March 2008 Archives

The clocks have gone forward and we're are now officially in British Summer Time. It's just so much catchier a title than GMT plus one, don't you think?

With aplologies to Bob Dylan...

Come gather 'round eejits
Found in the UK
And listen to me
I got something to say
And know that quite soon
We must all change our ways.
And move away
From daylight savin'
Then you better take notice
Or your boss they will moan
For the times they are a-changin'.

'Earth Hour' (dimming your lights for sixty minutes from 20.00 this past Saturday) was completely ridiculous. Okay, it made lots of people really feel that they had done something positive. Okay, the blacked out Google homepage looked cool. Okay, the whole candles thing it gave a cool jazzy feel to an otherwise dull evening. But, I'm sorry. As far as activism is concerned, the whole thing was just window dressing.

Start a world wide campaign for governments to put money behind the electric car and I'll be there with bells on. Otherwise, they can take their lame, aplogetic half-gestures and throw them in the nearest anaerobic digester.

After a bit of a mishap last week, we'll finally get our hands on our 2005s tomorrow.

All things being equal, these should be:

1 Case Domaine Arlaud Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes
1 Case Chateau Pesquie Cotes de Ventoux Cuvee Artemia
1 Case Domaine de Fauterie St. Joseph Les Combaud
1 Case Domaine Les Hautes Cances Cotes du Rhone Village Cuvee Vieilles Vignes

These are the first wines that Kirsty and I bought together. That, alone, makes them very special.

Only an idiot would fail to acknowledge some of the incredibly fine wine making that goes on in Bordeaux. Let's not dwell on the dross, after all. The great stuff is just too mind meltingly expensive though.

Bordeaux Primeur prices become increasingly comedic every year. The hugely successful vintage of 2005; most wines performing splendidly across all price ranges; seems to have set a precedent. 2006s were generally inferior, yet prices remained stable and some even went up!

Forsaking over priced Bordeaux for the Rhone and Burgundy seems the way forward. It's Rhone for quality and value and Burgundy for quality and beauty. Mmmm. 'Quality' is a funny word though. What exactly does it mean?

Concentration. Let's face it: who wants to drink a glass of fruit-driven, alcoholic water. The other element must be elegance. Lots of work goes into making a 'fruit bomb' wine. However, there must surely be a limit to the number of times you feel like being assaulted by a bunch of ridiculously overripe grapes.

And finally... I am amazed by (newish website) from the monks of Buckfast, assemblers of a particularly sickly fortified wine. Do these people seriously believe they are doing good? Are they deluded?

Below are a couple Buckfast related movies for you to enjoy responsibly. I'm sure some people consume 'Buckie' as the monks intended. Sadly, the folks below are not subscribers to that particular club.

or how about...

Praise be to the supreme being of your choice! Kirsty and I are now the proud owners to six bottles of Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie La Landonne 2006. This is probably our version of getting an I-Phone. I hold up our purchases as if they show something deep and meaningful about my life's achievements.

In some kind of wine/exercise trading type-thing, I've renewed my membership at the glorious Tooting Lido (South London Swimming Club). The biggest outdoor pool in Britain and, some think, Europe. It's an Art Deco masterpiece anyway.

Hooray! I'm off to France next week with my brother. It will be mightily strange, going back to the house in Roussillon we associate so much with John, my dad.

John died almost a year ago. It's strange, but with such a warm February in the UK, I haven't thought about it so much. The recent chill brought me straight back to last year though. Chilled to the bones, we were, in many many more ways than one.

Most London wine merchants have launched their 2006 Burgundy offerings by now. Somehow, reading through all the blerb, I found myself reading the varied musings of Napoleon. The story goes that Chambertin was his favourite wine. He drank it before every major battle except one: Waterloo. The message is obvious. Start drinking Chambertin and whatever you do, don't stop!