On the grapevine

First ladyBon Coeur in Masham (01765 606767) has a few cases of Warwick's First Lady at a very reasonable £7.95 per bottle. This wine comes from the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown on the Warwick family estate in Stellenbosch with just a splash of wine from just outside the region. It is soft, mellow and full of velvety red berried fruit.

Treasure trove

Divers have found a cache of old Champagne in a shipwreck off the coast of Finland. One bottle has been brought to the surface and is thought to be about 225 years old, possibly made by Veuve Clicquot for the Russian market. The divers could not resist opening a bottle and declared that it tasted sweet, with a strong hint of tobacco and a few bubbles. The remaining bottles should raise about $70,000 each.

The appeal of cork

I was in the Finger Lakes region in New York State last week and, while the wines were good, there was a really high incidence of cork taint. Now the cork manufacturers in Portugal have started a campaign to try to persuade us to move away from screw-tops. While they have a lot of good points, it is imperative that cork becomes much more reliable than it seems to be at present.