A Rhône feast

There is something reassuring about annual rituals: Christmas, the first asparagus, the Oscars, and Graham Nutter’s summer dive into his cellar for a themed wine tasting shared with interested parties local to his Minervois wine estate Ch St-Jacques d’Albas.

This takes place on the first Tuesday every August and this year all I was told in advance was that the theme was to be Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In the end it turned out to be more like the Rhône Valley’s greatest hits. (Though, come to think of it, Guigal...