The cover is off, the teak oil is on the decking, the sun is shining and some new pool side furniture has arrived from Italy. Time to crack open a blottle of Maby’s Tavel rose and chill for a few days…ros

The May issue of Decanter carried a blind tasting of 200 samples of the 2005 vintage of Chateauneuf du Pape. Amongst the tasting panel were all the recognized Rhone experts including Jonathan Livingston-Learmouth. We are delighted to report that all of the La Madelene estates that we are partnered with performed extremely well in this blind tasting of an important vintage.  For example : Clos du Caillou reserve was awarded a 5 star recommendation ( one of only four); Solitude’s Reserve Secrete came 6th overall and their regular cuvee ( somewhat more affordable tha the 100 euro price tag on the Secret!) also made the 4 star “excellent” ranking. Domaine Nalys which is often overlooked by the critics I was delighted to see came in at a respectable No. 38 beating many illustrious names ( including Beaucastel). Finally La Nerthe ranked 21 with the verdict ” Very attractive, gently lifted aroma, laurel and wild fruit, savoury too. Perfumed and pleasingly concentrated” Well done to all!

The following is a short piece I wrote recently for Brighton community newspaper “The Whistler”: There  is just a chance that Cyrano de Bergerac, unhappy in love as he was, may have enjoyed, with that massive hooter of his, an enviable reputation as a wine connossieur. Though perhaps we shouldnt confuse size with ability! The common view of what it takes to be a discerning wine drinker is that its all about the sensitivity of the palate..the ability to tease out from a glass of wine flavour and structural components that provide a taste “map” of the wine and help identify its origins…grape variety, climate, soil, vintage etc. However scientists are agreed that taste , whilst important, provides us with relatively little information compared with the sense of smell - known as “olfaction” in the trade. Though there are just five essential tastes ( sweet, salt, bitter, sour, and the relatively unknown umami…a sort of meaty, savoury taste) there are literally thousands of “odorants” we are capable of discriminating.  Anyone not convinced of the importance of smell should try the basil test with a friend. Blindfold your victim and ask them to hold their nose tight and open their mouth. Pop a few sprigs of basil in their mouth and ask them to try and identify what they are chewing. I guarantee you that even the most foodie of your friends will not have a clue. Now ask them to release the hold on their nose and heh presto they will shout “basil!” immediately. Point proven. But does all this relate to the real world of wine appreciation as I know it? It definately does  - as I get older I notice that it is the wines that perform well on the nose..providing complex layers of  aromas from different sources that I enjoy the most…perhaps sun drenched ripe fruit, minerals, a little oak seasoning, some pepper and spice adornment, vegetal or grilled meats, the list could go on. Those of you who enjoyed the basil test might want to also try this “Super Taster” test for which I am indebted to the writer Jamie Goode. This one tests your tongue for sensitivity . Place some blue food colouring on the tip of your tongue, which will turn blue with the exception of the taste sensitive “pappillae”, tiny round bumps, that will remain pink. Make a hole half an inch wide on a piece of paper and strengthen it with a ring-binder reinforcer. Now place your tongue against the hole. Get a friend to count how many pink dots there are inside the hole with the help of magnifying glass. If you have less than fifteen, stick to plonk, up to thirty-five and you are capable of being a discerning taster, more than thirty-five a Super Taster. Cheers! 

Over 40 Glaswegians came to Malaucene at the weekend…and to La Madelene on Sunday afternoon..to celebrate the wedding of our friends Tracy and Chuck.  What a fantastic weekend it was…Lily played her part as a bridesmaid, the old 280 SL was pressed into action as open top wedding car, kilted scotsman took over the Mairie and one of their number Cash played the bride into the Mairie’s salle with a rendition of here comes the bride on his saxophone. The weather was glorious on saturday ..we all got toasted sitting out in Maggie and Bruce’s garden drinking champagne, eating loads and trying to avoid being dragged into roudy sessions of stripping the willow. Sunday was our turn to host…the weather didnt hold  alas…a huge thunderstorm struck just as the bbq was getting underway…it didnt stop a number of hardy souls using the just opened for the season pool at just 10 c. !! 

Walter Mckinley moved his family to the Vaucluse from Essex 10 years ago to set up Domaine Mourchon at Seguret. He runs it with help from the very charming and dynamic son in law Hugo Livingston and his daughter Kate. A decade later they are the acknowledged leaders in the area and have just scooped an amazing set of scores in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate to celebrate their anniversary. Both the Cuvee Speciale Anniversaire ( weighing in at 15% alcohol and mightily old vine concentrated) and the Grande Reserve tradition received 90-93 points. Well done! We tasted these wines on a visit last week and there was universal agreement amongst our party that they merited the plaudits. One of our group compared the Cuvee Speciale to a fine Amarone…not a bad accolade for a humble Cotes du Rhone Village appellation. We needed the fortification that day…the Mistral was doing its best to blow us off the escarpment where the Domaine is situated in the Dentelles de Monmirail.

Lily’s school teacher from Malaucene, Helene Brouwers, had her wedding day last week. Lily thinks shes the best thing about the village school, and Jude and I really like her too.We were invited to a special reception …in the playground! We thought this was going to be just a photo opportunity with her class but it turned out to be a full blown special reception for the school and the parents…outside caterers and a free bar! This would not have happened in Brighton!….best sight was the young ones holding their teachers wedding dress on a parade around the school grounds. Fantastic fun and somehow uniquely french. Whats more watch this space as we have a fab wedding party for our friends Tracy and Chuck coming up at La Madelene over the weekend 9th - 11th May, should be a lot of fun, will blog the results. Glaswegian Chuck will be wearing a kilt as will many others….what will Malaucene make of it?

We have had a manic spring period what with preparing the house and gardens for the coming season and then a series of guests…all very nice but a tad exhausting. The weather in april was pretty awful by Provence standards , the last week it rained virtually the entire time and one spectacular overhead storm caused a blackout. Good for the grass around the pool but not great for the spirits. However it is lovely to see some sunshine back at last and to enjoy sitting in the garden with a glass of rose…cant make up my mind if i’m enjoying Mourchon’s version or the lovely example from Muscat de Beaumes producer Bernadines. Just have to keep on trying them till I come to a verdict…such a hardship.