I returned home from my all-too-brief California trip on Friday. Mercifully, the effects of jet-lag have been minimal this trip. I slept through every night while I was there, and have slept through since my return. I’ve not needed to go to bed early, either. My only conclusion is that tiredness + a reasonable dose of alcohol is the answer. If your background level of tiredness is sufficient, then sleep won’t be a problem!

The light in California was spectacular. Driving back over the Golden Gate Bridge was beautiful. Residents probably don’t get it, but to us outsiders, there is something special about this brick-red coloured suspension bridge – a combination of its location and its distinctive looks. It’s also the most popular place to commit suicide in the world – the 75 m drop means there is a 98% fatality rate among jumpers.

On Saturday it was off to pick older son up from school in Somerset. He was playing in an inter-house rugby game, and it’s good to see him back on the field again after his broken collar bone. There were some crunching tackles, and a moment of comedy when a slight fellow tackled a huge fatty, with the huge fatty landing on top of the slight fellow. He lived, though.

It’s always a challenge making the transition from a trip, where everything is very straightforward, and family life with two dogs (one of which is the pooing, weeing FFS), two cats, and two teenagers. But this is life’s richness. Now I’m approaching that wonderful time in the evening where everyone is asleep bar me, and I can watch TV and have a glass of wine in peace. I’ll be trying a Sonoma Zinfandel, in light of my recent trip.

Final thoughts: California has some special terroirs – vineyard sites with the capacity to make great wines. It will be interesting to see, in the post-Parker era, which direction California takes. I’d expect to see a greater diversity of styles of fine wine emerge. It’s an area I’ll be watching with interest, and I want to return as soon as possible.