Confessions of a Wino

Where shall we go this evening?  France?  Italy?  Spain?  Sonoma County?  I think I’ll stay in, somewhere comfortable, with a glass of something familiar.  Yet another Kiwi Sauvignon!

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It is 15th January 2008 and I am at the end of my New Year detox.  I am not sure whether it is time to celebrate or commiserate.  Maybe I am a tad masochistic but I enjoyed it more than ever this year.

Nonetheless, this afternoon at a board meeting I had a large black coffee, and I would have eaten some chocolate biscuits had they been on offer.  For lunch I had a fat filled chicken mayonnaise sandwich.  Tonight, I felt I ought to complete a hat trick of poisons.  I felt obliged to sack my temporary tee-totalism.

I was ill over Xmas so didn’t drink much anyway.  However, on NY eve I got totally mullered on champagne and that is the last alcoholic drink that passed my lips.  So, to celebrate the end to my New Year dry period, I thought I might start again where I left off, and open some bubbly.

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Do you eat ready meals?  The UK is one of the world’s leading producers (and consumers) of ready meals, and I mean by volume, not necessarily quality.  Is that good or bad?  What does it say about our work addicted society that we no longer have time to enjoy a home cooked meal with friends/family at our own tables?

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You may recall my suspicions about a new case from Virgin Wines were mostly unfounded, as the first bottle I tried was rather nice.

The case also contained three wines from the same stable – a Marlborough outfit by the name of Belmonte.  I tried the Pinot Noir recently with surprising results.

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I volunteered to try out the Virgin Wines online service which is relatively new to the UK but follows Virgin’s usual business model of finding a maturing market and trying to take a new angle on it.  The only trouble is that I can’t work out what the new angle actually is.

In terms of the mature market, the Wine Society has been trading for yonks.  Laithwaites has been marketing wines brilliantly for decades.  Berry Bros & Rudd have the posh end of the market.  Where is the new angle?  As far as I can tell Virgin is marketing wine to the masses.  The unwashed proletariat?  Well okay then, maybe just inexperienced wine buyers.

Whatever!  McCauley’s Journey Western Australia Shiraz turned out to be a top wine.

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As 2008 races towards us faster than an over-indulgent party reveller to the big white telephone, it’s time to take stock of the year just gone.  My 2007 new year resolution was to lose a stone in 3 months.  For non-British readers that is 14 pounds, or 6.35029318 kilos.

I’ve always been a slow starter but I can be a determined sod, and I finally made my target on 23 December 2007 after watching a weight chart that was broadly directly proportional to the Dow Jones and FTSE indices.  I am still surprised I actually made it at all, but a bigger surprise this year was the discovery of a new wine.  Not because it was a discovery to anyone but me, simply that I was the last person on earth to encounter it.  The wine is known by many as Gru Vee and I thought I’d close this year on a decent, inexpensive example of the genre.

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Inspired by my happy experience of Faldeos Nevados Argentinean Chardonnay, I was moved (but not in the intestinal sense) to try another.  Oops…

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Has Ian Simpson finally moved in?  From my bijou pad in Manchester I can see his penthouse apartment atop the Beetham tower, self appointed tallest residential building in Europe.  Recently I have noticed some lights on the top floor for the first time, so maybe it is finally fitted out?

The fact that I can see his penthouse is far from remarkable since most residents of Greater Manchester, the Outer Hebrides, and the caves of Afghanistan can see this proud member of a building.

So some of you may assume that I reside in the forgotten 1970’s part of town.  I beg to differ!  And so must the poor producers of Muscadet when challenged.  Muscadet is sooooooo 1970’s.  Sooooooo much so I wanted to remember it rather than forget it.  Is Sèvre et Maine really a second class citizen compared to the more fashionable and expensive Loire appellations like Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé?

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As one aperture in my life opens, another closes.  Having recently discovered a long lost Godmother, today I learnt that my Godfather (unrelated) has passed away.

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Virgin is a brand I associate with innocence, inexperience and ineptitude.  Only joking.  It’s more about customer service, keen price and reasonable quality.  Except for Virgin Rail of course.  Those of you to have had the misfortune of travelling from Manchester to London on the Virgin service have my sympathy.

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