It's wine time

Today, I saw a man, with an ice-cream. It was raining.

The story starts, I was driving, he (lets call him Bob) was fiddling about trying to get into his car, holding an ice-cream. It was a pretty simple '99', affair, no flake. Who knows where Bob had got it from, clearly the type of ice-cream you get from a van, and not one in sight. It was a fairly un-eaten one too, I imagined Bob was going to sit in his front seat and quietly watch the world go by, listen to some music and enjoy himself an ice-cream. Two fingers up to the cold and the rain. But in this briefest glimpse into someone else's life, as I drove by, he dropped it. On the floor. And then I was gone, on my way and Bob was left ice-cream-less. Now, I know it wasn't my fault, or my ice-cream, or someone I'll ever see again, but I felt sorry for Bob. Why did I feel sorry for Bob?

I spill my wine. Frequently. The red stains on my green blanket haunt me.

Lets jump back a month or two. One occasion we were sitting in bed, watching some ridiculous, rubbish telly. I tend to rest my wine on my leg rather than have to lean about faffing with bedside tables and "can you pass my wine", and I spilt it.

Jump back a month or two further, I woke up in the night covered in half a glass of wine, lights on, rubbish telly on. I know, I know, I'd poured it after a late night at work, tucked myself up in bed, taken a swig and gone to sleep with my wine in hand. Mostly a full whack of tiredness with a lingering hint of stupidity.

Jump back to today and Bob and his drop. It's so frustrating to have invested time and money into the acquisition of a simple pleasure only to have it ruined by stupidity and carelessness. So I'm going to suggest some wines this week that you should really take some care about, don't drop them, certainly don't spill them, and these beauties will be well worth it.

A quick note on shelling out some cash on some nice wines, I'm not talking about hundreds of pounds on a 1999 Chateau Cheval Blanc or a 1989 Chateau Margaux here. If you're a casual wine drinker, you probably won't want to jump from a £6.99 pinot grigio to a £99+ Montrachet, (they're for collectors who probably won't drink it and people with more money than sense). Soooooo, I'm going to pitch my versions. Indulgent, top quality wines around the £20 - £30 mark. I tasted a Usoa de Bagordi, Rioja, Gran Reserva, 2001 the other day, only £20 and full of earthiness, oak and dense fruit, smells a bit like a newly opened black bin bag, (Thanks Neilos) in a good way!! It usually indicates a well matured wine..., could have done with an hour in a decanter to open up though.

Two ideas: First up. Get some friends over, treat them! If you're cooking a hearty stew for a few on a wintry night, get somebody else to bring some sassy walnut bread to start, another chum to whip up a seductive pudding and you won't feel so bad about parting with £25 and really enjoying an excellent wine. You don't have to glug down a bottle of Hardys sickly sweet Zinfandel rose each, it would totally trash the stew anyway.

Secondly, don't be snobby about it, tell them, but don't be snobby. More "I picked up a really nice wine tonight guys". Less "careful with that bottle it's worth more than your car...!!". But talk about it, I love talking about the wine I've just poured for someone. Remember one or two interesting lines about the wine and how it goes with the food and get into it, if you're going to drink a good wine, do it properly. Do it socially, don't keep it to yourself.

I'm going to suggest Te Koko, Sauvignon Blanc, 2007, Marlborough, New Zealand, available in good wine shops for about £22. Cloudy Bay is a modern classic region and this is the premium wine from them with an interesting twist, they've really pushed themselves to compete with the famous French Sancerre style. Bone dry, with minerality and flintiness, but a really interesting complex full flavour. The reason this wine is above the rest is the roundness, depth of flavour, the balance between fruit and acidity, the length of finish. A lot of cheaper Sauvignons are over acidic or bland and almost nondescript (they just taste like wine don't they?). This one really has its own identity, something you'll remember, a benchmark you'll refer to or a stepping stone you'll jump from.

I find spotting an expensive white easier than an expensive red. Here's why.

As a red gets older and aged it starts to act a bit like your granddad. Frustratingly confused, erratic and often hard work. A dusty old fella from some remote corner of a vineyard, sat in a comfy barrel and transferred to a bottle when it couldn't make it up the stairs on it own. What I'm saying is they can be so complex, especially old Bordeaux, that I mistake them for inferior new world. An over fermented, high alcohol Aussie Cabernet Sauvignon, can masquerade as an intense St Emillion Cru. A deep almost rust colour and a real length are the leading signs to look out for in an old, expensive, good wine.

I'm going to recommend a Bordeaux. I have to. My favourite, a Haut-Medoc. 2005 Chateau Les Vimieres, Haut-Medoc, available from Wines Of Interest (www.winesofinterest.co.uk) £21.75 but absolutely in every way, worth it. Expect it to taste like a French cellar, deep and dark and a little scary at first. It won't taste as fruit driven as a younger wine and looks slightly rustier in colour. It's had a lot of time in the bottle and that's going to allow crazy slow, chemical reactions to play positive, desirable havoc with the wine, giving it a mustier, earthier, refined and more complex taste. A taste that will last for ages and keep coming back for more, unlike a lot of cheap wines, that, like meeting a girl in a bar, are initially fun but don't last.

I'd definitely suggest a cheeky decant, a rest. Just pour the whole bottle out into a jug, any old jug, and (carefully) back into the bottle if you haven't got a decanter, and don't put a stopper in unless you're about to put it away for the night. Remember your granddad, just like he needs to relax after a walk, a wine needs to relax after a pour, needs to catch its breath after 5 years in a bottle. Enjoy.

That’s it for now, you can follow me on twitter @danprobert and you can come and see me in-store at the Adnams Cellar & Kitchen Store in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Should you wish.