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By and large, sommeliers are far better informed than they used to be. I do ask advice from a sommelier. In fact, there's a very good restaurant in London called the Square and I consult the French sommelier there -- especially about the Burgundies and what is drinking especially well that he can recommend. I know what to expect up to a point, but he will know his stock better than I will.
One big mistake is to have red wine with cheese, unless the cheese is mild or the wine is robust. Most cheese destroys red wines. French cheeses destroy Burgundy. The other thing I have a bee in my bonnet about is people who serve fine sauterne, like Château D'Yquem, with a very rich sweet like pudding, because the rich sweet renders that wine dry. So what is the purpose of having a tremendously expensive wine like D'Yquem if you actually turn the sweet wine dry?
You have to be very careful with cheeses. Roquefort is something you can have a nice sweet wine with. And, in fact, if you are lucky enough to have lunch at Château D'Yquem, they will serve with Roquefort a good sauterne. When it comes to Stilton cheese, well, that's a good cheese to have with port. When it comes to runny cheeses like Red Camembert or Brie, I don't think any wine will stand up at all. If you're going to have anything, then have dry white wine.
If you have the patience, buy a top quality Burgundy or Bordeaux when it's young and hang on to it; if you buy it mature [10 years old or older] you're paying those people who bought it and kept it until it matured. [Alternatively] buy at wine stores and not at restaurants where they charge three times as much. Not being a millionaire myself, I find these prices grotesque.
In England, we're talking about wines in the 10 to 15 pound bracket, which are wines that will have distinctive character. For [any less] all you can expect is something reasonably drinkable. It's not very good and it's better to save up for a better bottle. And certainly if you are going to have a dinner party, it's insulting to produce something that is so ordinary. You need to spend between $15 and $25 a bottle for anything with distinctive character. When people pay 5,000 dollars, or 5,000 pounds, for a bottle of wine, these people are collectors. They are rich.
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