Since I last had this in November, I've come to the opinion that this is my favourite affordable Cabernet based wine. It has rigour and structure yet it is actually nice to drink. I admit some may find it a bit heroic, but we all need a bit of wildness in our lives from time to time.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Moss Wood
This wine is black. A lovely, expressive nose of perfectly ripe blackcurrants; I wish Ribena smelled as good as this. There is some cedar wood and I think the expensive oak treatment this gets shows its pedigree on the nose. I'd be amiss if I didn't say, "Hell's bells this is quite alcoholic!" The nose is bold and authoritatively announces it will give you a good time when you taste it. So I'll taste it. Lovely fruit is there framed in a fine tannic structure. It has reasonable acidity too; this is not one of those soupy horrors. Mmmm... yeah, lovely structure. There is a reasonable degree of complexity about the interplay of fruit, tannin and wood which makes this worth a premium price. Good finish too, although I wonder if the wood stands out a bit on the finish. OK, maybe it does, but this is one svelte sexy charmer of a Cabernet which packs a high-calibre handgun inside its silk smoking jacket.

These two wines have sat in my cellar for two years after purchase. I thought I would compare them on some significant event but then, isn't every night with one's friends a significant event?

Z.D. 2001, Green Point
There is some good fruit on the nose, but also something damp and fungal; hints of Chenin Blanc? It smells aged rather than matured. The palate has some dirty fruit as well, and an aggressive acidic character. This has lost the fresh fruit and charm of its youth and now seems rather old and tired.

Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, R & L Legras
A lovely, developed, buttery, honeyed nose. This smells like Chablis with extra lemon zest. Mousse is a bit rough, but there is some lovely fruit and minerality there. This seems at a perfect stage of development. It is a bit fizzy, I cannot deny, but for a fifteen quid botte of fizz this has deemed itself worthy of a couple of years in the cellar.

I've reported on this before, it is a real treat to have it again.

Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume 'Vignoble de Vaulorent' 2004, Domaine William Fevre
A lovely honeyed, nutty nose, this is really complex and quite beautiful. Lots of minerality, lots of fruit here. The nose is as clean as a whistle. This is really lovely. The palate has great acidity, but really lovely fruit and a great mineral complexity. It is very long. And stylish. This really is the cat's arse. Excellent stuff, only the 2005 is better.

I purchased this bottle attempted to test my normal buying rule that decent wine starts at roughly ten pounds a bottle. This cost an Ayrton and it is very good for that price.

Bourgogne Rouge 2002, Ghislaine Barthod
Nice cherry fruit on the nose, it seems reasonably ripe. Beyond the fruit there is not that much else there, though; it is quite simple. The palate has reasonable body with pretty fruit and reasonable acidity. It is a lively little number, that is for sure. Tannins seem ripe enough, it is not hard or tough. OK, this is a very simple glass of Burgundy, but the fruit is nice and it has a degree of charm. Not to be sniffed at for ten quid.

Here are five wines that have caught my eye over the past month.

Champagne Avize Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 1996, Jacquesson: A 1996 Champagne that is still available, and it is a good one too. This is a tightly wound ball of intensity to drink now, and will age really well. £42.50 from Stone, Vine and Sun.

Morey-Saint-Denis "Clos Solon" 2001, Domaine Fourrier: A refined and elegant Burgundy to drink with a lot of pleasure. £19.00 from The Wine Society.

Quarts de Chaume 2004, Chateau Pierre-Bise: This is a touch less insanely sweet than most Pierre-Bise vintages; this gives it good balance and actually makes it possible to drink and enjoy. It is a damned-good, intense Quarts. £17.50 from Stone, Vine and Sun.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Tim Adams: Bargain wine for an Ayrton, it displays a degree of balance and refinement that most Australian Cabernets' lack. £9.95 from The Wine Society.

Savennières "Clos de Coulaine" 2005, Chateau Pierre-Bise: Top vintage for this good Loire producer, They do make some great Chenin. £9.95 from Stone, Vine and Sun.

The drugs that have improved my mood and made me perky enough to enjoy wine again have also made me violently sick. I am afraid these tasting notes comes from sips taken in between waves of nausea rolling over me.

Riesling Scharzhofberger Pergentsknopp 2005, Van Volxem
This has a very ripe nose. So ripe, indeed that is smells slightly of varnish, and this is not attractive. The palate seems confused about how dry it wants to be, and there are more hints of varnish and acetone on the palate. It is quite long, I'll give you that, but just not very nice.

