New in town: José, the Courtyard @ 51 Buckingham Gate, Grey Goose Taste by Appointment, Searcys at One New Change

With summer threatening to unleash its golden chariot on the captial at any moment, a flurry of exciting new openings have popped up in anticipation. Last week I popped down to the soft launch of ex-Brindisa chef José Pizarro's latest venture, José, a Sherry and tapas bar modelled on Barcelona's Boqueria market, with a little Andalusian flair thrown in for good measure.

Decked out with authentic azulejo tiles, open brickwork, hanging jamons and an open kitchen, José has a friendly feel, and is distinctly understated in comparison to Sherry bar siblings Bar Pepito and the newly-opened Capote y Toros on Old Brompton Road. I tried an array of Sherries from the 18-strong list, beginning with the refreshing, sea-air filled La Gitana Manzanilla, then moving on to the deliciously nutty Fernanado de Castilla Amontillado and ending on a high note with the citrus heavy Pata de Gallina Oloroso from Juan Garcia Jarana.

Tapas were varied and forthcoming, from fail-safe jamon, to chunks of battered hake with aoili, crab croquetas and pork belly slathered with sheep's cheese. Pizarro was working the room in his chef whites, a smile plastered across his face all night. The consummate professional must be pleased to finally see José come to life, but the work doesn't stop there. Pizarro is already busy planning his fine dining restaurant, named simply Pizarro, due to open down the road on Bermondsey Street before the year is out. Watch this space.

I also found time last week to check out the Courtyard at the 51 Buckingham Gate hotel in St James's, which is preparing for its summer season. Through July and August, the courtyard, modeled on a Victorian garden and centred around an ornate fountain, will be transformed into a live music venue, serving up a series of opera and classical music performances by The London Quartet.

With architecture dating back to 1890 featuring a Shakespearean frieze of the bard's silvan plays, the courtyard features a Tanqueray 10 bar, where on my visit I enjoyed the signature 51 cocktail, a mix of Tanqueray 10, St Germain Elderflower liqueur and grapefruit juice, but was tempted by the Raspberry Collins. Heaters keep you suitably toasty and an impressively long shisha list brings the Edgeware Road to SW1. I experimented with watermelon, apple and banana, with apple just pippling the others to the puffing post.

The week before, I managed to escape the madness of the London International Wine Fair at ExCel to attend Grey Goose's latest experiment: Taste by Appointment at the St Pancras Grand hotel. Greeted at the door by a glamazon in a midnight blue dress, I was ushered upstairs to a plush living room and asked to sit down.

A Grey Goose Fizz thrust in my hand, I am given a tour of my tastebuds by Grey Goose brand ambassador Joe McCanta, who diligently explains the importance of the five tastes: sweet, sour, salt, bitter and the more recently discovered umami – the elusive fifth taste. I'm then offered a selection of artistic-looking canapés, which turn out to be trompe l'oeil tricks. The candy floss is as bitter as a Negroni, while the Parmesan-like foam is white chocolate.

They are designed to help work out which of the five tastes you're most drawn to in order to create a fanstasy cocktail. A fascinating exercise, the results confirm what I already thought: I am most attracted to salt, then sour, with umami in the middle, sweet bringing up the rear and bitter at the bitter end. McCanta leads me into his private bar and begins translating my taste results into a cocktail, beginning with a large sprinkling of salt. He quickly pours generous measures of yuzu (Japanese lemon) and framboise into the cocktail shaker, then in goes Grey Goose Orange and a slug of vanilla syrup for sweetness. Shaken and toppped off with Champagne, we christen it the I Love Lucy.

Having recently written an article on Champagne by the glass sales in the on trade, I was keen to check out the latest Searcys venture, so made the pilgrimage across the millennium bridge last week to Searcys at One New Change in St Paul's – the forth in the Searcys series and a sibling to Paddington, Westfield and the original Champagne bar at King's Cross St Pancras. The bar, fashioned like a giant chandelier by upside down floating flutes, is going great guns, with 25 Champagnes by the glass – the most extensive offering in London.

