I have been to quite a few journalistic megabashes in my time, including the press awards dinner when Jeremy Clarkson biffed Piers Morgan. I’ve also seen publishers (mostly women) at play en masse at their book awards. Nothing prepared me, however, for the unrestrained joie with which the wine trade celebrates the giving and receiving of prizes.

On consecutive noisy nights this month, the rival Decanter and International Wine Challenge (IWC) gongs were handed out in Mayfair banqueting halls. Oz Clarke worked up the IWC crowd by vilifying the health police and defending the right to get “lit up”; and there was at least one crushed green velvet dinner suit on the dancefloor.

Do these awards matter? Yes, they do. Not so much for the bigger names — supermarket of the year again, yawn — nor for the lesser honours: I suspect marketing rather than real quality is behind the ocean of “commended” wines. Just as a prize for a young journalist or novelist means much more than a lifetime’s achievement award for an old hack, so the wine awards that matter are the trophies and golds for small wineries clawing their way up the quality ladder and seeking recognition from discerning drinkers.

Which is where I bring in Peter and Susan Close of Château Camplazens in La Clape, southern France. Peter, a chemical engineer originally from Stockton-on-Tees, retired after the international oil consultancy in which he owned a founder’s share had floated on the stock exchange. How does a rich man lose his money? By buying a yacht or a vineyard. In this case, he’s modest — so no yacht. He’s cautious — it took him and Susan two years to find Camplazens via searches in Mexico and Spain. He’s financially adept. He isn’t fazed by the science. He knows how to pick staff (a young Burgundian winemaker and a former tax inspector to handle the authorities). And this is not a hobby: the wines are winners.

This year, the Closes took the IWC’s Languedoc-Roussillon Red Trophy (ie the best red from that large region) and a Decanter gold medal. Then it was back to the vineyard, where the harvest has begun in glorious weather. So there really is life after oil.

Whoops. Earlier this month I gave the wrong price for Resolute pinot noir at Majestic. It’s not £9.99 but £19.99 (and we've now corrected this online). Rather steep, but I expect it helps to pay for the industry’s awards bashes.

LIQUID HUNCHES

Mas Conscience Le Cas 2007 (£11.95)

Weightier, biodynamic carignan from a little further north of Camplazens (Berry Bros & Rudd)

Domaine Sarda-Malet Le Sarda 2007 (£9.95)

Delicate red blend made south of Camplazens (londonfinewine.co.uk)

Château Camplazens La Garrigue 2006 (£7.95)

Refreshing, herb-laced syrah (citybeverage.co.uk)

What are you drinking? Tell me at wine@sunday-times.co.uk

Whoops. Earlier this month I gave the wrong price for Resolute pinot noir at Majestic. It’s not £9.99 but £19.99. Rather steep, but I expect it helps to pay for the industry’s awards bashes.

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