Bacchus Assures Damp Pleasures

Pictured, hen-pecking at La Pergola, family run and orientated Neopolitan, Cambridge. Within this recently extended out of town pub, which urgently requires warmth upon its walls: reasonably priced, honest food, put pan to plate by beaming cooks.

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Yesterday, in the same week I sampled Cloudy Bay's '06, I finally found a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc worth celebrating: Tania O'Sullivan's Te Mãnia '05, from Nelson, NW of Marlborough. Resembling an aspiring Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé, this almost tender, struck flint, close to lychee heart wine had a herbacious, washed mineral infusion of a palate belying its sun-bathed nature (2,400 hours+ per year) and an assertive finish with a buttermilk lick. I correctly guessed the winemaker's gender from the liquid in the glass.

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Because of a polite plea from the manager, I re-titled Bedales' Wine List from 'Damp Pleasures', to 'Bacchus Assures'...