My Birthday week didn't exactly get off to a flier - Charlton were dumped out of the League One play offs on penalties.

One highlight of the evening though was meeting up with an old university pal and fellow Charlton fan, Justin at London Bridge.  I usually see Justin about once a year. We travelled to India together in 1996 and he never returned except for occasional visits to see family and friends. We arranged to meet at the All Bar One situated right outside London Bridge station for pre-game pint amongst all the City workers stopping in for a post work pint. Sipping my cold Peroni, I noticed amogst other things they stock Mad Fish Pinot Noir, Green Point NV (both very good). I was only on the beer tonight though.

The game started well 2-0 up 20 minutes, to go with the opposition down to 10 men - a place at Wembley seemingly a certainty. Then against the run of play Swindon scored making it 2-2 on aggregate. When Charlton had a player sent off I got the feeling this wasn't going to be our night. Sure enough extra time played its course with neither team scoring and then the Charlton captain was the only player to miss a penalty.

It's a long way back to Chorleywood when you've just been dumped out of play offs on penalties. 

Things did improve. The next day my wife had secretly booked a babysitter and a table for two at Gilby's in Amersham to celebrate my birthday. I've not been here before, but it was fantastic food, as good as some of the top London restaurants I used to occasionally frequent before the advent of parenthood and the end of my social life.

To start I opted for pickled breast of wood pigeon, lentil & bacon salad with Jerusalem artichoke crisps. Mrs T had Pan-fried scallops, crisp Cumbrian ham, pea puree and lemon & mint dressing. For the main I had Guinea Fowl with bubble and squeak, Mrs T had roast & pressed pork belly, baby spring vegetables, pommes puree, apple. The pork belly was the best pork belly she'd ever tasted apparently.

As to the wine. my options when ordering wine were a little limited ! I was in the mood for red. My wife wasn't drinking due to being pregnant, so not wanting to order a full bottle to myself the following options were available by the carafe:

MAS DE LA SOURCE Reserve 2008, Pays d'Oc, France

LA TOURELLE MERLOT 2008, Vin de Pays d'Oc, France

PRIMITIVO DI GUGLIA 2008, Castellani , Italy

ARABELLA Cabernet Sauvignon 2007/9, Robertson , South Africa

LA CHAMIZA 'Polo Professional' Reserve Malbec 2008, Mendoza , Argentina

BOURGOGNE Pinot Noir 2006, Domaine Dubois , France

I was tempted by the Domaine Dubois Pinot Noir, I've been sampling a fair bit of Pinot Noir from Burgundy (Red Burgundy) recently but experience has taught me that you're unlikely to get a good Red Burgundy for less than £15 from the supermarket, so I figured given the mark up that most restaurants charge £24.40 is far too cheap to be any good.

If anyone knows of a good Red Burgundy for under £15 please let me know ASAP

- and I've tried Louis Latour Borgogne Pinot Noir 2007 (£9.99).

In my opinion if you're on a budget you're better off looking to New Zealand or Australia for a Pinot Noir try some of the Yering Station Pinot Noir from the Yarra Valley £12.49 and fantastic. If it was from Burgundy it would be twice the price!

Please don't think I normally spend this much on wine by the way, except for special occasions, I'm a sub £10 man.

Anyway I digress, I opted for a 50cl carafe of the Argentinian Malbec lured in by the tasting notes - "Rich, full, generous - typically 'big' Argentinean flavours". I do like Malbec and this went down a treat, the blurb was not wrong - a big powerful full bodied red with dark chocolate fruits, outstanding. I opted for another glass when the waiter offered a post meal coffee and was back home and in bed with a warm Malbec glow.

The rest of the week was fairly quiet on the wine front. I did meet up with another great friend (and best man) Gavin at the Cotswolds Safari Park near Burford in Oxfordshire. We try to meet up regular despite being separated by some distance so on the sunny weekend of the 22^nd and 23^rd May we had a picnic with our families at Cotswolds Safari Park near Burford in Oxfordshire. This location was selected as it was half way between his house in the West Midlands and ours in Hertfordshire. The safari park is in a beautiful setting, in 160 acres of gardens and parkland surrounding a Victorian manor house. With the picnic we opened a nicely chilled bottle of Zalze Chenin Blanc 2009 from South Africa (currently £6.16 from Waitrose). 

I would describe it as instantly refreshing and crisp on the tongue with the first sip, similar to a good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc being very fruity on the pallet, but bit more subtle. A great wine to drink in the sun with salad, recommended with a BBQ or cold chicken. Carolyn Hart from the Telegraph describes it thus "I am not sure why something this good is so cheap. Don't tell the winery - just revel in the lush tropical flavours".

That was a good enough endorsement for me to make a purchase and it won't be the last time. A good wine to get in the spirit of the World Cup in South Africa. Take it to those World Cup BBQ/Parties!