Jose is our resident wine enthusiast and has kindly agreed to try lots of wines and give you his opinions. Jose tells it exactly like it is so good or bad Jose will leave you in no doubt as to what he thinks.

Lots of candid reviews of what Jose ate, drank and watched last week all wines are given a score out of 100.

What a fascinating April it has been!

Cheating by a day, on 31 March my team looked capable of doing the unthinkable when Walcott and Fabregas negated Ibrahimovic's 2 goals. Result: Arsenal 2  Barcelona 2. I celebrated modestly (well, there was a return match to come in Barcelona's Camp Nou) with a couple of glasses of Caves St Pierre Cotes du Rhone Villages Preference Skalli 2008 (as I say, modestly). Easy drinking, cherry blackcurrant flavours, goes with a wide range of food. I had a selection of tapas. Terrific bargain at £5.96 (Tesco 50% offer). My rating 80.

Next day my gorgeous, blonde, songbird friend Stephanie took me to lunch, to toast a completed deal, at The Inn at Maybury in Woking and we chose Louis Dornier & Fils Associes d'alliance Champagne Reims (shipped by Grants). From the southerly Champagne vineyards which are known for wines which are softer and quicker to mature, so perfect for drinking young. Light, fresh and gentle lemony nose. Both drink and company superb. Expect to pay about a bargain £23.99. My rating 82.

6^th April. Day of reckoning for the Arsenal. Return match at Barcelona's Camp Nou. And would you believe it? Lionel Messi picks this day for his best-ever performance. He scores all 4 goals for Barcelona .And, no, it's no consolation he's the best player in the world. Celebrations are on hold, I'm on sparkling water.

No matter, all's forgotten next day. On 7 April a terrific TV programme on the legendary, prolific Johnny Mercer (lyricist, composer and singer ) including the great man in concert backed by the Harry Roche Constellation , with Harry on trombone and my great songbird friends Stephanie (yes, same said Steph) and Clare providing the vocals. Super, deserving a little celebrationary tipple in front of the telly with a good bowl of pasta primavera and Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages 2008 (Red). Lighter than the usual big Italian reds that go well with pasta and pizza.  Lovely, full of red fruit. £8.99. My rating 82.

Goirdano Merlot and Malbec, Tarantino 2005, d'Alba, Italy. A friend had sent me a mixed case from a newspaper wine club. I've had this before and sometimes I take to it and sometimes I'm a bit critical.  My latest bottle drunk to accompany roast beef and all trimmings (recipe for wife training to follow some day) was ruby red, with lots of forest fruit, full bodied and with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Worked splendidly. Now, I don't know where it's retailed, so there's your homework for now. I'd expect it to be priced in the range £6.50 to £7.50. My rating (this time) 78.

I said earlier that it's been a fascinating April. Well, from just before Easter and throughout April I've come across some terrific supermarket bargains. Really spoiled for choice at the lower priced wines from Tesco, at up to 50% discount, I tried:

Saint Clair 2007 Puisseguin Saint Emilion 2007 (merlot, cabernet franc and sauvignon). Soft, smooth and spicy. £7.49. My rating (this time) 84.

Caves St Pierre Cotes du Rhone Villages Preference 2008 (Skalli). Red. Tastes of cherry, blackcurrant, fruity, full bodied. £5.96. My rating 82.

Famiglia Terracia Chianti Riserva 2006, Siena Tuscany (sangiovese canaiolo). Red. Dry, fresh, hint of cherries almonds and oak.  I'm a fan of Chianti Classico and this doesn't quite make it for me. But it's very reminiscent of local Chianti in Italy and it's certainly very drinkable, and at the price there can be no complaints. Try it with pasta with tomato sauces or any hearty tomato-ish Italian food.
£5.49. My rating 78.

48 hour cooked pork collar is a favourite of mine at my club, cooked so slowly the meat is so tender it melts in the mouth. On asking for the club rioja to go with it and told none was available, I was offered Navarra Campo Nuevo 2008 Tempranillo(Red). Navarra borders and is north-east of La Rioja region and tempranillo is the mainstay grape type of Rioja. This wine is a considerable economy find. My initial reaction was glorious, but let's not get carried away, it's just a wine, though a goody and, for my money, cheap, wonderfully soft, easily quaffable. Yep, I'll be sampling more of this. I've seen it on the internet at about £6. My rating 82.

