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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Chicken or egg?  The long standing debate about which came first will never be resolved by a cartoon depicting one or the other enjoying a post-coital cigarette.  Let’s face it, smoking is banned almost everywhere these days.  So I had to find another way to establish the truth.

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A red letter day….or rather, a brown box day.  My first case of 2007 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs est arrivé and I am over-excited, but there is good news and bad:

I am slightly disappointed that Dog Point is not included in this year’s case.  But this is more than made up for by the price, which at £110 including two bottles of Cloudy Bay seems particularly good value.

The brown box had been left outside my front door, and the ambient temperature was a perfect 8 degrees, so I immediately unpacked the box and cracked open (or rather unscrewed the cap of) the Cloudy Bay.  I expected a complex rhubarb and citrus aroma, like the 2006, but was surprised to get a noseful of gooseberry.

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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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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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Is it really necessary?  On a bicycle?  I mean, I am thinking of buying a mountain bike but should I put a bell on the handlebars?  Enough of the knock knock jokes, let’s get straight to tonight’s wine which is the last remaining in a case of Kiwi Sauvignon Blancs I procured from the Wine Society, and the second most expensive of the batch.

The title of most expensive, was awarded, obviously, to Cloudy Bay 2006 Sauvignon.  A pure rhubarb delight but so it should be for the best part of £20.  This Isabel 2006 was also from Marlborough but I only had to work for 23 hours to afford it.  At 13% alcohol, it had the typical gooseberry aroma, but it was more complex than most Kiwi SBs.  White grapefruit with caster sugar was my conclusion.  Perhaps notes of honey adding interest.

A super long finish of refined zing.  I think it’s a real challenger to Cloudy Bay.

Our money pit has had a leak for years.  It’s not pleasant when water pours in to two of the bedrooms.  It’s also expensive, and many ££££s have left the bank account trying to find a fix.  We are making a final bid to cure the leak with a swimming pool like construction that has involved rebuilding most of the flat roof above the bedrooms.  We use this roof as a balcony, half open and half conservatory.  It’s a beautiful feature of the house and worth trying to improve no matter the cost, and no matter that the beautiful travertine floor must be ripped out.

Meanwhile in my wine rack, Argie wine keeps getting better and better and it is far from costly.  This is the third one I have tried by the hand of Susana Balbo, under the Faldeos Nevados brand which, as far as I can tell, is exclusive to the Wine Society in the UK.

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