When, as an adolescent, I first tried to find out why the horrible “wine” sold at the off-licence attached to the pub at Maidstone East railway station bore no resemblance to the vin de table I had drunk in France, I bought a book called Wine by a clever bloke called Hugh Johnson, who happened to be the wine columnist of this newspaper. It had the same impact on me as Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking had on my search for the reason why food had no discernible flavour on this side of the Channel.

A great deal has changed since then, but Hugh Johnson writes on, and I still revere him. The umpteenth edition of his Pocket Wine Book, the sixth of his Wine Companion and a concise version of his World Atlas of Wine (written with the sainted Jancis Robinson, at whose shrine I also worship) have just been published by Mitchell Beazley; and he is, of course, president of The Sunday Times Wine Club.

The Pocket Wine Book, along with its miraculously compressed information from all the world’s wine regions, always finds room for esoterica. This year, it’s where to eat in Chile. Last year, this caught my attention: “Roast chicken and peas are high in savoury umami, the so-called fifth taste. Lay off all other vegetables and serve it with vintage champagne, one of the most umami-friendly of all wines. Those eating will practically lick the plate.” Umami, as I’m sure you know, is Japanese for tasty, and it describes the ultra-savouriness of some protein-rich food. I decided to hold an umami workshop one Sunday afternoon in my back garden: in other words I invited friends to a lunch of champagne, chicken and peas to test out this theory. The chicken came from the farmers’ market, the herbs on it from my allotment, and the (frozen) peas from M&S. (My allotment peas were grim.) The champagne ... well, it wasn’t all vintage, and it wasn’t all champagne — have you seen the prices? — but all the more interesting for that.

The lesser bubbles — prosecco from Italy, Lindauer from New Zealand, sparkling white burgundy, supermarket champagne — were perfectly nice with the chicken in a thirst-quenching way. Vintage Pelorus from the Cloudy Bay winery in New Zealand was more interesting, as it has a few years’ maturity. But when we sipped the first of the vintage champagnes, there were sudden sparks of umami magic and an outbreak of plate-licking. Is it simply the expense? I don’t think so. There’s a depth of flavour in these wines that turns a simple chook into the most savoury game bird, and petits pois into a sort of vegetal caviar. Do try it.

Liquid Hunches

Nicolas Feuillatte Brut 2003, £29.99

From the heat-wave year, it’s rich, creamy and lightly oaked — a perfect match with the chicken (Majestic).

Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millénaires 1995, £75.37

This year’s champion champagne in the International Wine Challenge, elegant and citrussy (wine-studio.co.uk).

Waitrose Brut Special Reserve 2002, £26.99

A touch of wild strawberries from an excellent vintage that’s becoming scarce — a bargain from the same makers as the championship champagne.

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