Citrussy, refreshing, with a lovely aromatic hop character, it packs an amazing amount of flavour into its 3.8% abv.
"It sounds a bit weird, but the texture is something between cartilage and rubber," says Gates. "They don't have a vast amount of flavour but they are a vehicle for flavour".
This is a marvellous festive dish – so much better than turkey – in which the juices from the spicy lamb are used to dress the aubergines, injecting them with a tremendous amount of flavour.
In a similar price bracket to the Banfi - and the trade-up does show, with more flavour - is La Prendina Estate Pinot Grigio 2005 (M&S, £7.49), a crisp, unoaked wine from the shores of Lake Garda in the cooler north-east of Italy with a surprising amount of flavour.
Being a bit of a sherry nut, Sam tasted his way through innumerable barrels with one of his regular suppliers, Javier Hidalgo, until he found one that really excited him: a pasada pastrana (aged manzanilla from a single vineyard), which he asked to be bottled en rama to leave the maximum amount of flavour in the wine.
He gets enormous amounts of flavour out of mundane ingredients such as Jerusalem artichoke, which he makes thrillingly earthy with the addition of sautéed mushrooms and cubes of sherry vinegar jelly; braised leg of chicken is served in a spicy, crumbed crust with a distinct subcontinental flavour, and comes with sprouts and prune purée.
Award-winning scones in fact... they're blinking perfect, exactly the right amount of crumble, flavour and Devonshire clotted cream.
The tender pork had just the right amount of spicy flavour, which was perfectly complimented by the sweetness of the pineapple slices.
It occurred to me, as I took another bite, that foie gras is essentially a small amount of liver flavoured by a whole lot of fat.
