This was a great bargain direct from M. Boxler. He is a charming fellow and a truly skilled wine-maker.

Riesling Grand Cru Sommerberg Vendanges Tardives "Cuvee Zacharie" 2004, Domaine Albert Boxler
There is real late-harvest candied fruit on the nose, with a lovely creamy minerality. As I suggested, this smells like glue (in a nice way); at least it doesn't cause 'instant death' as sniffing glue can do. The nose is really complex and bursting with tittilating interest. The palate is for tartness freaks, given the ripeness and density of this wine it is bitch acidic, man, leaving an almost burning sensation on the finish. This is great, though, with all its weight and scale it bursts with life and excitement. This is a nipple-nibblingly good wine, how I wish I had more.

The results of my 'Best Cornas' poll are here. OK, a total of eight votes doesn't really qualify as popular acclaim, but Clape is clearly the most popular. I can understand how people would vote for his wines, much as I prefer Lionnet. A bit of a shame Noel 'Papa' Verset scored so badly.

Sealed with a glass stopper this is not going to be corked. Good, it is delicious.

Central Coast Pinot Noir 2005, Calera
Not that it means much, but this is surprisingly light in colour. The nose is bursting with attractive, fleshy Pinot fruit; lovely. OK, the alcohol does stand out a bit, it smells a somewhat warm, but there is plenty of fruit and, dare I say it, hints of earthy complexity. The palate is soft and fruity, with ripe tannins and just enough acidity to keep it lively. Again, the alcohol stands out a bit on the finish, but it is still charming. The Calera single-vineyards require age for them to show their best, no need for that with this wine. Drink and enjoy, especially as it is on sale in Waitrose.

I am a big fan of de Courcel wines, even though Yves Confuron, the wine maker, is a bit of a curmudgeon. This is particularly fine.

Pommard Premier Cru Grand Clos des Epenots 2002, Domaine de Courcel
Ah how pleasing; there are layers and layers of complex fruit and stylish minerality to the nose. It is positively oozing with class, profound aromas of completely loveliness. Yummy, scrummy. The palate is really svelte, silky and refined, with lovely ripe tannins and truly gorgeous fruit. This is really class action, utterly ravishing and completely desirable. No shortage of complexity and plenty of pleasure here. This is really pleasing now, but it has a long and glorious future ahead of it. There is a big grin slapped across my face, not only because I am loving this wine now, but also because I own a couple of magnums of this wine. Ho ho ho, I'll drink them with my friends and even Jeremy, that master of Cote de Nuits wines who claims not to like Pommard, will freaking think they are tits++.

When posting my poll of the best Cornas producers I missed out on mentioning M. Vincent Paris. Should I have included him? Read on...

Cornas "Granit 60 Vieilles Vignes" 2004, Domaine Vincent Paris
Leathery, blackcurrant, peppery aromas on the nose. There is also something vaguely floral, jasmin? It has a pleasing earthiness to it, and a good depth of character. The palate has a nice spiciness to it, pepper and cinnamon. The tannins are a bit dry, but it is not too much like hard work thanks to the old-vines concentrated fruit. It has a reasonable degree of style, but not really the class or complexity of Clape, Lionnet or Verset. It is good, but a distinctly second-rate producer.

Pouilly-Fuisse "Vieilles Vignes" 2005, Chateau-Fuisse: Pouilly-Fuisse that ages well. Definitely worth snapping up. The note is here. £25.80 from Tanners.

Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos "Betsek" 1999, Royal Tokaji Wine Company: Top Tokaji at a bargain price, read the note here. £24.37 from Waitrose Wine Direct.

Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru les Clavoillons 2005, Domaine Alain Chavy: Quality Premier Cru Puligny doesn't get any cheaper than this. £22.50 from Waitrose Wine Direct.

Crozes-Hermitage "Cuvee Gaby" 2004, Domaine Colombier: Lovely Crozes, read the note here. £13.95 from the Wine Society.

East India Solera Rich Oloroso Sherry, Lustau: A lovely, sweet, stylish Sherry, made in a Madeira-ish style. We are told this is one of the few Sherries that will improve with bottle age. Hmm... £5.99 from Waitrose Wine Direct.

From the only affordable producer of Hermitage comes this little cheeky delight.

Crozes Hermitage "Cuvee Gaby" 2004, Domaine du Colombier
A really refined nose of complex fruit and charming earthiness. There is a hint of cheap cologne, but the character of the fruit and earthiness move it on from such stereotypes of Crozes. The palate is svelte and elegant with a soft tannic structure and an explosion of peppery, dark fruit. It tastes really soft and charming, quite delicious. This may of have not have the vigour, and also be down a bit of style, compared to the great Alain Graillot, but is has reasonable complexity and is quite fun. I suppose this could age for another 5-8 years, but I really wouldn't bother; this is most pleasing as it is.

