Paula Goddard

Reading through Bonhams auction notes for today’s wine sale makes me wish I had four-hundred pounds lying around to buy lots 736 and 737. Buying then comparing a 1947 Barolo against its younger 1966 counterpart would not only be an education for someone who’s never tasted a wine made before 1982, but also help prove whether Italy’s 1963 wine laws had any effect.

Australian and New Zealand bread-flour will be fortified with folic acid within two years it was announced today. Adding 200-300 micrograms of folic acid per 100g of flour is expected to prevent between 14 and 49 neural tube defects in Australian unborn babies each year. American, Canadian and Chilean women are already being helped through their pregnancies with folic acid food protection, but British women aren’t as yet. By law our white and brown flour is fortified with calcium, iron, thiamin and niacin but not folic acid. The British Food Standards Agency has been urging the government to order the mandatory fortification of food with folic acid since 2006.

The British Egg Information Service’s plan to resurrect their fifty year-old advice to “go to work on an egg” has been stopped by the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre. It seems suggesting eating an egg everyday for breakfast breaks Ofcom advertisement rules on promoting a varied diet. Offers by the British Egg Information Service to add a line to the original adverts saying that eggs should be eaten as part of a varied diet were rejected. The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre defended their decision by explaining eating an egg a day wouldn’t cause any harm, but that it "should be served with fruit juice or toast".

Rosés drunk straight from the fridge provide a refreshing drink, but you may not be tasting them at their best. Two rosés that taste best at room temperature came to light while investigating Think Pink - Les Jamelles Grenache Shiraz and Quinta de Covela.

Bolting rhubarb is not a good sign. The twenty year-old rhubarb patch in my neighbour’s allotment is showing all the evidence of being old and tired. Flower-heads are produced when a plant feels its life is threatened – a lack of water or nearing the end of its productive life are the most common reasons. But this is not a time to be down-hearted.

Last weeks Le Mans heralded a motorsport tradition turning forty. Standing on the victory podium in 1967, Dan Gurney decided to spray his winner's bottle of champagne rather than drink it. This was something nobody had done before and it quickly became popular with other winners. But before spraying can begin the bottle must be opened. Archive pictures show driving for twenty-four hours did nothing for Dan's champagne opening abilities.

Let’s drink to polyphenols, and eat to them too. You can read about the benefits of polyphenols found in red wine in my column on livingit.com. But some foods contain these chemicals too. If you want to have a go at making a polyphenol-rich chocolate, walnut, cinnamon and fruit-laced sponge cake, then try this Gary Rhodes recipe I’ve adapted.

Tangerine Confectionery’s new range of Princess Little Delights were the perfect excuse for some well-earned solo indulgence.