“Classic wines are usually held in high regard for a reason,” observes Alexander Hill, brand manager for Armit Wines. “Certain grape varieties and styles are proven to excel in specific regions so the popularity of these wines is really the result of mass quality control by consumers – voting on what’s good by buying it!

“Of course, fashion and tastes are constantly changing but there are some appellations that always seem to resurface at the top. Chianti is a great example – the high-altitude hills combined with Mediterranean temperatures encourage a freshness and vibrancy in sangiovese.”

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(Armit Wines/PA)

Indeed, Hill says producers such as Querciabella are taking it further by exploring the minute details of the soils and landscapes of different subzones to see what makes Chianti so wonderful on a more scientific level. A glorious example is their Querciabella Chianti Classico Organic 2016, Tuscany, Italy (£23.08, Armit Wines). Crafted in a sumptuous, vivacious style with perfumed aromatics complemented by excellent fruit, leafy, earthy, spicy tones and silky tannins, it really delivers on the promise of the aromas.

With a combined influence of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, Rioja’s continental climate also defines its style and as Andrew Baker, wine buying director for Virgin Wines suggests, Riojas are about precision and generosity, all at once.

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(Virgin Wines/PA)

This yields wines we want to drink again and again, such as Bodegas Amaren Angeles de Amaren Rioja 2015, Spain (£21, Virgin Wines), a flagship wine which honours the winemaker’s mother. Powerful yet beautifully balanced, it delivers a plush, velvety smooth texture with focused flavours of black cherry, berries, vanilla, cloves and spice, ending with a long, concentrated finish and lingering vanilla notes. Utterly gorgeous.

Luckily, classic wine regions deliver many great value vinos that deserve our attention, especially the new M&S Classics wine range from Marks & Spencer which offers a string of wines with all the bells and whistles, keenly priced between £7 and £12.

Importantly, the Old World series of 18 wines is not only designed to take wine lovers on a journey of discovery to some of the world’s greatest wine regions, giving them confidence to try something interesting – but it also aims to offer the highest quality at the most accessible price.

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(Marks & Spencer/PA)

Available online by the case, or in-store by the bottle, their Fred Sirieix’s Classics Mixed Case (£48.50 x 6 bottles, Marks & Spencer) includes the Classics Claret and for a budget Bordeaux, you can’t go wrong. The 2019 is being hailed as a wicked vintage and Sue Daniels, winemaker for M&S, says it offers a traditional feel but in the fruitier spectrum (it’s unoaked with lots of lovely blackcurrant fruits and hallmark minerally edge).

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(Marks & Spencer/PA)

Likewise, the M&S Classics Rioja Reserva, Spain (£54 x 6 bottles, Marks & Spencer) is a really good, authentic Rioja with French American oak ageing rendering the region’s traditional style. Compared to some of their other labels, it shows the modern face of Rioja with slightly more restraint on the oak.

Cut from the same cloth but with a lot more padding, Bordeaux enthusiasts should be hunting down the 2016 vintage which Cécile Ha, director of communications for the CIVB, one of the most representative Bordeaux wine bodies, cites as particularly impressive.

“Following on from the very good 2015 vintage, 2016 is perhaps one of the most excellent Bordeaux vintages of the last decade. An Indian summer followed by early September rains brought the grapes grown in 2016 to a perfect level of maturity,” she explains.

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(Vinatis /PA)

“These ideal climate conditions ensured exceptionally high-quality wines of ample quantities throughout Bordeaux. Red wines from this year are highly coveted – they are typically fresh with great aromatic intensity supported by a harmonious structure, deep-coloured, well-defined and attractive flavours and supple, rounded tannins.” To point you in the right direction, Château Fleur Haut Gaussens 2016, Bordeaux Supérieur, France (£13.45, Vinatis) ticks all the right critics’ boxes and comes highly recommended.

Elsewhere, as Ben Revell, founder of Winebuyers.com wine club points out, wine regions protect growers and inform customers. “As there are many cheesemakers that produce Parmigiano Reggiano, there are many growers that produce Chablis. Wines made around Chablis will vary in nature, but they’ll always be bone dry chardonnays grown in similar climates and soils. This helps us anticipate what’s in the bottle that’s on the shelf.”

“The classic regions of the world also have a pedigree from hundreds of years of esteem and development,” says Revell. “The monks that planted the Mosel and Burgundy in the Middle Ages were particularly assiduous in refining their viticulture and winemaking. That process continues today and benefits from all that human endeavour.”

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(Winebuyers.com/PA)

In Chablis wines, elegance, delicate floral and citrus aromas and a stony minerality collide beautifully together. Try Simmonet Febvre Chablis 2018, Burgundy, France (£119.94 x 6 bottles, Winebuyers.com) which wins points for freshness and purity, from one of the oldest and most established producers in the region.

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(Tendeschi/PA)

Speaking of producers to know, the 5th generation Tedeschi family of winemakers in the Veneto region make distinctive wines at all levels. Their suave soave, Tedeschi Capitel Tenda Soave Classico DOC 2018, Italy (£12.75, Fareham Wine Cellar) made from 100% garganega has appealing stone fruit characters with floral aromas entwined with hints of almond and lifted lemon, an elegant silky texture with good acidity on the finish – and is a lovely reminder that northeast Italy’s classic dry white has timeless, easy summer sipping appeal.

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