Wine of the Month, April 2026

Why Chile's Casablanca Valley is making some of the most exciting Pinot Noir around, a floral, silky Reserva that shows exactly what affordable Chilean Pinot can do.

April has a particular mood to it - the light is warmer, the garden starts to look promising, and the wines you reach for shift accordingly. Something lighter, fresher, and a little more elegant feels right. This month's choice fits that moment very well - a Pinot Noir from Chile's Casablanca Valley that manages to be both genuinely refined and genuinely affordable.

Casablanca sits close to the Pacific coast, where cool ocean breezes slow the ripening down and give the grapes time to develop real complexity. For Pinot Noir, that's exactly what you want - it's a grape that doesn't like heat, and here it shows. The In Situ Reserva has a floral lift on the nose, followed by bright cherry fruit that's juicy without being jammy, and a silkiness on the palate that you'd expect to pay considerably more for.

Eight months in American oak barriques adds just enough - a whisper of vanilla, a touch of sweet spice, a gentle warmth on the finish - without ever getting in the way of the fruit. This is a wine about elegance and freshness, and the oak knows its place.

It's also worth noting what this wine isn't. It isn't big, extracted, or heavy. It isn't trying to be Burgundy, though it has a similar kind of restraint and purity that good Burgundy aims for. It's simply a very well-made Pinot Noir that happens to come from a part of the world that's quietly been doing this better and better for years.

Casablanca isn't a name that always gets the attention it deserves, but for cool-climate whites and increasingly for Pinot Noir, it's a region well worth knowing. In Situ have been working these coastal vineyards with care, and it shows in the glass.

For food, think spring lamb, roasted salmon, or a mushroom-based pasta - dishes with some savouriness that the wine can play off nicely. It's also the kind of bottle that works just as well without food, poured on a mild April evening when something light and satisfying is all you're after.

Throughout April, the In Situ Reserva is £13.90 per bottle (usually £14.90) - and you'll earn 100 bonus loyalty points per bottle on top of your usual points, which is £1 back to spend with us. Well worth stocking up on while it's featured.