Bordeaux 2009
You're not likely to drink enough Bordeaux 2009 to require a centuries old hangover cure, salad oil.  Not unless you're an oligarch, or Chinese or a Far Eastern speculator, who are the lucky few now guzzling down fine wines.

"Drink first a good large draught of Sallet Oyl, for that will float upon the Wine which you shall drink, and suppresse the spirits from ascending into the brain."  These words of wisdom come from a very old cookery book which advises on avoiding drunkenness.  However, paying £1,000 per bottle may be the modern day way of avoiding drinking too much.

The 2009 Bordeaux vintage, which is described by wine experts as packed with blackberry and blackcurrant flavours, is being hailed as "best in living memory."  This delicious brew is a result of the perfect conditions last year:  wet spring and hot summer.

And the prices are going up as the weeks progress, so if you've got the cash, carpe diem and buy now.  Lafite-Rothschild was originally released at about $480 a bottle, but is now more than £1,000.  And Le Pen, a small vineyard in Pomerol, is making that look cheap! 

Robert Parker, the wine supremo, has given 2009 the thumbs up, so the sky's the limit, literally.  Many of us wine lovers may have to go back to our cheap and cheerful 2005s, with Sallet Oyl if we over-indulge.

Salut!

— Mrs M