Last week Tom and I had the pleasure of meeting up with the other representatives of the Bunch – www.bunchwines.co.uk – in the salubrious setting of the Paramount Club on the 25 floor of the Centre Point Tower, London W1. This fabulous locale offers the finest view imaginable of the Capital but is not a venue for those suffering from vertigo – which happily none of our party did.

Paramount Club, Centre Point Tower, London W1

On the relatively rare occasions when the Bunch confrères convene we nearly always bring along our own wines and although this always makes for a convivial atmosphere there is a certain degree of one-upmanship. As ever the banter was lively and gossip scurrilous but I was intruiged when my neighbour (at table not post-code) Adam Brett-Smith the genial MD of Royal Warrant holders, Corney & Barrow opened a bottle of (I think) Corton Charlemagne Bonneau de Martray 2003 at the upper tier of the ridged flange on the bottle-neck. I expressed my surprise and bemusement but Adam gently explained that that was, of course, the ‘correct’ way to open a bottle. Moreover, when quizzed, he averred that he was pretty disdainful of any other approach to the matter.

My interest was piqued. As someone with a marked preference for the lower tier, had I been opening capsules on bottles incorrectly for over 2 decades of professional service?

My own (quite dearly held) feelings are that the lower tier offers some upward purchase with a corkscrew and a cleaner more aesthetically pleasing appearance – so is therefore the best option. It was clearly time to solicit opinions from the other distinguished diners. Simon Berry, chairman of Berry Bros. & Rudd, prevaricated  but was outed as a ‘topper’ when he generously opened a magnificent bottle of 1961 Domaine de Chevalier Graves. Just as the ‘top ridge’ party were beginning to dominate proceedings Charles Lea of Lea & Sandeman pitched in with a bullish plea in favour of the lower option. Perhaps unsurprisingly my co-director Tom also came out in favour of the bottom ridge but Robert Boutflower of Tanners then induced gasps of amazement when he declared himself to be an unashamed ‘ripper offer’. Once decorum had been restored other colleagues conceded that they ‘ripped off’ in private but favoured the top or bottom options for more formal imbibing.

Clearly this is a subject about which people feel passionate. Subsequent quizzing of journalists and sommeliers has elicited strong opinions and at the time of writing the ‘bottomers’ just have the edge in terms of numbers. I’ve only discovered two other variants. The outrageous and uncivilised ‘pull the cork through the foil’ manoeuvre and the overly fanciful ‘double cut and wrap the cork’ option. Perhaps I should stick to screw-caps in future lest I cause offence!

Every September on the eve of our annual press tasting the principals of the Bunch [www.bunchwines.co.uk] gather to break bread, discuss topics of mutual interest, such as the Ashes, summer holiday destinations and potential new members, and sample some interesting wines. We have been convening thus for many years now so this is a less formal affair than one might imagine although there is perhaps a degree of one-upmanship regarding the wines that are proffered by the participants. This year we met at Medcalf [www.medcalfbar.co.uk] in Clerkenwell’s Exmouth Market, which is an understated gem of a restaurant with a short, savvy, seasonal menu of British food with a Mediterranean tilt and a carefully-crafted and reasonably-priced wine list. As I was chairing our meeting and enjoying the pleasures of the table, I cannot recall in full what food everyone else ordered but I had a starter of whitebait with good home-made tartare sauce (they are big on home-made at Medcalf) followed by the bavette steak and chips which is a reflex order of mine and justifies a trip to Exmouth Market in its own right. One of my confrères ordered the steak and kidney pudding which looked (and was pronounced) great but cannot have been better than the peerless bavette.

By way of an aperitif Rupert Farquharson of Adnams brought along a non-vintage Champagne called ‘Exquise’ produced by Jacques Selosse from pure Chardonnay in minimal volumes. This wine has a gentle effervescence and quite an oxidative style but very pure fruit and lots of finesse and I liked it very much. Segueing on to another Chardonnay we then sampled ‘Ramey Chardonnay’ 2006 from Ritchie Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, provided by the only Master of Wine present, Alun Griffiths of Berry Brothers. I found this oaky, toasty, rich and oily with good length and acidity but it was a bit too much of a belter for the whitebait that might have preferred something a tad lighter than 14.5% abv. The first of the reds, courtesy of James Tanner was the ‘Racine du Temps’, Très Vieilles Vignes (!),  Gevrey-Chambertin 2002 from René Bouvier. I thought this was a superb drop, with a lovely damson bouquet and fleshy, mid-weight fruit over fine-grained tannins. If I had any dosh I’d tuck a case or two of this away… My palate was now suitably primed for a brace of well-heeled reds with which Paul Marus from Corney & Barrow indulged us. Firstly we tasted the ‘Psi’ 2007 from the celebrated Dominio de Pingus in the Ribera del Duero. This is a pure Tempranillo from the stable of Danish wunderkind Peter Sisseck and believe it or not is cheap by his standards at £22.49 a bottle. I liked rather than loved this wine. It was very polished and refined but it didn’t really grab me – I suspect it was recently bottled and will appreciate a bit more time in the cellar. We followed the ‘Psi’ with a Château Roc de Cambes, Côtes de Bourg 2003, which is a blend of Melot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc (in descending volumes) from a 10 hectare estate owned by François Mitjavile of Terte Rôteboeuf fame. This stylish, glossy, Claret was packed with sweet berry fruit and made a perfect foil to a selection of fine british cheeses. This is another wine I would happily make cellar space for if funds permitted.

We rounded things off with a bonne bouche of Pinot Gris ‘Sélection de Grains Nobles’ from Charles Schlèret in Turckheim which was Yapp Brothers’ own contribution. This subtle, gently honeyed wine was as understated as the restaurant with its miss-matched chairs and café tables but it made for a very pleasant end to a very pleasant evening. On reflection we really ought to meet up more often!