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Food and Wine Review Rule Britannia? When, last year, the French decided not to allow our excellent beef back into their country, I thought the time was ripe to have a look again at English wine. Now that so much good wine comes into Britain from the antipodes, America north and south, South Africa, as well as other countries in Europe, it is quite possible to boycott French wines without penalising oneself too much. This would be a mistake, however, since the French, when they get it right, make better wines than anyone else in the world. Unless your political views govern your gastronomic activity ... The Hand That Fed...? Yes, I have been at it again. I am never slow to criticise my friends when they indulge in booze cruises, and those of you who remember my cautionary tale of my one time drinking companion who was caught up with the French lorry drivers’ blockade of Calais, will have noticed a hint of ‘served him right’ in my telling of the story. So how can I unashamedly do it myself? Well, I just happened to be in Burgundy, just happened to have a relatively empty car, and just happened to remember that in Jambles, just next door to Givry, lives Michael Sarrazin, about 15 minutes from ... Port Deserves a Better Name Poor old port! Why does it always get the blame for the hangover? It may be a fortified wine, but if one drinks port of good quality, there is no reason why it should be responsible for any problems the morning after. What is more probable is that you have drunk too much anyway, and the port is the last thing you can remember, or that you have started with a grain-based spirit (whisky or gin) which reacts uncomfortably with the grape ... Brandy, Sir? There is almost as much variety in brandy as there is in wine. After all, brandy is wine that has been distilled and aged (for varying amounts of time) in oak barrels. It is therefore not surprising that one finds brandy being made everywhere that grapes grow. However, when it comes to quality, I have to admit that, as so often, the French take the crown. There are three French brandies that have an appellation contrôlée: cognac, armagnac and calvados. I have drunk brandies from as far afield as South Africa, China and California, and although they may please a local market ... Two Cautionary Tales Any reader who can do me the compliment of remembering the first piece I wrote for this publication will also realise that by encouraging champagne lovers to go out to Champagne itself and buy there, I was biting the hand that fed me, so to speak. Most penny-conscious drinkers think that they are doing the Chancellor down by buying in France (which, of course, they are), rather than taking trade away from the hard-pressed British wine merchant. Last November 4, a good friend of mine, accompanied by a friend of his and both their wives, set off on a booze cruise ... Time is of the Essence I recently spent a family holiday in the Lot-et-Garonne department of south-west France. This is a lovely area, rich in delightful architecture, beautiful countryside, and food and drink that is amazingly good value, at least for as long as we can still exchange our pound for 9½ francs. We were about an hour's drive from Cahors, and all around this fine old city are the vineyards producing its celebrated 'black wine', so called because of its deep, dark colour and its heavily tannic character. I was armed with the Guide Hachette du Vin, which is a very useful tome ... What's in a Name? It is fascinating to observe the development of wine labels. Over the thirty-plus years that I have been buying, selling and drinking wines and spirits, I cannot but help notice the lengths to which producers, or their marketing advisers, will go to make their products more appealing to a potential consumer. There are two aspects to this. One is the consumerist obsession with making the origin of what is in the bottle clear to the drinker by stating on the label exactly where it comes from, and insisting that the contents are just what they say they are. In other words, if the bottle ... Ridiculous to Sublime At the end of my last rather gloomy piece about supermarket claret, I promised to find something inexpensive that I could recommend, rather than warn my readers off. Just before Christmas, I went into my local Oddbins in search of something that could be mulled. Personally, I think the smell of mulled wine is delicious, but the taste, from a glass that is inevitably sticky, is usually a let-down. Anyway, I found a bottle called Duc de Rachelle Claret, vintage 1996, on sale for £2.99. It was just about the cheapest wine in the shop, so I bought a case and took it home ... Good (?) Ordinary Claret Glancing along the shelves of my local Waitrose, my eye was caught by a bottle labelled "Good ordinary claret". I was a little surprised at this; since for many years that title had been associated with a very reasonable Bordeaux from Berry Brothers & Rudd, known to its friends as "GOC". Perhaps it is not possible to protect a name consisting of such conventional words, but I would have thought that Berry Bros would not find such imitation flattering, even from the chain with the most up-market reputation. However, it gave me the idea of looking at the offerings of the supermarkets in the inexpensive Bordeaux sector; so I bought a bottle from Waitrose, and also went to Tesco, Safeway and Sainsbury to see what was available ... The Artist's Palate Summer had arrived and thoughts turned to eating beyond the metropolis. To Henley-on-Thames therefore, where I asked friends which was the best restaurant in this delightful old town; the majority opinion favoured the Villa Marina, just over the bridge on the banks of the river. Once inside, I ordered a glass of House White : a Trebbiano Malvasia of very humble origins. Why do restaurateurs not bother to find decent house wines, or at least have a good selection by the glass? My guest having arrived, the waiter took our order ... The Artist's Palate If you can’t beat them, join them. Since the Single European Market started to “function”, British consumers have been able to travel to Europe and collect wine to bring home, on which the only tax they pay is French VAT (20.6%). The only condition is that the wine must not be for resale, which does not bother tourists, and is frequently ignored by cowboys who sell imported duty-free wines, spirits and beers at car-boot sales all over the country ...
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