Riesling Grand Cru Brand 2001, Domaine Albert Boxler
A very rich, earthy nose to this. The fruit from sun-ripened grapes also shines through. This has a very pleasing nose. The palate is quite dry, but full of fruit and bursting with life. It seems, slightly surprisingly, up for drinking now. Great acidity and a lovely mineral tang grace the finish. This is not perhaps one of (the great) Jean Boxler's most spell-binding wines, but it provides exceedingly high quality drinking.

Pommard Premier Cru les Rugiens 2003, Domaine de Courcel
A rich, powerful nose of ripe fruit and earth brushed with a seasoning of oak. This has a big and serious nose: very complex, very stylish. The initial impression on the palate is of a big wine. Despite the size of the nose and palate this is really silky, svelt and sexy. It has great refinement for an obvious monster of a wine. The tannic structure is superb, and is perfectly balanced by the epic quantities of fruit present. Excellent Pommard and a truly great 2003.

Hermitage 1997, J-L Chave
A soft nose of grilled meat and mature fruit, spicy, rich and warm. It certainly smells very complex and quite typical. The palate seems reasonably soft, with very good fruit and a nice long finish. I didn't get to try as much of this as I would have liked, as I was feeling so sick, but it seemed excellent.

I used to love von Kesselstatt wines when I was at university, but I have learnt to my cost that they just do not age. I felt reasonably safe buying a two year old wine from a vintage as great as 2005, though.

Riesling Spatlese Josephshofer 2005, Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt
The nose is quite peachy and limey, with a reasonable degree of slatey minerality. There is really quite a lot of botrytis there, too. There is a warmth and richness to the fruit that suggests this is going to be a really rather ripe wine. Indeed it is, I've had Auslesen drier and less botrytic than this. Bonkers vintage, man. The acidity is quite good, but it lacks a bit of minerality on the palate; it doesn't quite have enough zip. That being said, this is not a bad bottle for an Ayrton, it is not going to set the world on fire but I am happy enough to drink it. 

I hate to say it, but wine is still not really combating my unhappiness. It is certainly nice to drink, but it doesn't transport me to another place as once it did. I need to get my medication sorted out.

Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1995, Pol Roger
A dense nose, dominated by Pinot. It has a really nice digestive biscuit character to it. Serious complexity here and it is only just starting to open up. This is a damned good wine.

Riesling Ried Loibenberg Smaragd 2002, Emmerich Knoll
Very light nose, hints of petrol and botrytis, maybe a touch of white pepper. It smells quite mature. Very light palate with huge acidity, clearly no malolactic fermentation here. There is a reasonable amount of fruit there. This is a perfectly pleasant drink, just lacks a bit of the wow-factor.

Gevrey-Chambertin "Mes Favorites" 2001, Domaine Alain Burguet
Lovely nose of good fruit and earthy complexity. It smells pretty ripe and fruity. There is some reasonable acid on the palate, but I think this is balanced by the density of fruit in the wine. It is quite long and reasonably complex. A very good village wine.

Hermitage "La Chapelle" 1995, Jaboulet
A polished, rounded nose of complex fruit, earth and voluptuous complexity. It smells big, ripe and very good. The palate is quite the mouthful with lots of fruit, great structure and a really long finish. This is a super wine which is in top condition to drink now. I'll last forever, though.

Hermitage 1995, J-L Chave
Ah, what a wonderful nose! Scented, perfumed and complex. There is a lot of fruit there, but it is soft and nicely mature. The palate is also soft and really has a lot of charm. It is extraordinarily long with great complexity. Really stylish too. This is aalso drinking very well now, but again will keep for a lot longer. This was generally preferred over the other Hermitage, and I agree this is truly great wine, but that was too.

Chateau Gillette Creme de Tete 1983
Chateau Gillette is a really weird wine, and it shows. The nose has hints of glue and acetone as well as botrytic fruit. It doesn't smell entirely nice, if I am honest. The palate is similarly weird, but it does have complexity and really good length. This is clearly a very special wine that needs to be judged according to different criteria than other Sauternes, but I am not sure I am much of a fan.

I was advised to decant this for a while. I did and it seems to have worked (to a degree).

Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru les Cras 1996, Domaine Roumier
A bright nose of fresh red fruit, raspberries and redcurrants. There is some earthy richness there as well. This shows a lot of harmony and elegance. When I first opened this the palate was very acidic, hard and charmless. However, with a couple of hours in a decanter the fruit has developed somewhat and it masks the acidity. Slightly. There is good fresh fruit there, but it is still a bit harsh.

