I must first confess to having a very simplistic knowledge of wine. I know what I like and what I don’t like. I will not spend a lot of time and money on fancy labels, nor will I indulge in that ridiculous time-wasting drama of ‘someone who knows wine’ - tasting it before it is poured knowingly by the waiter. If the wine is ‘off’, I would send it back. As an alternative, just sniff the cork; it really is that simple, and saves an awful lot of time.

This article has been withdrawn as it has now been published in Barrie’s latest book, ´Letters from the Canary Islands and Spain’.

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