Lucy Vickery presents this week’s Competition
In Competition No. 2700 you were invited to submit an example of pretentious wine-writing.
Peter Mayle’s account in the Observer of his first formal wine tasting, in London’s St James’s, gives a flavour of what I was looking for: ‘The first wine, so he [the wine merchant] informed us, was vigorous and well-constructed, even a little bosomy. The second was an iron fist in a velvet glove. The third was earthy, but generous. The fourth was a little young to be up so late.’ As the evening wears on, the comparisons become increasingly ludicrous: ‘oak, truffles, hyacinths, hay, wet leather, wet dogs, weasels, a hare’s belly, faded tulips, old carpet, vintage socks…’ The winners, below, were well up to the tâche and get £25 each, with Gerard Benson pocketing the bonus fiver.
Dining with my friend, the fabled vintner Gaston Marichaux, I was made acquainted with an intriguing vintage, light but serious, fruity but austere — a deceptive rouge.
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