Bacchus bloggers will have smiled ruefully over this weekend’s Twitter revelations that UK National Treasure Stephen Fry threatened to quit tweeting after one of his fans called him “boring.” Wine fights are much more personal than that, although the current handbags-at-dawn duel between WINE columnist Michael Fridjhon and his editor Christian Eedes (being played out on the site of communal blog Grape) is the soul of decorum. What a pity these public spats don’t happen on the sites that pay the pipers (Business Day and WINE respectively) helping boost circulation and reader interest.

Just back from Paris on AF990 this morning, I can report that standards are certainly not slipping in the Business Class onboard offering. The bubbly is Lanson Black Label Brut served in water tumblers, no effete Riedel stemware here and the Chablis Champs Royaux 2006 William Fèvre went very well with the saumon poché sauce au poivre vert, betteraves rouges sautées, artichauts à la tomate et au jus de viande. The “tin can” effect I was expecting from the artichokes was absent, perhaps due to altitude or tomatoes.

The Haut-Médoc Château Cantemerle 2004 was classic claret – cold, firmly fruited with an intense perfume that stood up to the trio of cheeses (Camembert, Fourme d’Ambert and Sainte-Maure, which could all have been a week or so riper). I’m sure the Crozes-Hermitage Les Allégories 2006 Antoine Ogier discovered by Olivier Poussier (World’s Best Sommelier 2000 who chooses wine for Air France) would also have worked. The only blaps Olivier made was the lack of something rich and unctuous like a young Sauternes to go with the terrine de foie gras de canard proposée avec du pain d’épices et de la confiture d’oignons aux raisins de Smyrne.

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