Prepared as always to set new standards of one-up-manship, bias and prejudice in matters sporting and patriotic, it is nevertheless impossible for me to state a preference in wine. If I did, I would feel compelled to drink little else. The wines I like offer length and integrity of fruit. They are clean, alive and individual, well-balanced and free of faults. I do not like to think of my palate as a testing-strip from which ungainly prototypes of highly-polluting aircraft take off and land. Where wood is used, it is done sensitively. Tannins should be sophisticated and integrated. I applaud character and innovation; I get bored by the sameness and pretension of so many. Because wine is my love as well as my living, I’ll pay the price if the result is worth it. So I am a big fan of Victorian wine, particularly our chardonnay, pinot noir and shiraz. And the three I last enjoyed were those made by Dalwhinnie, Giaconda and Mount Langi Ghiran respectively.
