You don’t!

Old maxims such as this date back to the days when the choice of foods, and indeed the choice of wines, was much more limited. Going back fifty years or so, if all you had was a bit of Cheddar, you probably didn’t want to be drinking it with the white wines that were available at the time. With all the flavours and textures of cheese now available and a vast array of wines to choose from all over the world, there’s obviously much more freedom of choice when it comes to matching them.

There are so many cheeses and wines that I haven’t tasted that I’m loathe to make even general recommendations. It’s not even easy to be sure of the old classics these days. Growers trying to match the success of New World wines have expanded the range of styles available from just about every region of France. All of the old certainties have gone out the window – it’s perfectly easy to find white wines that go well with game and cheese and red wines that go well with fish or dessert.

Just by way of illustration, I sampled an unbelievably sharp and pungent Sancerre a few years ago – a wine that you wouldn’t have wanted to drink if it was the last wine on earth, but I remembered a piece of very rank Camambert that had been lying around so long I had to scrape the mould off and wondered how the two might match up. The result was absolute magic – two things that were intolerably strongly flavoured on their own dovetailed together just perfectly.

More recently, I had to check up on Gerard Tremblay’s Petit Chablis one morning and thought I’d have a glass as an aperitif when I got home. I hadn’t quite finished it when I started to eat my Spaghetti Bolognese and was amazed at how well the two went together. The assertive, dry, slatey flavours of the wine contrasted beautifully with the sweet Bolognese sauce and, by cleaning the palate, made every mouthful a wonderful experience.

If you are experimenting, bear in mind that you don’t want to overpower a delicate flavour with anything too strong. Otherwise, always keep an open mind!

A question posed recently by a restauranteur. Actually, he didn't have much of a problem with corked wine because the wines on his list were quite decent and he didn't have customers claiming wine was corked when they just didn't like it.

Assuming that he also didn't have the problem of customers claiming wine was corked just to show off in front of his guests, the answer is quite simple. The more expensive wines are usually better wines that have spent longer in bottle.

There's a lot of chemistry going on in a bottle as it ages and, when you eventually open the bottle, you'll get a blast of aroma from the more volatile compounds. Some of these can be a bit strange, even unpleasant, but they usually evaporate quite quickly and the wine smells fine after a few minutes. This phenomenon is called "bottle stink". If the unpleasant smell doesn't clear, then there is a problem.

The answer to the restauranteur's question then is to let wine stand for a few minutes after opening before letting the customer taste it.

Of course you might well encounter this problem at home. Best to keep it to yourself until you see if it clears - alerting everyone else to the possibility of a problem will only sow seeds of doubt and you'll all end up believing the wine's corked even if it isn't.

This leads on to another problem that we encountered occasionally - pairs of bottles being returned. When people encounter an undoubtedly corked bottle, they often open another bottle of the same wine and judge it immediately - before bottle stink has had time to clear. Because they are already suspicious of the wine, they think it's also corked. By the time they return it to us it's usually drinking beautifully and we have it for lunch!

Some bottles will be so badly corked that there is no doubt about the matter, but it's not always that simple. The word corked is confusingly used for a whole spectrum of conditions where the wine is underperforming and not just to bottles that smell and taste terrible.

Sometimes you get a bottle that seems to have lost all it's personality and character - nothing unpleasant - just a flatness or a lack of fruit. When I encounter this problem at trade tastings, I usually point it out to the supplier saying that he's not going to sell any of that wine on that bottle. A replacement bottle is usually dramatically better, but you'd have to be quite brave to have sent the first bottle back in a restaurant!

The problem is exacerbated by the variation that occurs between bottles of the same wine - even when it's relatively young. As wine ages, the problem gets worse - variation can be quite marked even within the same case. Wine is a "living" thing, and you just have to accept this variability - you can't send a bottle back just because it's not as good as the last time you tasted it or even if it's just not as good as the bottle you've just finished.

This all sounds like I'm discouraging you from complaining, but here's a story about a friend who bought some wine that he really didn't like - nothing inherently wrong with it apart from being cheap. He left the unopened bottles in the drinks cabinet until telling a visitor to go open a bottle of wine a few months later. The drinker's face screwed up something awful, and my friend remarked "oh no, not that stuff". Well the grimace suggested something more than mere dislike, and, when I tasted it, it was obviously corked - acrid and vinegary. The next bottle was fine - cheap and cheerful. It's always worth distinguishing between what is a genuine problem and what you just don't like.

We've just been receiving first assessments of the vintage - see the menu bar for a report. We'll post further comments when they become available. If this is your first time and you're buying for investment rather than laying down for your own use, please read our comments under "Investing in Wines" along with any comments made about the relationship between price and quality.

Yes we can advise you, but there’s no simple response to your question about what wine would we recommend. We need to have some idea of - what price range you had in mind - the types of wine that you like yourselves - the types of wine that your guests are likely to appreciate - the types of meat and chicken dishes that are on the menu - the type of wedding reception you’re planning to have (e.g. buffet, sit down, etc) Only then can we make useful recommendations about suitable wines and the quantities that you might require. If you’d like to give us a call, we’d be more than happy to discuss your particular requirements and make personal recommendations. Yes delivery is usually possible, but again, it’s best to discuss what’s required so as to avoid any possible problems.

I regret that we don't buy wine from private customers as a matter of policy, but we shall put this enquiry on the website. If anyone is interested they can get in touch with us, and we'll pass on their contact details to you.