Corking

Had some wine with dinner tonight. I asked my man to open the bottle for me. I have this wonderful gadget called a 'wine tap' for opening bottles. It does work, for me that is! This particular bottle of wine, a reasonably priced Chardonnay, has a short cork - compound cork that is. I should have handed my man a regular corkscrew but no he used the 'wine tap' - the upshot is that the cork, at the base, broke into little bits, and so my first glass of wine was sprinkled with tiny floating bits of cork. Never mind it went down well.

There has been talk out here of vintners using metal screw caps on their bottles instead of corks, oh what will the sommeliers do? Arrive at the table with the white cloth wrapped around the bottle and then proceed to unscrew a cap - Oh no!! We have to gently take the blade of the corkscrew around the neck of the bottle and lifting the top of the foil before inserting the screw into the cork and gently prising the said cork out of the bottle. We cannot have the uninitiated just screwing a cap off a bottle of Montrachet or Chateauneuf de Pape or whatever - heaven forbid!! Centuries of tradition gone in a matter of seconds, and what are they doing using plastic corks let alone screw caps!!

I have had some lovely wines out here, I don't go for the overpriced ones at all. Our tastes have matured and we have sourced some really nice, drinkable (too drinkable sometimes) wines at acceptable prices. We have yet to go to some of the vineyards, they are not that common in our locality - I need to get himself out for a 'wine' trip and find something decent...

We have become addicted to Channel 4's series of 'Come Dine With Me' - it is the funniest programme we have seen in such a long while. One week there was a guy who created a dinner for the other contestants in that weeks slot. He was a wine buff - and a lawyer to boot!! He was so pretentious about the wines that were offered at the dinners provided by the other contestants yet at his own dinner party he only provided one bottle of wine for the five of them. He did not win!! We just sat and chuckled through the whole experience..

My man has made some Epine this week - his first attempt - whether it will cut the mustard or not I don't know... fingers crossed for him.

I must admit that the quince aperitif I made last year is tasting really good. I still have a few bottles left. I might have to hide them as the longer they are kept the better they are.

I am sounding quite alcoholic..... but am not - decidedly - I have cut down got weight to lose....