Couture Sommelier

TRYING TO manage a magnum decanter, filled with inky Faugères, in dimy lit, but dazzling company, where dresses cost multiple thousands, is very hard work. That was the scenario yesterday at 'The Golden Age of Couture', a £1,000 per ticket dinner, auction and garden party at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I was in charge of two tables which included seated distraction, Eva Herzigova. Confidentiality clauses forbid further prose leakage, although she loved the cépage...

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Sampled today, La Soufrandière Cuvée X-Taste '00, a late harvested poshly rotten Chardonnay from Pouilly Vinzelles. I am really tired at the moment, so please forgive excessive descriptions, although this really did at time of tasting evoke a honey coated Marmalade cat with a preference for the outdoors. Dense, tropical flavours evolved too. I wrote 'riddled with cellullitis rather than botrytis'.

I generally find late harvest Chardonnay sickly, with insufficient acidity. This was no exception, however expertly assembled.

Layered, but flabby with a finish that outstayed its welcome.