A sparkling line-up

High heels, black silk stockings, velvet ruffs, and my first ever taste of champagne... at 14, I was bedazzled by the slinky hostesses, the velour-lined electric train (complete with Disney-like barrel coaches) and the miles upon miles of dusty bottles in the Piper Heidsieck cellars. I breathed in the magic and declared to my almost-teetotal mother that I was never going to drink anything else again.

Luckily I didn’t have the stamina or budget to see that promise through. But it wasn’t until I started going to [our own] Michael Schmidt’s wine classes that, under his tutelage, I began to...