Very tired tonight. Another big day at the International Wine Challenge, with plenty of wines passing our table (number 9, again), and a good number going through to next week, including a couple of very nice botrytised reds!

There were also nice wines from Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia, a Thai fizz, and a surprisingly large flight of Canadian Chardonnays. Perhaps most impressive was a flight of 12 2010 Chateauneuf du Papes, which were almost all lovely, showing what a great vintage 2010 is in the Rhone.

We had some nice discussions, on a broad range of subjects. One of our panel is Italian and knows personally quite a few important Italian football managers and players. Some of them are into wine big time. Disappointed to hear that Mancini is not much of a wine nut, though. We also discussed music. As Come on Eileen was playing we tried to guess what year it was released. 1986? No. 1982. I was 14. Remember it so well. And the BBC Test Match music? Soul Limbo, by Booker T & the MGs. Der, der, der, der, der, der, der, der….

After getting home, I drove to pick up the boys from Gerrards Cross, where they’d been staying for a few days with my sister. I’m slightly wary about driving after a long day of tasting: while I spit carefully, there’s always the thought in the back of my mind that some alcohol might be entering my system. What is my blood alcohol level after tasting 140 wines? I’ve no idea, but if I was seriously worried, I would, of course, not get behind the wheel of a car.

Then later this evening, football. We were 8 v 8, which is a good number because we play positions. I felt I had plenty of energy tonight, and ran around quite a bit. There’s something reviving about hard exercise.