Good as Tim Adams' Aberfeldy Shiraz is, I think this is my favourite wine from him. I've aged earlier vintages for 10+ years and been impressed by the result. It is also a bundle of laughs to drink when young. It is a Grenache, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend.

The Fergus 2005, Tim Adams
Lovely, plummy fruit on the nose, with some spicy, peppery aromas. It is powerful and heady, but with a reasonably degree of harmony for a wine of this scale. When you smell this wine you cannot help but smile; lovely stuff, I tell you. The palate has ripe, with smooth tannins and lots of christmas cake fruit. It does have an impressive degress of complexity for a wine of this alcohol-level, it is not baked-free of character. At this stage in the evening this has the correct degree of power to keep me inetersted. Yummy, yummy.

I like Tim Adams' wines very much. They are good and he doesn't charge the earth for them; this cost less than a tenner.

Clare Valley Shiraz 2005, Tim Adams
A very overt, fruity nose. It is loud, but not over-blown. There is a relatively sophisticated wood treatment showing on the nose, it is really quite pleasing. The palate is big and powerful, but taut like a weight-lifter. The tannins are very ripe and give this wine a great structure, which shows off its fruit very well. For a tenner this has a very pleasing degree of complexity. OK, it is a tad on the booze-tastic side, but it doesn't lack balance and it is great fun.

I was fortunate enough to have another bottle of Verset Cornas 1999 last night; it was quite delicious. It made me think about the discussions I've had with my wine obsessed friends about who makes the best Cornas. So, I have set up a poll and the best Cornas can be established by popular acclaim.

Free Online Poll

This wine is not only a delight when young, but I've had ten-year old bottles that have provided a lot of pleasure. If I like this bottle, I'll do the experiment again.

Pouilly-Fuisse "Vieilles Vignes" 2005, Chateau Fuisse
A nose of proper Burgundy: play-dough and baby vomit. Plenty of creamy minerality and lovely lemon fruit. There is proper complexity on the nose and a real concentration of aromas. The palate has a deeply pleasing texture, with great fruit, perfectly integrated acidity and layers of concentrated flavour. There is a lot of charm about this wine, I am enjoying it greatly. It clearly has a very rewarding future ahead of it; I'll get another bottle and do the experiment.

The basic By Farr Pinot was most impressive, this prestige cuvee is a step ahead.

Pinot Noir "Sangreal" 2006 By Farr
Lovely, sophisticated fruit on the nose. It has a degree of stemminess, but this just adds to its complexity. And it really is quite complex. Good concentration of aromas on the nose, it smells a lot. Of good things, I hasten to add. The palate is very smooth and silky, with nice, ripe tannins, fresh acidity and truly delicious fruit. This is very attractive and complex, in its first, fun, fleshy stage of development so is tits-out for the boys to drink now. However, if you really can be bothered I feel you could come back to it in, say, seven years and be pleasantly surprised. I don't think Australian Pinot Noir gets any better than this.

My mother and step-father had this in their wine cupboard, I insisted we try it. Perhaps that was my first mistake.

Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu 1974, Les Caves de la Loire
Hell's bells, this smells like a mixture of glue and paint-stripper. Not entirely attractive, if we are honest. That being said, for a 34 year old wine it has a degree of freshness which is quite amazing; not nice admittedly, but amazing that it is not completely oxidised. Oh dear, the palate is really quite repulsive, not oxidised or shagged out, but just deeply nasty with far too many weird and chemical flavours. I have to say, it is amazing a wine this bad has aged so well. It is horrible, for sure, but it could be so very much worse. I will not be finishing off the glass, but I find myself being strangely impressed that it was not immediately emetic.

This is even better than the 1999 I popped recently, and that was a screamingly good bottle of wine. Papa Verset is greatly missed.

Cornas 1998, Noel Verset
A heady, rich nose of dark fruit and leather. There is a hint of stemminess to this, but it fits perfectly with the ripe fruit and earthy complexity. This is hilariously classy, oozing with style from every pore. Serious complexity on the nose which is utterly delightful. The palate is as pleasing as a Paul Smith suit: highly refined. The Cornas tannins are present but ripe and attractive. The ripe fruit is lovely, as is the earthiness. It is very long and the complexity of the finish charms the tits off me. This is a truly top banana bottle of Cornas, which was an incredible bargain from Byrne's. Fine wine does not come any cheaper.

We've gone on a trip to Oxford to see the Inspires gallery's exhibition of Sarah-Jane Selwood ceramics. Not much of an exhibition, as it turns out, a sum total of five pieces on display. We are told she is not making as much these days because she is busy dropping sprogs. We scored the most distinctive and beautiful piece. It is a polished stoneware bowl called 'triple inversion'. It looks like this:

The polished stoneware feels amazing; it has the texture of a pebble on a beach which has been worn to smoothness by the sea.