We left chilly and snowy England at the crack of dawn on Monday by EuroStar to find ourselves in chillier and snowier France. The frosty weather and frosty economy have undoubtedly thinned visitor numbers at the annual Salon des Vins de Loire, but it is still one of France’s best regional wine fairs with a diverse selection of exciting wines to taste.

The recent vintage run has been excellent, 2009 and 2010 are both terrific, but conditions were more challenging in 2011 with much depending on how wine-makers managed their vineyards and when they harvested their grapes. As seasoned vigneron Vincent Lecointre from Coteaux du Layon explained, ‘2011 was a year of great successes and great disasters’. According to impressively-moustachioed Loire expert Jim Budd who we button-holed on arrival, the worst hit area had been Nantais where grey rot had impacted heavily on the Muscadet harvest.

Our old chum Fredrik Filliatreau from Saumur Champigny was positively upbeat, talking us through an impressive range of brightly-fruited Cabernet Francs that should make for rewarding early drinking when they are bottled this Spring. Sauvignons from Menetou Salon and Sancerre are bien classique, with a nervy minerality and fine elderflower and nettle aromas.

Encouragingly, some of the best wines we have tasted have also been some of the most keenly-priced – there are exciting wines in prospect from Saumur, St Pourçain and Chinon. Finally, we have managed to bag some last call allocations of the voluptuous 2009 reds that are drinking splendidly already and will continue to do so for a further few years. After two days of full-on tasting, our palates are primed and our notebooks are full. We are off for a well-earned demi-pression at the Brasserie de la Gare.

I inherited from my father a passionate interest in wine and an almost complete disregard for any sort of competitive team sports. We’ve enjoyed many fine bottles together but have never bonded on the terraces. Needless to say my own sons are avid football fans and in the absence of any paternal motivation have become passionate matrilinear ‘Gooners’ – their Mum’s family hail from Islington and follow the fortunes of Arsenal FC.

Fortunately for them Alfred (13) and William (10) have a kind uncle who is sympathetic to the yearnings of young footy fans. This Christmas Tom managed to procure tickets to see Arsenal play Queens Park Rangers at the Emirates stadium on New Year’s Eve. As this was their first proper visit to their team’s HQ (I had parsimoniously taken them previously to admire the stadium from the outside) they were naturally excited. Suitably clad in a festive haul of red and white regalia we caught the train to London and met up with Uncle Tom for a bite of pre-match lunch.

There were ample photo opportunities on the way into the ground and there was an upbeat atmosphere amongst the gathering Gooners. The boys were happy to oblige the request of a cameraman from Arsenal TV with a rousing cheer of ‘Come on Arsenal’ as we set off to find our seats. These, it turned out, were amongst the best in the house, right on the half-way line behind the press box with a great view of the back of Arsen Wenger’s head.

If truth be told it was a bit of a scrappy game but Arsenal had the best of it and secured a deserving win when Robin Van Persie (who else?) finally found the back of the QPR net in the 60th minute.

At the end of the match we said thanks and goodbye to Tom and wended our way back to the West Country to celebrate the year end suffused in the glow of tribal victory. Who knows I may yet develop a taste for this football malarkey but don’t ask me to explain the Offside Rule or the advantages of a 4-4-2 formation!

The end, I hope, will be celebrating in the spa town of Bagnères-de-Luchon on Saturday 14th July, Bastille Day. However, the substantial Ying for that Yang is that I aim to have cycled 197km over the Pyrenees’ finest climbs after leaving Pau that morning.

Along with several pals and around 7,000 other riders, I have committed to another Etape du Tour – where amateurs tackle a stage of that year’s Tour de France. The Etapes are never a walk in the park, but this year the organisers have really shown a sense of humour by picking possibly the toughest day of the entire three week professional tour to test the hoards of enthusiasts.

Here’s the profile of this fearsome day out.

The beginning was on Monday 2nd January with a couple of laps of Richmond Park. Legs a bit heavy, much work to be done.

• Weight: 14st 4lbs (equivalent 200 lbs or 91kg)
• BMI: 25
• Training miles in 2012: 22!

I’ll report back in February!

Regrettably I find myself increasingly shocked at the cost of modern living particularly when entertaining my children. You practically have to take out a mortgage to go to the cinema these days never mind 10 pin bowling or a restaurant. My sons aged 13 and 10 will only tolerate galleries and museums in small doses (which must be genetic) so I am always on the look-out for inexpensive family entertainment. Fortunately, they share my penchant for street art – or ‘graffiti’, depending on your viewpoint, the appreciation of which is virtually cost free.

‘Banksy’ is the most celebrated and one of the most prolific practitioners of the genre although the authenticity of some works attributed to him is hotly disputed. A paperback copy of BLT – Banksy Locations and Tours, by Martin Bull, is a worthwhile investment at around £10 and will facilitate some definite sightings, but part of the appeal of street art is its ephemeral and transitory nature – some entries will have disappeared but new pieces appear all the time too.

Say what you like about the cost of living in the 21st century, public transport in London is inexpensive for children and kids enjoy jumping on and off tube trains and buses. The Clerkenwell and Farringdon area around Smithfield and Exmouth markets is an old Banksy stomping ground and we had great fun tracking down some of his earlier work in the locale. Some of these are pretty faded now but many are still recognisable and Alfred and William were keen to be photographed alongside some vintage originals.

