Do you prefer penguins or skateboarders? Personally I am a penguin man, although this caused a bit of controversy when I reviewed Hawksmoor. I did, though, fall in love with the beef. But, having revelled in Hawksmoor’s meat, I felt obliged to sample what most London foodies consider to be the competition in the steak stakes, Goodman.
I’ve been a W man for so long that people are starting to call me George Bush. So, when will you believe my double dip recession prediction? You might have to admit defeat at the end of Q1 2011, if GDP growth is negative for the second quarter. But I must admit that even I thought that interest rates would have to start rising before we took the second dive. If all it took was a VAT increase, then we are potentially heading for more of a “plummet”, than a “dip”. All of which leads me to continue looking for best value wine.
And that sometimes means belief in your future health by investing in en primeur wines.
If you are looking for a cheap and cheerful Malbec, you could do a lot worse than try this specimen from Naked wines.
Imagine a bowl of fresh cherries and vanilla ice cream. Not as dark and devious as many Malbecs but tasty and good with or without food. Seems like incredible value at £7.99 (less a mysterious discount of x%*) which probably means you are paying little more than a fiver.
* x = 1/y+3σ (no I can’t work out Naked prices either).
I must be honest and say that I don’t buy much wine from Virgin. However, I have a legacy account which costs me £20 per month that I will probably never cancel and here is why.
Close your eyes and go and do your wine shopping at your favourite retailer (I like The Wine Society, Majestic, Naked Wines, BBR and a few others including independent shops both bricks and clicks). A few months later, simply remember that you have been paying some dosh to Virgin and go and look at your account.
I just did this and discovered that I had £300! This comprised £220 of my money plus £80 that Virgin had kindly added as part of their Wine Bank programme.
Next, click on the Champagne pages and you will find very reasonably priced branded champagne. The prices even compare favourably with the supermarkets and that is before you account for the implicit 25% discount from the Wine Bank “interest”.
I selected a 12 bottle mix of Mumm, Taittinger, Roederer and my personal favourite brand, Perrier-Jouet. They are arguably not going to set the world on fire but it makes quite a pleasant drink at about £18 per bottle and will impress your friends no end.
For friends you are not so keen on, maybe you should stock up with Freixenet.
Stumble It!