My very first job after university was at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London where I spent a great deal of time debating what it was that separated the good performers from the brilliant.

I always felt that the latter was the person whose performance communicated with me at a personal level and which challenged me emotionally and intellectually, long after the concert or play was over.

Just recently I have been having the same debate about wine.

What is it about a wine that makes it exceptional rather than just very good? Have I actually tasted any exceptional wines? And, if I have, what was the after-effect of those that I drank?

Having mulled these questions over, I have come to the conclusion that an extraordinary wine is one whose taste lives with you long after the bottle has been emptied and recycled.

The personality and flavours of the wine should be so distinct that in the weeks and months that follow its consumption you should be able to close your eyes and recreate the taste and texture in your mind.

There are many factors that contribute to a wine’s potential brilliance: the conditions of the vintage; the soils on which the vines are grown; the skill of the viticulturalist; the quality of the fruit; the talents of the winemaker and their interpretation of the grape; or the luck of opening on the bottle when it is perfectly ‘à point’.

Where one pianist may move me to tears, the very same may leave my friends cold.

The same is true for wine. I am seduced by the aromas of Nebbiolo (Barolo) and Riesling, where other varieties leave me nothing more than satisfied.

In other words, no matter how correct all of the vine growing and wine making may be, some wines will struggle to pull at my heart strings.

In some respects this is a huge relief — at least we are not all chasing the same bottles!

Now that I’ve duly considered all of this, how many utterly brilliant wines have I actually drunk or tasted?

I believe it is only the smallest handful.

When I close my eyes and attempt to recall the aromas that so captivated me, the number that come readily to the forefront of my mind stands at less than a dozen.

If I refer to my tasting notebooks, there are plenty of wines that I have described as ‘excellent’ or ‘very high quality’ but the fact that I’ve had to have my memory jolted in this way means that I cannot, by my own standards, class them as brilliant.

The wines, whose flavours and personalities live with me so vividly now, range from those that I tried many years ago, to one just tasted in the last few months. There is no common grape, region or style — all that binds them is their irrepressible individuality and indisputable quality.

Will I tell you what wines these are? Well no, because in most cases their moment has passed and it was a very personal experience — between me and that glass of wine.

What I sincerely hope is that you will have your own personal bank of brilliant wines and that you’ll treasure the memories of drinking them.

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