Make-up wise I favour the natural look, but nowadays this requires a certain degree of pre-planning. Sadly, I can’t seem to carry off the salt ‘n’ pepper look as well as Clooney so have a bit of help with my hair colour. And when out in public with real grown ups in attendance I turn to my best friend a.k.a. my tube of tinted moisturiser, for support. That and a lick of Nars Multiple (currently G-Spot, always easily located in my make up bag) and I’m all set, lighting dependent. Point is, a little cosmetic help goes a long way.
With wine, same basic principle applies. Lots of wines are ‘tweaked’ a little to make them more drinkable. They might be made a bit sweeter, or less/more acidic, for example. But there’s a growing band of wine lovers who want it as it comes, with as little intervention from anyone as possible. No tweezing, no waxing, no highlighting, no body-sculpting pants. They’ll (usually) use organically grown grapes, natural yeasts, little or no sulphur, and sometimes biodynamics (groovy witchcrafty-type stuff like burying powdered cow horn in the soil, separate post-worthy).
Anyway, I love the idea of going ‘au naturel’. Really I do. But only if a) I can afford it and b) I know where to find it. Sadly, a quick scout of my local supermarket shelf proved fruitless, but having looked online I know my local wine shop sells a few. So, I’ll buy them and taste them in time for next week. In the meantime, here’s what we’re drinking at the moment.
Current white in the fridge: Diamond Jubilee Moet Imperial, £34.95, Berry’s
OK, I didn’t buy this one. A very nice lady at Moet (as in mow-it, like you do the lawn) sent it to me, telling me the Queen would be drinking it at the Buckingham Palace Jubilee garden party. I thought it plain rude not to say yes. Apparently, Moet made special edition Champagnes for the Silver & Golden Jubilees but this is the first time they’ve been allowed to sell it to the rest of us. I had a glass of this in the bath having gotten soaked to the skin at our village Jubilee picnic. It made everything sparkle again. Delicious and as pretty as the Queen’s coat dress she wore to watch the Flotilla.
Current red in the rack: Tesco Finest Cotes Catalanes Grenache 2010, £6.64 on offer, Tesco
Bloody hell, this is good stuff. Seriously, big & bold & bright & beautiful & best served when it is raining outside (check). It is mainly made from the Grenache grape but has got a few other things in there too, namely Carignan and Mourvedre grapes. Together, they create a sort of summer-pudding filling but with the pips in. Not literally, but it has got that gorgeous grip that big reds from the South of France can give. It might not be 100% ‘natural’, but it is natural enough for me.
Peace out, winos x
Oh love the sound of both of them. Specially the red. I too prefer the natural look, although as I get older it seems to get harder to maintain…
They are both fab, really. And yes, that.
Thank God for Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser. I quite literally never leave home without it. Although am increasingly finding that just combing (dragging) my hair down over my face is pretty effective too.
Next time you're in London, recommend a visit to a new Italian Wine / Food bar nr Oxford Circus, called Dego (I think.) I went last week (yes! actually left the house IN THE EVENING [caked in tinted moisturiser, natch]), and it was fantastic (both the wine and being OUT) I mention it because they specialise in organic / natural Italian wines. Suspect you'd enjoy it – and possibly get more from it than one whose drinking is currently restricted. Pah.
Brilliant suggestion, I am going to be heading to Dego and will report back. And you were OUT! So pleased for you!
I'm back in the UK for a couple weeks next month and have to confess I am totally excited at the prospect of just dropping into Tesco / Sainsbury / wherever and picking up what you're recommending at the time, then taking it back to my parents' and wowing them with my fantastic choices… x
Ha ha, that's what I like to hear!
Oh God. I read 'current G-Spot always easily located in my make up bag'. You kind of lost me there. Haha. Really craving a drink – abstinence is not doing me any favour.
and I read 'absinthe not doing me any favours'! I can imagine! Hope you are shaping up nicely, you looked gorgeous in your last pic.
That's your most tempting sounding red yet – or I'm just in the mood (10.51 am – could say that early is a record, but I would be lying!)and Moet? Of course, its rude not to. Consider me in.
ooh! Glad this did it for you…let me know what you think of it when you get to try it.
No idea if they sell natural wines out here – I suspect not – but I'll have a look! Like Met Mum, did a double take when I read about the Gspot in your handbag….
And I thought that was my best joke! Am sure you will find some natural wines, they are worth a try. But, as with normal wines, there are good, bad and ugly ones to be found!
I always find red wine an absolute must after rain since I graduated from hot chocolate. As far as make up goes I slather touche eclat all over my eyes and then pep them up with mascara. I find red lipstick surrounded by a well plucked/bleached backdrop is the perfect distraction from wrinkles and crow's feet.
Clever thinking, Jenny 😉
KM, your blog attracts the best of the Cosmo letters' page but retains the decorum of the WI on the bus after a big piss up. I love it.
New Exciting Fitou for the over 30s: "Mont Tauche Eclat"
That's a chapter heading, BTW
Promise to attribute it x
Would love to try the bubbly.
It was lush, I tell you 😉