I have a confession to make: I don’t always serve the best possible wine when entertaining at home. This may seem a fairly cavalier attitude at best, and at worst, downright mean, but my decision has come about through hard won experience.

I really should emphasise that the wine I serve, should you ever visit, will always be in good condition and hopefully deliciously tasty. However, the situation may not always dictate that I serve the most expensive bottles I have in my cellar. Wine in my social life is always about conviviality, never about the ‘bling’.