I have long been a fan of Susana Balbo’s Malbecs since I first discovered them on the rip-off wine list of the Gaucho Grill. So I was intrigued to see this blend, named Brioso, on the virtual shelves of the Wine Society. At £14.95 ($30) it is not cheap so it needs to be measured against serious competition.
As blends go, this one has a whopping 5 varietals contributing to the mix, but did this add as many facets to the flavour of the wine?
Last night I went to see a bit of Oscar Wilde. Born in Dublin, educated and excelled at Trinity College, and Magdelen Colledge Oxford, he then observed in close quarter London Society with his acerbic wit, before being buried in Paris at the tender age of 46.
I didn’t see him in the flesh, even the rotting, grave-sodden sort. I merely remembered him through one of his plays “An Ideal Husband”. Amongst the many lessons, most extraordinary above all, was my realisation that political scandals have been around since even before my forefather’s forefather (Great Grandfather, then?) was chased from the office of Mayor of Wimbledon in the 1930s. This play was written in 1895 when Wilde was about my age, and concerns the dilemma presented when a senior politician is confronted by his secret and corrupt past, in a black-mail attempt. Does the evil Mrs Cheveley succeed in extorting her demands? You will have to read/watch the play yourself. Whilst doing so, you will not be able to resist a snigger or two at how Wilde’s observations are all too relevant to today’s society.
Of all the restaurants where I have sat beneath a canopy of Maple leaves, Le Perron in Geneva is undoubtedly the best, or come to think of it, actually the only one. Having said that, I suppose I should be grateful to be sitting outside at all in October in Europe.
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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.
I was invited to Live Earth. What a dilemma. All tickets cost £55. I went free. Should I make a charitable donation to some worthy cause? Which cause exactly? I mean this was not a charity event, it was about awareness, man. Quite a hippy concept really, but played out in the hard commercial word of the new millennium. Some of the messages from the various entertainers who participated were more genuine than others but I have to admit to laughing. It’s not very rock and roll having some pop idol jumping on stage and telling us all not to leave our TVs on standby, before launching into some familiar guitar riff.
There were also doubts about the CO2 created by the event itself. I travelled public transport all the way, only to see the Black Eyed Peas being helicoptered in to Wembley for Al Gore’s denouement.
All in all though, a fantastic day out. It’s not often you get to see such a high class line up. Here’s the pictures:
Firstly my (somewhat feeble) attempt at a panoramic view of Wembley.
The wine bar in the lower ground floor of F & M Foodhall on Piccadilly is so cool, and I’m not talking about the ambient temperature. Staffed by a range of nationalities with a variety of experiences in wine. Our Polish waiter, Artur Zarzycki “vaz early on hiz vine joornee” but seemed to know plenty despite his claimed one year of experience. And he almost knew how to operate a camera!
Queuing outside F & M on a Sunday at midday (the bloody shop opened late by about 2 minutes 30 seconds), because we had an hour to kill before our reservation at St Alban (more anon). So, as all the restaurants and cafes in F & M were being refurbished, we dashed down to the wine bar “1707” where, for £23.90 (inc. service) we got to try a fantastic range of wines. Who says the posh shops are expensive?
Stumble It!
