Now is the ideal time to buy some pinot noir

The wine world is chewing over the cold and wet 2008 Burgundy vintage, tasted in London last month and to be released later this year.

The whites aren't at all bad but for the reds it's another weak year, if not as grim as 2007 - they've generally got more concentration but most are pretty austere. (The weakness of the 2008 reds highlights how far-fetched was last year's puffery about 2007's horrid - sorry, "charming" - pinots).

Still, even for the 2008 reds, I don't think many people would make such allowances for rubbish wine at £25 a bottle if it came from Chile.

In any case, they're not in the shops yet, so this is an ideal time to buy some pinot noir from somewhere sunny enough to ripen grapes properly.

Most of these aren't cheap but at least you won't be disappointed.

Explorer Pinot Noir 2008, Casablanca Valley (Stone, Vine and Sun, £6.95: mail order only, www.stonevine.co.uk. You can mix cases, delivery £5.50 for first case)
A simple but thoroughly enjoyable Chilean pinot, full of cherry and strawberry fruit, with a dash of oak.

Saddleback Pinot Noir 2008, Central Otago (M&S, £14.99)
Fresh, sweet berry fruit and supple, silky tannins from New Zealand's most fashionable pinot noir area. Very good: this is ahead of most of the 2008 Burgundy 1er crus I tasted.

Ata Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir 2008, Martinborough (Fortnum & Mason; Highbury Vintners, 71 Highbury Park, N5 ; Wimbledon Wine Cellars: from £14.99)
Cherry fruit, supple tannins and good structure, with Martinborough's characterstic tangy, savoury edge - very attractive.

Ten Minutes by Tractor Pinot Noir 2008, Mornington Peninsula (Oddbins, £19.99)
Lovely fragrance, expressive fruit and nice concentration - if perhaps a little expensive - from Australia's hot pinot noir region at the moment, south of Melbourne.

Marchand and Burch Pinot Noir 2008, Western Australia (Bibendum, £25.77: mail order only, www.bibendum-wine.co.uk; you can mix cases, delivery £15)
If you really must drop north of £25 on a pinot noir, make it this one. A wine produced biodynamically by Jeff Burch of Howard Park and Pascal Marchand, ex-Domaine de la Vougeraie, this is seriously delicious: rich, sweet berry fruit with perfectly balanced acidity and fine structure.