Learning the soft way

I've always liked wine but never understood it. My new motto is "less but better" so I've been doing some research. This is a bottle of 2010 Burgundy; according to the London Wine merchants Berry Brothers and Rudd, 2010 was a very good year for Burgundy so I bought this whilst shopping for Easter Eggs and cast iron pans in Sainsburys. It cost about half as much again as I usually pay for wine and I have to say was very nice.

There seems to be a view that a lot of people talk complete bollocks about wine, and for most of us mere mortals the key thing is to find something you like at a reasonable price and improve your palette by learning a few basics about wine tasting and vintages. So I'm going to go with that.

One of the controversial things about wine is aeration. I read one experienced expert saying not to take any notice of those poseurs who decant wine and leave it out for hours to develop its full aroma. He advised using a hand blender for about thirty seconds to whisk some air into it. Worked for me.

Had a lazy start to the day. unusually for us. Watched Arsenal beat Manchester United in the 1979 FA Cup Final in a Big Match retrospective. That was another vintage year for a drop of red ...