Falling leaves and fabulous French wine

Sitting in the parlour of my lovely home, Rose Cottage, I look at my darling wife, the illustrious Madame G., pottering about in the kitchen, preparing our dinner and I sigh.

What season are we in - you and I, ma chere Madame?

Not Spring, that’s for sure. Late Summer perhaps? Agh no!

A sobering thought, which is the last kind of thought you want when contemplating love, life and mortality. A terrifying prospect if you’re single and yet how much more devastating may the losses be for a couple or, worse again, a family.

Life, like a terrible prison, has many exits all manned by burly security guards waiting to punish you by gruesome means should you try to slip out unnoticed. Escape? There is none.

So I pour myself a second, third, maybe fourth glass of today’s Wine of the Week, the rustic, complex and deftly spiced 2019 Calvet Prestige Bordeaux Superieur (£7.50. Tesco).

This vibrant, brilliant ruby claret has a rich, smoky palate, full of forest berry and black cherry flavours alongside backnotes of vanilla and dry tannins.

Should be an ideal match to the chorizo and red pepper pizza that my beautiful Madame is currently rustling up for me.

Or for any tomato-based pasta dishes your own loved one wishes to create for you.

One advantage of my profession is that I get sent wine from far and wide at no expense to myself.

Wine which you will have to order in, pay for and await delivery of but if you’re serious about wine you’ll understand that it’s often worth the effort.

Especially if it’s from the Wine Society (telephone 01438-741177 or visit www.thewinesociety.com) who work with small growers to offer an extensive variety of intriguing, sophisticated wines from around the world at extremely competitive prices.

The good stuff that you won’t find in your local supermarket or off-licence.

Worth checking out, especially if you want to order a box of wine or fancy hamper for Christmas (sorry to mention the ‘C’ word so early).

Lifetime membership costs £40 and includes £20 off your first purchase.

And it’s to the Wine Society that I turned for today’s second recommendation, perhaps the last of the summer wines I’ll be enjoying this year.

In the garden at Rose Cottage with poached salmon tails, champ and tenderstem broccoli I had a couple of glasses of the delightfully dry, fabulously fresh and fragrant 2020 Society’s White Rioja (£8.95).

Pronounced pear, apricot and apple flavours mingle on a luscious palate with backnotes of walnut before a brief, tingly finish which is enlivened by hints of white pepper and ginger.

Seasons pass, age withers and changes us and those we love which is perhaps life’s greatest disappointment.

To lose the strength or beauty we once had, to watch it happen to those we love.

Still, it hardly matters now, does it? It’s an old tale, common as muck, afflicting all classes, creeds and colours.

And sure it’s all just a bit of craic anyway.

That might be the answer. I’m sure if I keep on pouring I’ll find the answer down here somewhere. Perhaps it’s right down at the very bottom of the bottle.

Till next week, tipplers, sante!