I was very excited when a friend mentioned a new wine shop in Brixton – Market Row Wines. After a brief chat with the proprietor David Simpson we settled on this Château Clément Termes “David” Merlot Duras – mainly because I had never come across the Duras grape before and was intrigued.

Château Clément Termes is situated on the right bank of the river Tarn in the Gaillac region of south west France. They have 150 years of family winemaking tradition and continue to grow local varieties including Mauzac, Len de d’el/Loin de l’oeil, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle, Braucol, Syrah and of course the two that make up this cuvée – Duras and Merlot. Because the Gaillac appellation does not permit Merlot this cuvée has to be labelled as IGP/VDP des Côtes du Tarn. Anyway, that’s enough background. What’s it like?

Well for a start there’s plenty of up-front juicy red fruit. But there’s a bit more to it than that. There’s some nice smoky notes in there and a nice earthyness. Slightly green crunchiness too. Pretty smooth in the mouth but enough tannins to give it some structure. At around £7.50 it makes a good mid-week quaffer and I’ll definitely be going back to Market Row Wines to explore the rest of their range.