What are the biggest vinous misconceptions of all time? Well, one of them is that to have a wine cellar you have to have a cellar. It’s true that if you’re collecting wines with a view to keeping them for 20 years you should have somewhere cool and dark to keep them; but most of the time one wants wine to drink next week, or next month. And wine is not as fragile as all that.

In any case, why should one be constrained by geography? Most of us live in flats; how many flats have cellars? And how many of us like wine? Imagine being without wine in the house: it would be like being without pasta or rice. And what on earth do you do when friends come round? Dash to the corner shop and select the least worst? We’re beyond that now, aren’t we? And Rioja is such an excellently reliable wine that with some red, some white and some rosado you’re equipped for every need.

Chinese shepherd’s pie
If you want to keep a capsule cellar in your home, start with your own tastes, and those of your friends. Do you prefer red or white? What do you eat – fish and vegetables? shepherd’s pie? Chinese? Thai? All of these?

Enough questions. Don’t get bogged down in rules about what goes with what. Food has changed so much that the old rules are redundant, except that red really does go better with steak, and white really does go better with shellfish. Otherwise follow your own instincts. Thai food is happy with white or rosado, as is Chinese; Indian can handle red, but avoid wines with obvious tannin, which can clash with chilli. (Red Riojas usually have very soft tannins; a big plus with hot food.) Tagines go brilliantly with red, white or rosado. Choose your colour according to your tastes and habits: one-third red, one-third white and one-third rosado might be a good starting point. And be brutal: don’t buy something merely because it’s discounted, or because you think you ought to like it. Buy what you’re going to enjoy drinking.

The next question is how much to buy. Ideally you want a fairly fast turnover: don’t bother storing wine you’re only going to drink once in a blue moon - you’ll only have to waste time dusting the bottles. Buy according to how often you eat in, and how many bottles you get through in a month. There’s no problem with best-before dates – the problem is with boredom. You’ll get tired of seeing the same old bottles there.

Use wine in your capsule cellar exactly as you would clothes in your wardrobe. You don’t buy something only to wear today; in the same way, buy wine that you’ll want in the next few weeks. You don’t yet know exactly how or when; but you know you’ll want it.

And when somebody says, ‘Oh, are you bit of a wine buff?’ you can repy airily, ‘Isn’t everybody?’