Welcome to our brand new weekly wine column, in which we highlight a great bottle and let you know its price point, the story behind its winemakers and, most importantly, how it tastes. Whether you're a dyed-in-the-wool imbiber or looking to refine your palate with a diverse range of bottles, check back every week for a new review.

Picking the first wine for our flagship Week In Wine column is no easy task. I want to welcome you into the fold without alienating you, pour you a glass without bludgeoning you with facts and jargon. Like an eager to please sommelier hosting their first dinner party, I want to tempt even wine agnostics to crack open a bottle. And so it only seems right to choose a wine that I'd happily buy myself for a relaxing evening in, a fruity Rioja that towers above its competition and has a taste that's perfect for newcomers.

To me a Rioja is the old reliable of the red wine world, the comfortable pair of slippers you wear when you don't want anything too adventurous. But every now and again, in part because the grape is so widely produced, you'll buy the wrong bottle and find your palate assaulted with acidic flavours, souring your evening and leaving your plonk unfinished.

But the Bodegas Bargondia Rioja 2020 poses no such danger, offering a smooth glass ripe with flavour. Made by indie winemaker and Naked Wine's former 'Winemaker Of The Year' Carlos Rodriguez in the Northern Spanish town of Oyón-Oion, this was an exemplary bottle to savour during a quiet night in.

Eaten with a hearty pasta, its silky texture belies a head-spinning 14% alcohol volume which, it must be said, left me more than a little tipsy after a few glasses. It's as accessible for wine lovers as any Rioja – light, juicy and kind to the palate, this is the perfect entry point if you want a red that's as welcoming to newcomers as it is to hardened veterans.

The Bodegas Bargondia Rioja 2020 is available exclusively from Naked Wines.