Forty wine sponsors have each paid a princely pounds 24000 a year to suck it and see as one

Forty wine sponsors have each paid a princely pounds 24,000 a year "to suck it and see", as one producer put it, for the privilege of putting up six wines each. Gallo is there, of course, along with Mondavi, Southcorp, Seagram, UDV and a couple of champagne houses, Laurent-Perrier and Nicolas Feuillatte. The participation of pukka importers such as Mentzendorff and Ehrmanns suggests that a fair selection will be available. But it'll be interesting to see how staff will manage to lure travellers away from the champagnes and clarets to the more obscure delights of Macedonia and Georgia. A new 4,000-square-foot Majestic Wine Warehouse will carry the company's full range, and the 240 tasting wines. In due course, Vinopolis will house four restaurants, with a brasserie, Cantina Vinopolis, open from the start, followed by a coffee shop and wine bar, Root & Branch, next month and, eventually, Vinum, the fancy one, with its own bubble bar and brasserie. With two of London's leading restaurateurs at the helm, Claudio Pulze and Trevor Gulliver, the restaurant side has success written all over its menu.

Especially if it realises the ambitious aim of offering Europe's best list of wines by the glass. Vinopolis has enough bookings to be a resounding success in its first year, but what about the future? Too early to say, really It's not a place for the kids, after all. Yet, with flair and pounds 23m behind it, it deserves to succeed. Much will depend on whether it can keep things fresh, and on the quality of its facilities and the calibre of staff. And the Jubilee line extension, due to open in autumn, will help deliver the target of nearly half a million visitors a year. As between the Dome and Vinopolis, I know which one I'd back - and it wouldn't be the Dome.Vinopolis hotline: 0870 444 4777 Website: www.evinopolis Opening hours: 10am-5.30pm seven days a week from 23 July Admission pounds 10, or pounds 9 if booked in advance Address: 1 Bank End, London SE1 9BU Stations: London Bridge, Southwark.

I LOVE whisked jellies not only for their sheer ease but for their texture, that of the chopped amber jelly that arrives so welcomely with foie gras. There is no need here to polish up your moulding skills; seeing as how you're going to slush the jelly with a whisk, appearance doesn't really come into it. However, one word of warning: the first time I made this was on a glorious hot summer's morning, and without thinking I had a bowlful for Elevenses, the effect of which I will leave to your imagination. If it's your turn to drive home, avoid that second helping: it's the kind of defence most judges throw out of court. Serve this spooned over whatever summer fruits take your fancy - cherries, peaches, raspberries, loganberries and strawberries - with some whipped cream on top.1 bottle Sauternes or other dessert wine40 g/1 1/2 oz caster sugar, or to taste1 x 11 g sachet of gelatineBring the wine to the boil in a saucepan and then immediately remove from the heat. Add the sugar to taste depending on the sweetness of the wine. Your jelly should be sweeter than you might want to drink the wine to counter the acidity of the fruit. Remove 3-4 tablespoons of the hot wine to a small bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine.

Leave it for a few minutes and then stir in order to dissolve.If the gelatine hasn't completely dissolved, stand the bowl in a saucepan of just-boiled water until it does. Combine the dissolved gelatine with the remainder of the wine. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool, then cover and chill in the fridge for several hours until it has set, but preferably overnight. To serve it, run a whisk through it to break it up into a soft jewelled mass and then spoon it over whatever fruits you are serving.. WITH THE summer holidays fast approaching, I for one will be indulging it in a bookfest. Now a cookery book might not seem an obvious choice for holiday reading, but if you enjoy affectionate, idyllic accounts of rural England, have a look at Dorothy Hartley's Food in England. Little, Brown has just published a paperback facsimile of her 1954 classic.