Paula Goddard

Reading through Bonhams auction notes for today’s wine sale makes me wish I had four-hundred pounds lying around to buy lots 736 and 737. Buying then comparing a 1947 Barolo against its younger 1966 counterpart would not only be an education for someone who’s never tasted a wine made before 1982, but also help prove whether Italy’s 1963 wine laws had any effect.

Rosés drunk straight from the fridge provide a refreshing drink, but you may not be tasting them at their best. Two rosés that taste best at room temperature came to light while investigating Think Pink - Les Jamelles Grenache Shiraz and Quinta de Covela.

Last weeks Le Mans heralded a motorsport tradition turning forty. Standing on the victory podium in 1967, Dan Gurney decided to spray his winner's bottle of champagne rather than drink it. This was something nobody had done before and it quickly became popular with other winners. But before spraying can begin the bottle must be opened. Archive pictures show driving for twenty-four hours did nothing for Dan's champagne opening abilities.

Matching Mondavi Fumé Blanc with a plate of battered haddock, hash browns, onion rings and some token peas proved a good choice – an evening filled with guzzling and munching followed. The glossy-green of Mondavi’s Sauvignon Blanc Fumé matched the treacle tones of the battered meal and awakened the signals from eye to stomach. A hard choice followed - drink or eat? Drinking won. A lemon sherbet-dab tingle moved across my tongue, soon followed by a warming sensation as the 13.5% alcohol by volume moved downwards. The wine’s gala melon and buttery tastes didn’t overpower the creamy-haddock meal – both could be enjoyed and tasted to the full.