I’m just starting off on an adventure to learn the intricacies of wine, particularly red wine, so that I can appear cultured at all of those upper-class dinner parties to which I get invited.

Well, actually, no. I like the stuff, and it’s in my nature to get right to the bottom of any field of expertise that piques my interest. So I’ve been reading up, and it’s a fascinating subject riddled with history, tradition, competition, one-upmanship and bluffing. It is an art and a science rolled together, and the end result is generally good.

Wine has a few unique characteristics as a product:

• it ranges from quite expensive to eye-wateringly pricey, often with little correlation to quality
• there is lots to learn
• wine gets better with age, to some extent. Some very old wines are still drinkable
• appreciation of wine is — by nature of the senses of taste, smell and sight — very subjective
• although it’s not completely established, it appears that drinking moderate amounts of wine, particularly red, is good for you
• over the years, a veritable lexicon of recondite vocabulary has built up around it: “pretentious bouquet with notes of truffle, a long finish and slow legs”

I’ve begun my informal studies with French wine, learning about the regions, the terroirs and the AOC system. Once I’m up to speed on the basics of French wine, I’ll expand my horizons to the rest of Europe and the New World wines of America and Australia/New Zealand.

I intend to start building up a collection using an old modified fridge or freezer as a cellar, botched to hold the interior at the recommended 12°C. However, as a cheapskate with a family and a whole load of other interests vying for my already-stretched income, there won't be anything expensive or posh in it. I just need to buy bottles slightly faster than they get consumed to put together a varied collection, perhaps using something based on this selection as a starting point, so if visitors call unexpectedly, I always have an appropriate bottle on hand. If anyone wants to send an ‛82 Pétrus my way as a reference point, I’d be grateful.

I’ll be posting notes from my mostly supermarket-bought bottles here, partly for your interest, dear reader; but mostly as an archive for my reference so I remember what I liked and what I didn’t.

One promise to myself, friends and family: I won’t become a wine bore! If you’re reading this, I assume you’re interested in the subject; but in Real Life, I’ll keep it to myself unless explicitly asked.

2005 Les Perdrigolles Crozes-Hermitage

Produced by the Cave de Tain group, I bought this 100% Syrah (aka Shiraz) red from Morrisons in Coventry for £7. Crozes-Hermitage is an AOC in the Northern Rhône, close to the famous Hermitage area. Wine Spectator gives the Northern Rhône 2005 vintage a score of 94 (out of 100), and a recommendation to hold (that is, don’t drink it yet). However, that typically applies more to the higher-end wines. Mass-produced supermarket wines are allegedly more suitable for immediate consumption.

So, I ought to try to put together some classical tasting notes, I suppose. This is tricky without much of a frame of reference, but I have to start somewhere.

The 2005 Les Perdrigolles has a real wooden cork, so I immediately had a sniff for the telltale damp cardboard smell of corking — all OK.

It is not a particularly strong wine at 12.5% alcohol, so it’s easy to drink. The label on the back of the bottle claims it is “spicy, medium-bodied, full or rich fruit flavours”, and I’d agree with that. Dark and smooth were two words that sprang to mind on first tasting.

It went well with the child-compatible meal of spaghetti bolognese (label suggests pairing with Mediterranean cuisine, and Bologna isn’t that far from the Med; although my recipe isn’t particularly authentic…), complementing the tomato and pasta nicely without overpowering it, or being overpowered itself. A glass enjoyed by itself a day later was also pleasureable, although I did not have time to let it warm up properly from fridge temperature. The fruits were definitely muted, whether from being slightly chilled or opened too long I don’t know. The final glass of the bottle the following day was allowed to warm up and was much less “vivid” than the first, so I suspect oxidation. I need to heed this advice and either get some marbles or some half-bottles.

Recommended from a wine novice: it didn’t suffer from the flaws of many relatively cheap supermarket reds of excess tannins (the stuff that makes your mouth pucker) and other artificial chemical smells and flavours. I might get another bottle for my “cellar” once it’s operational and see if a few years improves it — although my taste memory won’t last that long to allow a fair comparison…