Last night was the Côtes du Rhône quiz night. Halloween themed, the quiz was focused on all things ghoulish. It was a blast, and we all had a lot of fun.

I was in a team with Tim Atkin, Lottie West and Joe Wadsack. We were eighth out of 32 teams, which isn’t bad. The winning team was captained by Stephen Browett of Farr.

The dancing hedgehog – the star of the night!

Of the wines we tasted, my favourite: a brawny, olivey, meaty Crozes with plenty of personality. The disappointment: Jaboulet’s 2009 Thalabert Crozes, which is a bit too made and modern, without the northern Rhone personality it used to have.

The fashion show. And, yes, Wadsack has a rat in his mouth. It’s OK, it was dead.

This new wine from Chapoutier was lovely. I like his whites a lot.