Now here’s a wine that would be fun to give ‘blind’ to a Master of Wine. They would definitely recognise the grape variety, Pinot Nero (aka Pinot Noir), but they’ll have about as much chance guessing the location of the vineyard as the queen did trying to guess Rumpelstiltskin’s name. To be honest, I had no idea where it was from either when I tasted, because the almost empty bottle had been left under a table and the winemaker had gone to lunch.

It was the naïve label that caught my eye, so I furtively poured the last few drops into my glass and gave it a try. Wow! Heady, perfumed, cherry and strawberry, laced with orange and cinnamon, it had to be Pinot Noir, but from where? The table was groaning under a range of wines from Campania, but it couldn’t be from there could it? The quality was such that it could only come from one of the recognised sources for world class Pinot Noir, Burgundy or possibly Germany. When the winemaker, Sabino, returned, I confessed to helping myself and being bowled over, and he was delighted, because he had made the wine for his daughter, Alleria, from Pinot Nero vines grafted onto Fiano rootstock at 400 metres above sea level in the hills of, yup, Campania!

It pours that lovely pale, cherry/red brick colour, which denotes Pinot Noir and the aromas rise from the glass, as described above, despite there being so little liquid in my glass. The palate is so delicate and pretty, adding notes of rose petal, orange peel, baking spices and tomato skin. I asked about availability and he looked sheepish, explaining that he only makes 1 or 2 barrels a year, depending on the vintage, but he could offer Vin Cognito 12 bottles. So, that’s all we have. Do try it if you love knee-weakening Pinot Noir and do give it ‘blind’ to a wine aficionado and watch them clutch their pearls when you tell them where it’s from. 12.5% alc. Wild ferment. Aged for a year in Champagne barrels. Drink now-2032.