Sir Cliff shows a lot of bottle

Is it any good?

Vibrant, young, rich and spicy. Now let us be honest: is that the description that first springs to mind when one considers Sir Cliff Richard? (Apart from the rich bit.)

This is, however, how Sir Cliff is describing his first red wine from his estate in Portugal. It's called Vida Nova, there are 27,000 bottles and they will be at a supermarket near you soon.

The singer's foray into viticulture is a risky venture. No one has produced anything worth drinking in the Algarve - but then this is the man who has survived such critical catastrophes as starring in Dave Clark's Time and having his records banned by radio stations for being boring, so he probably relishes the challenge.

Sir Cliff, 60, ventured into winemaking six years ago at his 25-acre vineyard, Quinta do Moinho, and has been pleasantly surprised by the results.

"The area is not noted for its vineyards and some of the guide books say Algarve wine 'bottles up headaches for tourists'. But I'm delighted with the first vintage and the reaction from critics has been hugely encouraging," he says. "I've called the wine Vida Nova, or 'New Life', because I hope to introduce some new life into the wine industry in the Algarve."

The wine - a mix of Shiraz and the Portuguese Aragonez and Trincadeira grapes - is produced under the supervision of Australian expert David Baverstock. Vida Nova has an alcohol content of 13.5 per cent and will sell for about £7.99 a bottle.

Mr Baverstock said: "I told him there was no reason why his dream of producing a good quality wine could not come true. The Algarve has no history of producing fine wine but I told him this was largely due to poor wine-making techniques and the wrong grape varieties."

Sir Cliff launched his wine at this week's London International Wines and Spirits fair and already has a buyer. Waitrose has agreed to take a consignment and other stores and merchants are said to be interested.

Andrew Jefford's verdict
This week's Wine Box