Both vintage and rosé styles are proving popular at One New Change, where City suits are shunning the Grandes Marques in favour of more obscure grower Champagnes like André Jacquart and Francois Diligent. On my visit, in between beetroot jellies and foie gras macaroons, I enjoyed a glass (or three) of Lanson Extra Age, a blend of three standout vintages released last year in celebration of Lanson's 250th anniversary. Their next project? A single clos Champagne – Clos du Lanson, made from Lanson's own clos above its cellars in Reims.

California tasting at Selfridges and Tom's Terrace launch

Things are pretty hectic at Decanter HQ at the moment. We're putting together our Bordeaux guide and July issue – two issues in the time we usually produce one, so heads are down and stress levels are up.

My evening events therefore, are proving a welcome respite from the madness. As soon as I walk down our metal catwalk of a corridor and push the lift button to the ground floor, I feel the tension ooze out of me. And so it was on Thursday night, when I hotfooted it from the office to the towering pleasure dome of Selfridges for a Californian wine tasting, the apogee of a week dedicated to wines from the Golden State.

Rather ironically, in a bid to escape the madness of the office, I'd inadvertently stepped into an equally mad situation. Arriving a fashionable ten minutes late, on making it past the red rope, a glass was thrust in my hand and I was ushered to Table 2, where a besuited man was ebulliently espousing the merits of Californian Viognier. I had to play catch up, swirling, sniffing and swigging my Hawk Crest Chardonnay as fast as humanly possible.

As soon as I'd caught up with the Alban Viognier, we were onto the Meiomi, Bel Glos, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. We were given less than a minute on each wine – it felt like a speed tasting, which for me, took all the pleasure out of the experience. Wine is something to be savoured, not swallowed in a second. I barely had time to consider what was in my glass before we were on to the next thing. I understand we had a lot of wines to get through, but it's difficult to enjoy them when tasting at such speed.

I refused to let go of my Pinot, and instead let it linger in my glass while I revelled in its sumptuous, fruit-forward aromas of rich ripe cherries and juicy raspberries. On the palate it was as round as an O, and had massive weight and flavour for a Pinot – easily my wine of the night. The £51 Stags Leap Artemis however, was disappointing, in the way that so many of the California big guns are. I appreciated its classicism and elegance, but it didn't blow me away the way I hoped it might.

We were allowed to devour a selection of cheeses in between sips, from the gooey Reblochon to the robust Manchecho. And it was then that I fell in love... with Comte. I can't believe I've let this sensational cheese go under my radar for so long, and that its creamy, nutty, deliciousness has been missing from my life all these years. I was so taken with the Comte that the next day I went on a pilgrimage to Borough Market with the soul purpose of buying a hunk of the stuff.

Anyway, back to the wines... the final wine of Table 2, a Cline ancient vines Mouvedre, had lovely herbal aromas and attractive wild notes. No sooner had I pinpointed the aromas, than we were ushered to Table 1, the Shafer table, where we tried their 2007 Chardonnay and a rather delicious 2005 Merlot. On Table 4 we tried a sparkling brut rosé by J Schram at £57 a pop, and Peter Michael Le Moulin Rouge Pinot Noir from Santa Lucia for an eye-watering £105 a bottle. Admittedly, very little is shipped over to the UK, but for me the £32.99 Meiomi was the Oscar winner to Le Moulin Rouge's supporting act.

I never made it to Table 3, as I had to dash off to attend the launch of Tom's Terrace pop up restaurant at Somerset House. Making my way there through the back entrance via Temple tube, I walked through the fountains to meet my friend on the other side. The sound of the music, smell of the sizzling food and feel of the cold water on my skin was an intoxicating combination.

The party was in full swing and Lanson in full flow when we arrived – the man himself, fox-featured Tom Aikens was working the room (well, canopied enclosure) under the watchful eye of his gorgeous wife Amber Nuttall, while cranky critic Giles Coren gesticulated wildly to his flamed-haired wife Esther Walker. Perhaps she'd removed an indefinite article from one of his sentences, making it end on an unstressed syllable. I hope not for her sake...