I may have reported before on Loire Les Nuages Pinot Noir St Pourcain VDQS 2007 (Red) so it'll be interesting how it compares .I was going to say it is light with spicy redcurrant nuances. But I could just as easily say it has weak acidy with raspberry taste, no after taste, thin with no body. It's still a good drink but maybe it's too delicate for me. I'd be interested for others' views and willing to be educated. About £7.25.   My rating 75

Friends have been kind enough to offer comments on these pages, some are even publishable. With a little bit of editing I give some samples:

A dear friend whose family I've known many years writes:

 "I have been onto the website and have much enjoyed your recipes and wine commentary.  Monday to Thursday, my only alcohol is a glass of beer (such as Rebellion Brewery in Marlow, this week their Spring Quarter beer Zebedee, as in Magic Roundabout) and a tot of something for a nightcap (tonight Penderyn Welsh whisky). However, we did push the boat out a little at Easter, particularly as our daughter Anna returned from Syria, from setting up a teaching scheme for a seriously autistic child in Aleppo.  On both Maundy Thursday and Good Friday we had cider-based meals with on the Thursday Sheppy's Bullfinch, a medium dry from Bradford-on-Tone in Somerset, and on Friday the bone-dry single varietal Burrow Hill Stoke Red from Kingsbury Episcopi, also in Somerset. On Saturday, at our first class local gastropub, we had a lovely modern-style and flavoursome Barolo 2003 and, with the puddings, a 5 puttonyos Tokay, which was superb. On Easter Sunday, over smoked salmon we had a cracking English Rose Champagne, Ridgeview Fitzrovia 2006, from Ditchling in West Sussex. It was excellent and we all agreed why in a recent blind tasting against French Rose Champagnes it came out on top, having knocked the opposition into a cocked hat. We moved on to New Season Lamb and the accompaniment to this was a super Napa, Parradux 1997 from Duckhorn Vineyard, made up of an equal balance of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Even Anna, who is now a fully qualified sommelier, agreed that it was one of the best wines that she had ever tasted. We rounded off with Bread & Butter pudding, and to cut across this we had another English wine, the off dry and lemony Viticula Solaris from the Shropshire Wroxeter Vineyard just to the East of Shrewsbury, which turned out to be a perfect match. Easter Monday, winding down before the return to work, we had steak and Chateau Cissac 1990. This a sturdy and utterly reliable Haut Medoc Cru Bourgeois (Cabernet Sauvignon 75%, Merlot 20% and Petit Verdot 5%) much loved of Oxford and Cambridge Colleges. Jane Macquitty doesn't like it, complaining that it is leathery, boring and old.*******.. (not printable for delicate souls). We question her assessment of wines (except perhaps in the case of German & Alsace wines and sherry) and this was a classic example of prejudicial attitudes being way off target: smooth, flavoursome and showing no sign of its 20 years in bottle. HEADY STUFF, WHAT !!"

An English friend living in North Merrick, New York and a fair judge of wine states....
"When I'm not so flush I drink Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc instead of Cloudy Bay - doesn't have the class but very acceptable. Whilst I'm on holiday in Australia I'll look out for interesting wines to report"

Another friend, my favourite adventurous photographer writes:
"All very interesting - keep me on the mailing list. And if you like red wine from Tesco, try 'Stormhoek' Pinotage 2008. Great value at £5.10 and ridiculous at special offer 'Three for £10' if they do it again".

My good friend Richard, my favourite news editor, and most entertaining raconteur, offers us his recipe that I'll call Richard's fishy stew:

Richard's fishy stew

This serves four so easily halved.

Ingredients

6 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
1 big onion2 cloves of garlic - sliced
1 tblsp chopped rosemary
2 bay leaves
2 red peppers, split, deseeded and finely sliced
Half teaspoon of smoked paprika
400 gms tin tomatoes
150ml white wine
100mls fish stock
Pinch of saffron - warmed in water for 15 minutes
150gms roasted almonds.
700gms monkfish cut into chunks
450gms clams or mussels
120gms peas
salt and pepper.

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and - slowly - fry the onions until golden.
2. Add garlic, rosemary, bay leaf and red pepper and when the pepper has softened, the paprika and tomatoes.
3. Simmer for 10 minutes and add the wine.
4. Bubble for a couple of minutes before then adding the fish stock and the saffron.
5. Add the almonds to thicken and season.
6. Add the fish, clams or mussels and peas and simmer for five minutes until the clams or mussels have opened.
7. Serve with either good flat breads or buttery new potatoes.

TERRIFIC!