Sun on skin. A sea breeze. Clinky drinks with ice and a slice. A chapter read in the bath (uninterrupted). Fish & chips. Champagne. Fish & chips served with Champagne. Dancing in the kitchen. An empty laundry basket. Clean plates. My one and only matching set of underwear. Having chicken stock in the fridge. Singing ‘It’s a hard knock life’ (the original) with my sister, word perfect. Amaretto. Bluebells. Using the wonky pots I made on my one day pottery course. Stirring risotto. Very chilled white wine, making the glass cold to the touch. Masterchef. The smell of bonfire on clothes. A pineapple in the fruit bowl. A new nail varnish. Really tart salad dressing. A chocolate cake covered in Smarties. The seven day weather forecast on Countryfile. Childrens’ midnight feasts. Loose change retrieved from pockets before washing. Unusual Italian red wines. Ripe avocados. The smell of my children’s skin. My husband whistling in the morning. The Speakmans on Twitter. Sharing a bottle of wine.
With thanks to Plan B (visit her post for more details) and Robert Crampton for starting this.
Current white in the fridge: Les Dix du Pallet Muscadet 2010, £7.99, Laithwaites
One from the case sent to me by the lovely Donna from Laithwaites. This is a Muscadet wine, made in the Loire Valley in northern France from the Melon de Bourgogne grape. This is a style of wine that has fallen rather out of style but I think – rather like all good fashion bar puffball skirts – this style of wine is going to strut its stuff once again. Actually, rather than strut, it walks its own line. Subtle, crisp and full of green apple fruit, the twist is given by the time the wine has spent ageing on its lees (yeasts that have done their fermentation thing and then lie on the bottom of the tank or barrel giving the wine more flavour). If Muscadet has been aged on its lees, it will say ‘Sur Lie’ on the label. Serve this with seafood for true happiness. I had a glass whilst stirring risotto and was pretty happy. Obviously re-named The Dicks in this house.
Current red in the rack: Domaine Marie 2010 Faugères, £6.07 currently on offer, Waitrose
Sorry, done this one before but it is gorgeous and on offer and, IMHO, a really good deal. Ripe, smooth and ready, this is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan grapes grown on an estate in the Languedoc region in the South of France. Sometimes a blend of grapes will give you better results than wines made from just one grape variety alone, and blending is very much part of the fabric in this region. It is bold & bright, like a Grazia headline. But there is something a little bit rustic about it, a little bit animal. And we like that. Needs food. Tomato-based pasta was a good match.
Hugs x
Hello, had a very frustrating, impotent day. Was wondering what could make it better, but ruled out a glass of wine as having a rare night off booze. So made risotto, and the stirring? It made everything alright. That and radio 4 on in the background. Spot on.
Tell your impotent day to bugger off. You have stirred risotto and know that food and family is all there is. (Note I didn't mention wine, that would be mean).
Now I need some heat and some fish and chips. And loads of booze tonight, I'm heading into my next half century – and beyond!
Yay! Go you 😉
I love your list! Fish and chips and Champagne – genius 🙂
And I loved your list! Wasn't it a lovely thing to write?
Wow. This gave me goosebumps. You covered just about everything. No need for me to even attempt one.
You could do one from the bear? Still laughing when I think about that post.
Yep, yep, yeppety yep and yep! (Although, on the whole, I find my husband's whistling an irritation…!) 🙂
Ha ha…I'll probably start to find it annoying now!
Love it! x
Forgot to add….my super cashmere scarf!
A very decadent list. Expensive Muscadet that, I hope it's the dog's balls. x
It's one bollock, not quite two. And sadly, not that expensive for Muscadet nowadays. No wonder it doesn't sell much over here 🙁
Lovley list. Fish and chips and champagne sounds SO appetising! Hoping the bluebells will be out for our trip to England….
Oh, they will…it's been so warm. Lovely.
You hit the nail on the head with your take on blending. So many people who visit Napa seem to think a 100% Cab is always the way to go…sigh. Cab is so one dimensional. The Grenache, Syrah, Carignan sound delightful…I will forward the details on to my bro, post haste, to see if he can conjure up a bottle (or two) before my visit next month.
Fish & chips and champagne…now we're talking!
Exactly that…I try and make people taste a straight cab against a Bdx blend or SF blend and most prefer the blend (I am more fun at parties than I sound, really I am)!
What a great list! Thank you so much for doing it!. I'm loving the fish and chips and champagne too.
On which front – with v rich smoked salmon pate tomorrow eve – having a dither – something creamy and chablis ish (to go with the pate), or something acidic and sauvignon ish to cut through it? Or champagne?
Thanks, loved your post and what it kicked off, a real joy to write it and think about it. So, smoked salmon pate…if very rich I'd suggest putting it with Champagne, as you'll need some pretty bullish acidity to cut through it. If feeling flush, go for Blanc de Blancs. If you don't want to do fizz (although I can't think of a single reason to not drink it, ever) then go Chablis. Sounds gorgeous, report back 😉
Faugeres was great, really lovely, though definitely not a wine to drink after a concert with no food…had a bit of a hangover next day! But thanks; will be buying some more.
Now, out of all the supermarkets (well M and S, Co-op, Sainsbury's and Waitrose) all of which I pass on my way home, who makes/sells the best albarino?! Tell me to FO if you don't want me asking such niggly questions :).
Hi, and thanks, glad you liked! Now, if you can throw £15 at it, then the Palacio de Fefinañes from Waitrose is brilliant. If you want to spend less, then the Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Albarino is really great value at about £8. And LOVE these questions, ask as many as often as you like 😉