PETER HOMER All About Wine...Beaujolais 2010 may prove to be yet another truly vintage year

An old French medical man once told me what he claimed was the classic French cure for a bad cold.

It was quite simply to enjoy a whole bottle of good Beaujolais, then take three aspirins and go to bed. This would either kill the cold or kill me, he chortled.

I’ve gained a good deal of unalloyed pleasure from this particular wine over many years, but have never felt impelled to consume a bottle in one go, whether for medicinal reasons or pleasure. Half a bottle is my own modest limit.

Certainly the magnificent 2009 Beaujolais, described as the vintage of a lifetime by wine producers and critics alike, created a huge surge in the region’s popularity.

Lots of people warned it would be a hard act to follow, but there are claims that 2010 is a worthy successor which will keep the interest alive.

And while it may not be quite so splendid, it has produced some lovely wines.

Before having my own first taste of a few 2010 bottles from Beaujolais, I reminded myself of just how fine the 2009 vintage is, with a delectable glass of Moulin a Vent 2009, Domaine Richard Rottiers (13 per cent, £13.60, HG Wines, Bottle Apostle, Decorum Vintners).