Unless You Are one of The Observer's older readers, you might have missed the Andy Marriott's show on Saga Radio one day last February. Andy was discussing cheap wines with a resident wine expert, who passed on a fellow expert's recommendation for a Chemin des Papes Côtes du Rhône as 'tasty, ripe and sunny'. Nothing wrong with that, you're probably thinking, especially given that the wine in question cost a mere £3.29.
To listeners, the tip appeared fairly given. But would they have thought otherwise if they'd known that the RWE does part-time public relations for the supermarket that sold the wine? And that he'd described it - Aldi, in the same show, as 'that haven of incredibly good wines at easily affordable prices'. To me, it compromised his advice. Sure, he would have told Saga of his position but this does not appear to have been passed on to the listener.
It's not easy to earn a living as a wine writer in the UK. There are more than 250 members of the Circle of Wine Writers (affectionately known as 'the sponge' to some wine merchants) and only so many places where you can print or broadcast your opinions. That's why some hacks do PR on the side.
I'm not totally opposed to this, but I think that the conflict of interest should be made clear. The same goes for hacks who put their names on bottles of wine. It's not something I'd do because it would undermine my credibility. How seriously would you take my views on, say, a supermarket if you knew it was the exclusive retailer of my brand of wine?
So where should wine writers draw the line? Should we pay for all our own samples, for example? This would be financially impossible in my case. I taste around 10,000 wines a year with an average price of £8. I do accept free samples, although these are not necessarily as welcome as they sound. They clutter my hallway and most of them are not very good. That's why I prefer to taste wines at organised events.
From time to time, I call in samples for a specific article. I once contacted some champagne shippers and asked them to send me a bottle of their nonvintage wine. One company misunderstood the brief, delivering a case instead. 'We thought you deserved it,' a PR man told me when I called up to point out the mistake. It was the only time in 20 years as a wine writer that anyone has attempted to bribe me, if you discount the night I found a hooker in my room on a press trip to Eastern Europe.
For wine writers, the biggest ethical question mark concerns foreign trips. I spend around three months a year abroad, most of it paid for by someone else. Not all of my colleagues travel as much, but I reckon it's essential to visit vineyards and interview winemakers.
I won't deny that it's also a pleasure to eat and drink well and visit some of the most beautiful places on earth, but that's a perk of the job, not the job itself.
And who actually foots the bill for these trips? Occasionally, I accept an invitation from a single producer, but 99 per cent of the time I am invited to be a judge at a wine show, or I travel as a guest of a generic body, be it Wines of Argentina, Wines of Spain or the Australian Wine Bureau. To me, this is the lesser of two evils. If the trip is generically funded it leaves me at least freer to say what I think.
Some booze hacks think that it's impolite to put the boot into a country that has just paid for their airfare, but I'm not one of them. Honest.
Six wines
From independent wine merchants
2001 Minervois La Livinière, Château Cesseras (£7.95, Lay & Wheeler, 0845 0510 051)
La Livinière is developing a reputation as one of the best producers in the Languedoc, exemplifi ed by this Syrah.
2003 Parcela #7, Viña von Siebenthal (£7.95, call Mayfair Cellars, 020 7386 7999, for stockists)
The most exciting Chilean wine I've tasted in a long time, with fl avours of mint and blackcurrant. Very elegant.
2001 Il Baciale, Monferrato, Giacomo Bologna (£10.40, Tanners, 01743 234500)
A highly unusual blend of Barbera with Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon from one of the best estates in northern Italy.
1999 Côtes de Jura, Cuvée Spéciale, Philippe Butin (£13.95, Berry Bros, 0870 900 4300)
If you're a fan of sherry, but find it a little high in alcohol then why not try this bonedry French white?
2001 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Le Vieux Donjon (£26, Yapp Brothers, 01747 860423)
Châteauneuf's great run of vintages culminated in the spectacular 2001s. This is a classic Grenache-based style
My best buy
1999 Westport Rivers Brut, Massachusetts (£9.99, Adnams, 01502 727222)
Definitely a wine to serve blind to champagne snobs, this East Coast blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is a great fi nd, especially at the price. Creamy and nutty with an appealing dry finish.
Famous drinkers
Sir Winston Churchill
'Winston, you are drunk,' said the MP Bessie Braddock, whereupon Churchill replied: 'Indeed, madam, and you are ugly. But I shall be sober in the morning.' Although this quotation is said to be apocryphal, it is true that one of Britain's greatest wartime leaders had a reputation as a regular tippler.
Churchill's rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite the smoking of cigars and the 'drinking of alcohol before, during and after meals'. He claimed to have contempt for anyone who couldn't hold their drink and justified his tastes thus: 'Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.' It seems that he was right - Sir Winston died in 1965, following a stroke at his home, at the ripe old age of 90.
Rikke Nielsen
