Up 9.5% over 12 months, the Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index (below) has clawed back some of last year’s losses, when the industry’s main benchmark index fell 14.6% in 2008. So should you be piling into the fine wine market?

The tale behind healthy-eating fast-food chain Leon sounds like a scriptwriter’s pitch for a souped-up Noughties version of The Good Life. Co-founders Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent were once 100-hour-a-week management consultants in the City before they left it all behind to go it alone and pursue healthier lifestyles.

And worse yet for us alcohol-besotted worthless lushes out here, heroically keeping bartenders and comely barmaids gainfully employed year around, the price of hops, an integral ingredient in beer making, has soared from $4 a pound to $40.