Lanson vertical tasting

Yesterday afternoon I scuttled out of the office early to attend a vertical tasting of Lanson Champagne hosted by Tom Stevenson. The invite said it was to be held in the 'Masonic Temple' at the Andaz Hotel, Liverpool Street. I was intrigued.

Taking the lift to the first floor, I was directed through a series of carpeted corridors that lead to the temple, which was sealed off by a pair of huge varnished wooden doors etched with the words: 'For God And His Service'. The room was round, with a white marble floor and red and white marble columns evenly spaced along the walls. It was decked out like a strange courtroom - think Alice in Wonderland meets the Da Vinci Code, with rows of stern brown chairs at either side, each with their own emblem, from eagles and quills to coats of arms. 

On the ceiling, the signs of the zodiac circled a golden sun and at the far end, framed by the organ, stood a throne, its head decorated with a third eye hovering in a cloud emitting Bernini-esque beams of light. Standing next to the throne was an ashen-faced Tom Stevenson, remote control in hand. I was expecting a funny handshake, but thought better of attempting a greeting and quietly took my place next to Simon Berry.

We were handed a glass of Lanson rosé to help us get through the introduction, which, by Stevenson's own admission, was drier than a Brut Nature. The main thrust of his argument was that non-malolactic fermentation in Champagne is a trend on the rise, and we will soon see brands beyond Krug, Bollinger and Lanson experimenting with the technique. 

The fun began when we got to taste the 10 Champagnes, dating from 1996 back to 1976. It was interesting to compare the same vintages with different disgorgement dates. We tried two 1995s disgorged ten years apart (in 1999 and 2009 respectively), two 1985s disgorged in 1989 and 2006, and two 1976s disgorged in 1999 and 2008. I found myself preferring the wines that had been disgorged earlier, as they seemed to show more complexity and maturity than the recently disgorged examples, though opinion around the room was divided. 

After the tasting we got to enjoy some sensational food from the Andaz kitchen. Highlights included the goats cheese crumble with crushed walnuts (so good I had three), wild mushroom gnocci and apple cinnamon parfait with treacle sauce. At 7.30 I dashed to my second event of the evening at the HOST (Honduras Street) gallery in Old Street -  a tasting to celebrate the launch of redwhiteorpink.com, a wine website headed by Laura Lindsay, former sales manager of Edward Parker Wines. 

Top five 

Champagne Lanson 1996 (magnum) disgorged 2008

Clear, pale, lemon with ebullient bubbles. The nose was fascinatingly complex - with dairy notes of butter and cream lending it a Chablisian character. The Chardonnay screams out. Rounded and full in the mouth with citrus notes, good acidity and long length. Tom Stevenson once described it as 'like gargling with razor blades' (in a good way). 

Champagne Lanson 1988 (magnum) disgorged 2008

Clear, medium, gold, with a sharp citrus lemon nose and touches of honey. Crisp, fresh and silky on the palate with elegant Pinot Noir fruits, it had a good mousse, impressive length and hints of licorice and vanilla on the finish. 

Champagne Lanson 1985 (bottle) disgorged 1989

My kind of Champagne - it had a nose of hot buttered toast and a rich, full mouthfeel. It showed more complexity, body and depth than the recently disgorged 1985, with crisp acidity and a mushroomy finish. 

Champagne Lanson 1979 (magnum) disgorged 2007

Clear, medium, gold with an attractive, varnish-like nose. Light and fruity on the palate, it showed fresh lemons and apples coupled with appealing and intriguing truffle aromas. Although lighter than a lot of the Champagnes on show, it was elegant and surprisingly persistent.

Champagne Lanson 1976 (magnum) disgorged 1999

The fairest of them all, or at least the most golden. Deliciously complex with a nose of hot buttered crumpets and digestive biscuits. Round, rich, intense and full-bodied, the palate had a lovely mousse held up by a backbone of acidity and an attractive sherry-like nuttiness. I found the slightly oxidized aromas and long, toasty finish hugely appealing - my wine of the night.