I've signed up for Google AdSense, in the vain hope it'll earn me a few pennies toward a bottle of wine. I suppose this means I should now try to ditch my eccentric style and be really populist so I get lots of hits, but it just isn't going to happen.

Click on those links, boys and girls.

M. Cotat thinks his wines age for a long period of time; I've only ever had them young. I've always been impressed by their intellectual pleasure.

Sancerre "La Grande Cote" 2004, Francois Cotat
An intense, opulent nose of flowers, mango and minerality. This is hewn from the living rock of Sancerre. The nose may have real intensity, yet it seems tightly bound and waiting to flower. Let us be honest, there is a bit of sulphur there, too. The palate is a blazing light of brilliant intensity, illuminating the palate with minerals, fruit and life. This is a truly excellent wine, that will obviously repay cellaring. That being said, this is one arse of a good drink to have now.

Wine recommendations have been a bit thin on the ground in recent months, I've just been feeling rotten and even wondrous wine has not been perking me up. However, I am feeling slightly better today and so here are some good wines you might want to pick up.

Grande Année 1999, Bollinger: Streets ahead of the dreadful 1997, if not quite up to the 1996 in terms of quality. £49.50 from Magnum Fine Wines.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Moss Wood: My favourite affordable Cabernet based wine. It is really quite fun and not in the slightest bit hard work. I had it last in November. £36 from the Wine Society.

Puligny Montrachet Premier Cru les Folatieres 2005, Alain Chavy: A gentle, refined, elegant white Burgundy that is very keenly priced. £23.50 from Magnum Fine Wines.

Chardonnay 2005, Moss Wood: If you are getting some of the excellent Cabernet why not have some of the Chardy as well? It is a reasonably complex and stylish wine, considering its scale and oakiness. Well worth the £19 from Jeroboams.

Riesling Kabinett Oberhauser Leistenberg 2005, Donnhoff: Something light and refreshing to drink over what is left of summer. Helmut Donnhoff is a wine god. £13.15 from Berry Bros. and Rudd.

I am just drinking another bottle of Chablis Grand Cru Bougros "Cote Bouguerots" 2000 from Fevre. I had this last in July. All I can really say to add to that note is how completely fantastic the wine is. It may be big and bold, but is also racy, elegant and exciting. It is perfectly mature and up for drinking now, not that it won't hang around. If you have any spare and don't know how to get rid of it do drop me an email. It is tits.

Now that is what a call a fine wine. Jean Boxler hits the spot once again even in this difficult vintage

Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg L31D 2003, Domaine Boxler
The nose explodes with an array of exciting, compelling flavours. There is peachy fruit there, along with fresh redcurrant, it has a rich minerality, and is extraordinarily complex. Yummy, smells good, I rather fancy. The palate has some breadth, but is kept lively by a sharp mineral tang and good acidity. The acid and the fruit persist on the finish to make this a very refreshing drink, despite all of its size and complexity. Tasty stuff. Long, stylish, complex and even tasty, what more could a loony ask for? Excellent.

No, it is not being expected to drink Claret; that appalls me.

In recent days the head of the Cheshire police force has been calling for an increase in the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 to help combat underage drinkers. Firstly, increasing the drinking age is a foolish idea, as it increases the view amongst those too young to drink that they are doing something special and "cool".

If one wants to encourage responsible drinking, surely it would be better that alcohol use be portrayed as a normal part of life for adults. Youth will not feel the need to go and get violently drunk if they do not think there is anything special about drinking alcohol.

Secondly, the idiot chief constable conveniently seems to have forgotten that those pesky drunken kids causing a problem in his area are already underage and so covered by existing law. Raising the legal age would only increase the number of underage drinkers and with it the burden of policing that he would have to carry.

Finally, it is unacceptable for the police to call for a change in the law like this, even vicariously. It is their job to enforce the law, not to dictate what laws they enforce.

Moreover, he has called for a ban on drinking in public places, which further takes drinking out of mainstream behaviour and penalises the majority of people with a responsible attitude to alcohol. Again such a change in the law would only make alcohol seem special to underage people and not encourage them to see it as a normal part of adult life.

It really irritated me that the ravings of this police officer have been reported entirely uncritically by the media. He has been given free-rein to speak without anyone pointing out the obvious flaws in his demands, which make him seem misguided about drinking culture at best and pernicious in his attempt to change the law at worst. He should get on with his job of policing the laws that exist and stop trying to abuse his position of authority to interfere with our lives.