Longstanding FT readers will remember the noble tradition instituted by my predecessor, Edmund Penning-Rowsell: an annual tasting of all eight Bordeaux first growths and equivalents at 10 years old, the age at which they have traditionally been regarded as broachable.

After Edmund died in 2002, the tradition fell into abeyance for several years. One of Citibank’s more generous bons viveurs resurrected it in 2007, when a group of us tasted the 1997s, and I reported on the event here. The fact that during that evening he introduced us to the term “subprime” provides a clue as to why the exercise was not readily repeated.

Since then prices for first growths have risen stratospherically and it is a sign of the times that we had to rely on a star in the east, Hong Kong wine merchant and restaurateur Paulo Pong of Altaya Wines, to revive the tradition a few years ago. Earlier this month saw our third first-growth dinner with Paulo, who kindly supplied most of the wines. Two gaps in his UK collection were plugged by Stephen Browett, owner of London’s biggest fine wine trader, Farr Vintners. Two years ago we tasted the 2001 first growths, one year ago the 2002s and this year it was the turn of the controversial heatwave vintage 2003.