The game, which will be refereed by Philip Don, a strict disciplinarian, has attracted interest on the Continent; the Dutch, not without a long history of crowd violence themselves, are installing their own television cameras at Loftus Road.At least the absence of the suspended Eric Cantona at Old Trafford has removed one blue touchpaper from that particular tie. We need to develop curiosity through our different regions and personalities.”This is happening via, for instance, the shift back to the shiraz, or syrah, grape, and the use of other Rhne varieties such as grenache and mourvdre. Jacob’s Creek, for instance, Australia’s biggest-selling brand in the UK, lost at least 10 per cent of sales when it broke the all-important £4 price point.Mike Paul, managing director of Southcorp UK, believes Australia faces two main problems: “The first is the need to maintain good value at under £4 to keep retailers interested. Unfortunately, that’s where a bit of complacency is creeping in.” He also believes traditional wine drinkers must be persuaded that Australia’s premium wine sector (ie, over £5) is serious: “Australia is not just a land of varietals. But the growth rate is still well short of what is needed to meet expansion targets Meanwhile, just treading water is tough going. The confident announcement of an ambitious investment programme was deflated by an exceptional period of drought, accompanied by reduced harvests and grape price rises.

Expansion is under threat, too, from a shortage of materials and skilled labour, rising production costs and a strong Australian dollar.Plantings of premium grape varieties, especially cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, have increased substantially and are expected to reach 58 per cent in 1997. Now that the competition has learnt enough vineyard and cellar tricks to make its own palatable, cheap varietals, Australia has begun to see its popular base eroded by eastern Europe, Chile, South Africa and France’s Languedoc- Roussillon.Early signs of anxiety showed early last year. Australia is consistently able to produce superior quality fruit from high yields.This turns European theory – the lower the yield, the higher the quality – upside-down. Since 1980, cost-effective mechanical farming and sophisticated cellar technology, plus marketing savoir-faire, have produced standards of quality and value that are the envy of the wine-producing world.

Latterly, it has led the way in drawing back from overtly oaky styles.
The thrust of Australian viticulture and winemaking is aimed not so much at excellence per se as obtaining the best quality grapes and wines at lowest price. The key to Australia’s success lies in the way it has exploited the marketplace with premium varietal wines, as popular for their generosity of fruit flavours as their value for money. Forty years ago, it made the transition from fortified to table wines, thanks to the inspiration of winemakers such as John Vickery and Colin Gramp. Where Australia has won its 6 per cent market share is in the unsnobbish, non-traditional market. Scatter a pinch of cinnamon sugar over each scone and return to oven for 20 minutes until scones are lightly golden Serve hot with the clotted cream.. Is it possible for any wine drinker not to have picked up the odd bottle of Jacob’s Creek? Britain may be Australia’s star export market but apparently there are still those here who shun wine from the new world for snobbish reasons.

Arrange these between the rhubarb so they are partially sunk into the juices. Cut rhubarb into 1-inch lengths, place in a shallow baking or gratin dish and mix in the jam. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, stirring halfway through.On a lightly floured surface roll the dough 1/2-3/4 inches thick and cut out scones using a 2-inch cutter; roll dough twice only. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge while the rhubarb is cooking Preheat oven to 180C/330F/gas 4. But compare yesteryear and today and there is no doubt that rhubarb has become a thoroughly modern vegetable.Rhubarb Cobblerwith Clotted CreamIngredients: 8oz (225g) plain flour, sieved1 heaped tsp baking powder, sieved2oz (55g) caster sugar3oz (85g) unsalted butter1 egg (size 1), beaten11/2lb (680g) forced rhubarb, trimmed weight8oz (225g) strawberry jam1 level tsp caster sugar mixed with one level tsp freshly ground cinnamonTo serve: clotted creamPreparation: Place flour, baking powder and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, add butter and reduce to crumbs Add egg and bring the dough together.

Mr Worrall-Thompson uses it in a chutney with almonds and apple-pie spices to go with cold meats. Although the mature leaves are poisonous, Mr White uses the young leaves to wrap around quail.Meanwhile, on the sweet front, an old-fashioned cobbler with scones baked on top of rhubarb in syrup is quite heavenly, as is a rich saffron and honey custard baked on a base of fruit.The prize for adoration has to go to Auberge de L’Ill, Illhaeusern, where Robin Weir and Caroline Liddell, authors of Ices (Hodder and Stoughton, £18.99), recall being served eight miniature rhubarb desserts on a plate: as well as rhubarb ice-cream and sorbet, it also arrived in a flan, a mousse, with ginger in a millefeuille, crystallised, and poached with a seal of white chocolate.I have been avoiding mentioning that childhood nightmare of thin sticks of rhubarb in a pink syrup, with thick yellow custard sinking into it like the oil globules on a lava lamp. For sauces and pures, cook the rhubarb with a minimal amount of water in a covered saucepan until it collapses.Rhubarb’s classic tartness makes it game for sorrel and gooseberry-style sauces, with mackerel or salmon. Rhubarb does enjoy a certain exclusivity at this time of year for being the only fruit to brave the weather. Well, vegetable actually; we classify it as a fruit because we eat it with sugar.
For the country-dweller in 1938, its significance should not be underrated. Della Lutes describes the first rhubarb of the season as being “to the digestive tract of winter-logged inner man what a good hot bath with plenty of healing soap is to the outer after a bout with plough and harrow”.Forced rhubarb has delicate, juicy, pink-leaf stalks, with just a tender wisp of outer skin, and it melts to a pure almost immediately when it is cooked.If you want the rhubarb pieces to stay intact, then it is best to cook them in the oven as outlined below. There is the faintest whiff of hype mixed up with its steamy juices, so I straight away rang Anthony Worrall-Thompson who admitted to using it “quite a bit more” than he used to.