YOU can thank Leonardo da Vinci and my daughter for this week’s column, even though they’ve never actually met, obviously.

I visited my daughter in her east London home as we planned to see the Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery. In advance, we cooked a supper of chicken curry.

A jeroboam’s throw away from her home is award-winning wine shop Bottle Apostle. White wine suggestions for chicken curry tonight please sir, I asked: But mum, a little Lancashire voice chirrupped from behind some bottles. I HATE white wine.

Mmmm. Sleeves were metaphorically rolled up, shelves browsed, and we left, red wine in hand, thanks to Bottle’s lovely man in the know.

So now: Red wine with chicken curry. Let’s see.

It’s difficult; and, in pursuit of investigative journalism, I’ve eaten chicken curry for two days. I think there should be an inquiry.

Not only do reds change as they interact with air, but the flavours of a curry (mine was made with dry-fried spices, a little yoghurt, tomato and lemon juice) also intermingle and change, too. What a difference a day can make.

All the wines I tasted were good on their own; some worked with curry on one day, and not on another.

Oak and high tannins can be your tastebud battleground . . . but, despite that, here’s the three I enjoyed most.

In Hackney, we returned from Leonardo overflowing with more culture than a penicillin petrie dish, to Alentejano Ciconia 2009 (www.bottleapostle.com or Corks, Heswall, £8.95) This Portuguese blend of tempranillo, syrah, touriga nacional grapes was rich and fruity and had a gentle spice which complemented our own.

Back in Liverpool, a lioness roared supremely as she squared up steadfastly to my curry. The Lioness Shiraz 2008 (selected Co-op stores, £9.99) is from the Plantaganet vineyard in western Australia and has a sprinkle of pepperiness and hints of those cherries from a black forest gateau. I loved it.

But on Day Two it was too overpowering against my hot pot of spice. Still loved it, though.

Rioja Crianza 2008, Spain (£5, Asda) had hints of vanilla and a little bit of wood. This had spent time in an oak barrel but a softness of plum somehow helped it make pals with my spicy bowl on Day One; not so much on Day Two.

ALSO in my glass this week . . . a light white wine (rosé, too) aimed at the scores of us permanently on a diet. Stowells Light (£5.49 RRP) has 60 calories a glass. At 5.5%, it has a hint of alcohol and a big kick of sweetness – too much for me – from the chardonnay and sauvignon blanc blend. Girlie pals liked it; I yearned for more depth.

ALSO on my plate this week . . . I marinated a couple of swordfish steaks in lime, rosemary and olive oil, and, while they enjoyed their silky, citrussy bath, I revisited an already-open Australian riesling. I picked up a tang of lime . . . from my marinade-tinged fingers? But a second dip of my nose into Bob Berton’s Head Over Heels 2010 (£8.25, Scatchards Wine Time, Great Howard Street) re-affirmed the lovely lime aroma. I think I’m being converted to riesling.