Real pleasure

Another exceptional present from Gordon for looking after Archie. "It's seriously yummy", he said, while gathering together his dogs increasingly odd toys. He wasn't kidding!

It smells smokey and creamy with a whiff of dried herbs and, to me, an unmistakable blast of 'forest fruit' squash. You almost expect it to be sweet.

At first it tastes of red fruits like cherries but that develops into darker fruits, reminiscent of creme de mure. There's also white pepper and a hint of eucalyptus. All beautifully integrated with that fabulous tannin / acidity mix which makes slurping such a pleasure.

It came in an Oddbins bag, but was a present, so I didn't check the price. Frankly anything under £30 would be good value, it represents what wine drinking's all about, a real pleasure. 

Now here's a thing. This is Chateau La Nerthe's second wine, I've had their first wine a few times too, but it was never so enjoyable to drink. Yes, it was more concentrated, more age worthy and undoubtably more "serious". But even if it had been left to mature (not much chance right enough) I'm not convinced it would ever be more enjoyable than this. More cerebral yes, more pleasurable? 

Archie numbers among his toys a large polar bear, an increasingly disheveled Dennis the Menace and various purpose bought items that squeak....for a bit..... but the one that gave him most pleasure this time around......

Can you guess what it is?