Vega del Rayo, Rioja 2020

The story of Boutinot's route to wine making is a bit different to many others in both what they do and how they go about it. As well as growing and making their own wines in France and South Africa they work with a multitude of other producers across the world in putting together good value wines that hit the right spot in the market. And over the years their skill and expertise has built them an excellent reputation.

Things started back in 1980 when Paul Boutinot, who was in charge of sourcing wines for his father's restaurants, disappointed at the quality of wines then available in the UK went to France to look for better quality wines at better prices. This led, in 1989, to him blending his own wines in France and, in 1993, to producing specially sourced wines from South Africa. Over the years they've built on this and whilst still a major distributor of agency wines they now produce wines on their own account in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, USA, France and Spain. While there are many great producers of top quality premium wines around Boutinot's focus unfailingly falls on making value for money wines that don't compromise on quality and time has shown how good they are at it.