Over all the months and years of my wine drinking and critiquing I might just have narrowed down my favourite style of red. Don’t misunderstand though a glass of port, a little schioppettino, cabernet or something obscure from Portugal are more than welcome but every time I find myself slurping on a blend of Southern French varieties the thought returns – these are the wines I really savour and enjoy.

Pretty much any mix of Grenache, Carignan and Syrah works for me; with a splash of Mouvèdre too perhaps for really contenment. And to be truthful the wines don’t actually have to be French; a Spanish Grenache/Syrah blend hits that pleasure spot too.

Last weekend saw a need for a wine to accompany some rather tasty Roast Quail, all sticky with an Oriental-inspired sauce. Sticky fingers resulted as these little birds demand to be eaten with your hands.

To accompany from the sample table a bottle of Domaine Seguela Les Candalieres, 2007, Cotes du Roussillon Villages Villages [Adegga / Snooth]. And what a superb match! This is a rich blend of Carignan 60%, Syrah 20%, Grenache 20% with a lovely balance of ripe fruit and all the other constituents of a red wine.

Jean-Pierre Seguela has 20 hectares of vines, ranging in age between 25 and 90 years (for the not so geeky, the older the vine the better the quality of the grapes and the juice) in the commune of Rasiguères, since 1999. The vines are all organically managed if not quite fully bio-dynamic.

Another fine wine from The Perfect Cellar, £12.99’s worth of a joyous, deeply fruited, wine.