Steak and ale pie and horseradish mash with Domaine Tempier Bandol 1994

The great thing about going to old country pubs is that they tend to have wines you can’t find anywhere else - or certainly not at the price. Like the bottle of Domaine Tempier Bandol 1994 we found at the Nobody Inn in Doddiscombleigh in Devon at the weekend.

Of course the Nobody has long had a reputation for an amazing winelist - which it still retains even though its much-admired landlord Nick Borst-Smith has moved on. This bottle, which must have dated from the Borst-Smith era was listed at an incredible £38* - a total bargain for a wine of that vintage and reputation. It was still wonderful, exotic, dark and plummy - not faded in the least.

What to order with it? Well I could have gone for a steak but the idea of a steak and ale pie with horseradish mash appealed even more. Normally I’d have gone for a beer with it but it proved absolutely brilliant with the slightly gamey notes of the wine. The rosemary in the gravy also did its bit.

One of the most memorable combinations I’ve tasted this year.

*and, fatally, £26.60 if you want to take away. So we bought another couple of bottles . . .