Cold Calling

You can’t buy happiness but you can buy wine and that’s kind of the same thing, or so the saying goes. But I’m not drinking wine this week: combination of a late night on Saturday (old friend’s wedding, too many cocktails) and the fact that I’ve now got a cold. Normally, I’d go with the ‘alcohol kills all known germs dead’ rule – but not this week. Still, there’s reason to be happy. A couple of days ago I got an email. A reader had asked for some help organising a wine tasting for friends, inspired by the tasting I did at Camp Bestival earlier this year. And she said: “Thank you for your lovely recommendations for our fizz tasting. We had a great evening and surprised ourselves with the favourites…Thank you for inspiring a group of friends to eat, drink, socialise and buy with a little more knowledge and confidence than before!” That makes me really happy, with or without wine.  

Current white in the fridge: Zilzie Pinot Grigio 2013, £4.85 on offer, Asda
This was our pre-lunch glass of white on Sunday, before the cold came calling. Refreshingly, it’s from Australia rather than Italy and has more flavour to it than most. Still with PG’s easy lemony flavours but there’s more lime and grapefruit to it too. It’s usually nearer £6 but at this price, it’s a fridge door banker and an absolute bargain. Went down a treat with my homemade hummus (get me). 

Current red in the rack: Eguia Rioja Reserva 2009, £6.66 if you buy two bottles, Majestic
One of my favourite wines from Majestic’s Rioja range, this also happens to be one of the cheapest. Jackpot. Made from the Tempranillo grape, it’s aged in oak barrels for two years. This adds a distinctive vanilla flavour to the wine, and a further year spent ageing in the bottle means everything’s beautifully mellow. It’s a shiny Rioja from a very good producer. Shiny Rioja = happy people. 


Peace out, winos x

Photo credit: Charles Schulz, Peanuts