Once you have got a feel for the type of sites favoured by street artists (which seldom detract from any natural beauty) it is surprising how many pieces you spot. There is no substitute for just ambling round the Metropolis with a camera. While walking through Bloomsbury during half-term we found this pristine rat picture, already preserved under Perspex, and a group of American tourists were politely queuing to have their photographs taken with it.

Of course Banksy is just one of many street artists and we enjoyed finding works by lots of other illicit illustrators too. Although street art has many detractors it does have tangible benefits – it’s free to view, brings in valuable tourist revenue and it keeps kids entertained for hours on end!

December is a particularly hectic time for wine merchants, so much so that at Yapp Brothers we (self) impose a ban on taking holidays until we’ve closed the doors on echoing cellars on Christmas Eve. So don’t tell my colleagues, but I managed to slip away to Barcelona for a long weekend to attend a wedding.

Boy, one can eat and drink well in Barcelona, especially as we were staying with our good friends, the multi-talented Joe and Niki who manage to find time when not designing shoes, making radio shows and documentaries, painting and DJ-ing to run tailored tours of the city (Antiques and Boutiques), one of which is Epicurean-themed. Yum!

Within 12 hours of arrival we had enjoyed Vietnamese dumplings in the Born (Mosquito) and were then ensconced at Biblioteca in Raval, enjoying Esqueixada (Catalan bacalao salad) washed down with Ruedan Verdejo. No weekend in Barcelona is complete without a visit to the 200 year old food market La Boqueria through which Niki effortlessly guided us as we picked up raw materials for Sunday lunch. At some point during an ambitiously programmed weekend I tailed off to sort out some wine for Sunday’s slow cooked pork on a fennel and garlic base, opting for a magnum of 2005 Rioja Coto de Imaz, then chucking in another couple of reds from Ribero del Duero for luck. In true Spanish style guests who were invited for dinner at 7pm arrived nearer 10, which made for a convivial evening , but a rather tough early morning flight to the UK, leaving my wife to keep the party going at the Calcotada (sweet roasted onion) Festival the next day.

It is not often that I embark on a 500 mile round trip to visit a single hostelry but such was my anticipation at the reopening of this lavishly refurbished and lovingly revived inn that I was prepared to schlep all the way from south-west Wiltshire to northern Norfolk last week. The Gunton Arms (www.theguntonarms.co.uk) lies on the edge of the Gunton estate, near the village of Thorpe Market, and is home to a 1000 acre deer park that offers spectacular views and a plentiful supply of prime venison. Fortunately the Gunton Arms is the sometime local of world-renowned art dealer Ivor Braka and his artist wife Sarah Graham who have expediently secured its future by purchasing the property. After 18 months of building and renovation it is now open to the public and is well worth a visit.

The Gunton Arms

With 8 comfortable, beautifully decorated and refreshingly individual bedrooms named after local characters, such as game keeper James Ellis (a wonderful, Flashman-esque figure who coincidentally was to be found propping up the bar telling tales of tracking elk and dispatching mambas with the air of one who would happily be doing just that), the Gunton Arms is well-equipped to cope with further flung visitors. It also functions very well as a proper pub offering a fine range of draft beers such as Adnams’ Spindrift and Broadside as well as bar snacks, sandwiches and tea and coffee. There is a pool table and dart board and for a meagre £1.50 you can get a portion of pork crackling and gooseberry sauce.

All of the above is commendable and, in an era when rural pubs are dropping like nine-pins, should be celebrated but what really puts the Gunton Arms on the map and justifies the journey is its restaurant. Presided over by Stuart Tattersall (who was head chef at Mark Hix) the Gunton Arms boasts a menu of deftly-cooked, robust British dishes that illustrate a consummate knowledge and care for ingredients coupled with commendable restraint. A choice of 6 starters, all between £6 and £8, included ‘Rabbit, chestnut and chanterelle soup’, ‘Deep fried cod cheeks with caper mayonnaise’ and ‘Game dumpling with creamed leeks and juniper’. Main courses are equally appealing and modestly-priced. ‘Whole roast gurnard with cockles and chorizo’ and ‘Barnsley lamb chop with bubble and squeak’ both looked delicious but a superlative mixed grill of Gunton venison, cooked by Stuart on an open range, had the lowest food miles and made a fine foil for a toothsome bottle of Bandol: Mas de la Rouvière 2005. The short but well-balanced wine list (in which I should declare a commercial interest) and front of house are skilfully overseen by Stuart’s partner Simone Baker, who is also a Mark Hix alumnus and clearly knows how to run a tight ship.

The Gunton Arms - Stuart Tattersall

It would be remiss not to mention the Gunton Arms excellent art collection which boasts some hilarious photographs in the Gents loos (sadly I didn’t get a chance to check out the Ladies), fine ink depictions of Norfolk livestock and some provocative Paula Rego pictures in the dining room that won’t go down well with the blue rinse brigade.

After dinner I joined Mr Ellis in the bar and enjoyed some improbable stories, some well-kept beer and inept pool. Fortunately, Stuart and Simone let me inaugurate one of their bedrooms and I slept like a lamb. Stuart even made me a bacon sandwich ‘to go’ in the morning. I can’t wait to revisit the Gunton I just wish it was much nearer here!