Burgundy, Merlot, Sherry, and The Square - Urban Junkies has teamed up with wine guru extraordinaire Tom Harrow to bring you the Wine Chap's useful Wine Tips.

1. Shelf Talk:  Burgundy En Primeur
It’s that time of year when Burgundy (currently) and Bordeaux (coming up) producers offer their latest vintages as ‘futures’ to the clients of independent merchants. Its an opportunity for the winemakers to recoup some of the expenses from the year’s investment in the vineyard and allows the punter to buy fine wines before they are shipped at a preferential price. The top wines are often treated as commodities – broked and sold-on for moderate financial gain. But there are plenty of reasonably-priced whites and reds worth buying now and laying down for a few years before quaffing. 

Any friendly local wine specialist will be delighted to bore you silly about their recommended options, but like unopened First Editions on your bookshelf, an unbroached case of fine Burgundy under the stairs (or preferably your cavernous underground cellar) will at least convince guests of your sophistication.

2. BoozeBluff: “Merlot appears to be returning to its former prominence in California, despite the negative impact of that famous scene in Sideways.  As I recall, Giametti’s wine geek character was also dismissive of Cabernet Franc in another, but was the scriptwriter being knowingly arch or unwittingly ignorant in choosing, as his treasured bottle, the Cheval Blanc ‘61 – which as everyone knows is an equal blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc?”

The perfect gambit to earn the grudging respect of newly-introduced wine bores…

3. WineMate: Hola Jerez
The tapas/pintxos revolution in London continues unabated: Barrafina in Soho, then Pinchito on Old Street and earlier this year Dehesa, on Kingly St – all good spots for chomping on Boquerones with a glass of inexpensive Fino.  But at home and by the bottle (£20-ish) try some more hardcore Oloroso sherry – Harvey’s Rich Old Oloroso (www.johnharveyandsons.com), with its addition of sun-dried PX grapes is a great match for Manchego Cheese and Membrillo (Quince Paste). 

Otherwise, for an unexpectedly rewarding if alcoholic lunch this weekend, pair up your Sunday forerib of beef with Valdespino’s award-winning Don Gonzalo Dry Oloroso VOS (http://www.londonfinewine.co.uk/).

4. Drink Out: The Square
Winning the BMW Square Meal Restaurant of the Year for the second time in 7 years, and continuing to garner a plethora of irony-free reviews, it was time for an overdue return visit to Nigel Platts-Martin’s flagship restaurant in Mayfair.  The clientele remains rather Hedge Fundy: the dress code of choice is ‘Casually-Smart’, and the décor likewise as blandly smug. But the set lunch, still properly gourmet with all the necessary inter-course irrelevances, is excellent value and the acclaimed wine-list unusually so for the area.

The impressive selection by the glass are free-poured at the table and maintaining eye contact with the sommelier as he does so seems to ensure a healthy fill. Gosset-Brabant Grand Cru is a confidently off-piste choice for a house Champagne, and as an equally refreshing aperitif, Gutierrez Colosia’s Fino further indicates a thoroughly independent selection. Destined to continue with the girl’s menu, I sipped a single glass of delightfully unmemorable Riesling Trocken Qba with Steamed Pollack.

Between mouthfuls of Duck Breast and the suggestion that Molton Brown handsoap is too distractingly fragrant for somewhere pushing for a third Michelin Star, my companion managed glasses of both the spicy Tuscan 2005 Guidalberto (2nd wine of oft-overrated Sassicaia) and Château du Cèdre’s earthy and evolved 1998 Cahors. Finishing with glasses of the incomparable Billecart-Salmon Rosé to accompany both his Rice Pudding and my Walnut Oil Parfait refreshed the palate and kept a siesta at bay by at least half an hour.  To summarise:  service is impeccably discrete, the cuisine classically elegant, unfussy but innovative, and an excellent foil for exploring one of London’s best wine-lists.

The Square , 6-10 Bruton St, W1J 6PU - 020 7960 0202

5. GrapeVine: Wine & Women
Compare and contrast the attitudes towards the above in France in the UK… Health Minister Dawn Primarolo (sounds like the first chocolate of the day) in a bid to reduce alcohol consumption is launching a £10million campaign specifically at ladies to inform you that a single glass of wine could actually contain up to three and half units (men clearly having known this for years but kept it quiet). Meanwhile, across the Channel, slick merchant WineSite is unabashedly targeting les femmes with a range of supposedly subtle and elegant wines chosen to reflect more feminine palates; wines – their brochure states – to be appreciated equally ‘after love-making or a business success’.  Such Gallic smoothness can only be applauded.

by TH

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.