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These less familiar regions have plenty to offer adventurous wine lovers, says

Peach garden Merlot 2017, Bulgaria (£6, Marks & Spencer)

One of the most popular red grapes, who doesn’t love a smooth merlot, prized for its soft, velvety black cherry flavours? But why always settle for French (historically, merlot hails from the Bordeaux region) when you can get a foothold on the Bulgarian wine scene. Often underrated, the wines from this region are starting to show their true potential, and we love this generously fruity, lightly oaked style, that’s right on point with its lightly spiced cherry and violet fruit - and very reasonably priced.

Puklavec & Friends cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot 2016, Slovenia (£8.79, Waitrose)

Slovenia is one of the most exciting wine regions right now, and this talented winemaker can stake its claim to producing generously fruited wines that are extremely drinkable. A beautiful coming together of this typical Bordeaux blend (merlot plumps up cab sav and smooths out any rough edges), it’s smooth, fruity and spicy on the surface - but dig a little deeper and all sorts of loveliness comes together, with vibrant and expressive juicy plummy fruit on the persistent finish.

taste the difference dry Furmint, tokaji 2017, hungary (£10, Sainsbury’s)

Hungary is one of the most important wine regions in Eastern Europe and thanks to its flourishing scene, it can offer us so much more than just Tokaji sweet dessert wines, stunning as they are. One of its top indigenous varieties, the furmint grape also makes delicious, dry white wines, with a delicate mineral freshness, showcased wonderfully in this bottle. Beautifully fresh and elegant with tiers of peaches and pears, even fine Chablis fans will fall in love with the stony minerality of this pristine white, ending with an enticing note of sage.

cuvee aleksandr nv, cahul, Moldova (£11.99, laithwaite’s)

Fizzing with excitement - another Moldovan masterpiece, and what a lovely surprise! A champagnestyle sparkler made from 100 per cent chardonnay, it’s the palest straw, with floral aromas, delightfully fresh, crisp, citrusy fruit with toasty nuances, fine beads of bubbles and the creamy intensity you’d expect from something twice the price. With a gold collar and swanky looking red label, it’s good enough to be the toast of the tsars.