Tea-dance

This week I found myself at a 1940's tea-dance, complete with wartime cakes,stew and a wonderful performance of the jitter-bug. It was a time to dress up with costumes ranging from Spivs to land girls, Home Guard to Evacuees. Yours truly put on his Grandfather's uniform, that saw action at Monte-Cassino among others. The medals are made up from badges I had when I was a kid and are just a bit of fun.

It was a terrific evening enjoyed by all and when everything was cleared away, I retreated home, for a glass of wine.

Dusting off a bottle of Argentinian Malbec, I noticed the year and wondered if it had gone over? 2005 may be pushing it a little but there was still life in the bottle.
The colour was a deep dark red all the way to the rim. The nose was not overly smoky as I remember it, last time I drank the wine.
The Malbec grapes were delicious, full of dark berry fruits of blackcurrant and blackberry, mixed with chocolate notes.
The wine has a long finish,dominated by sweet tannins.
But like the wine, after a tea-dance, one can get tired.

Home-made Pizza

Saturday is a busy day in most people's houses. We spend the morning running the kids around to different clubs, on errands or undertaking some DIY with the radio tuned religiously to "Sounds of the Sixties" with Brian Matthews. The third of these is normally my lot.
We do re-group for lunch and this is where the home-made pizza comes in.
The process starts in the early hours of Saturday morning, when I can be found hand mixing the dough.
I know it can be done in a blender, but it can also be bought at shops too.
By the end of the 60's  show, the dough is ready to be knocked down. Two hours later and the dough can be rolled out into trays.
We keep it simple, with just tomato and cheese toppings. Some of the dough is made into small rolls, perfect with garlic butter or Italian virgin olive oil.

It has been know for lunch to be rolled over into supper, on the days when the cricketing pony choir are putting on a show, or the youth Drama and Brass are putting something on in town. Supper means the possibilities of wine, an event that singularly is the only thing to enhance my crafted pizzas.

The bottle chosen was a Cabernet Sauvignon from the McGuigan vineyard in South-East Australia. It came from Tesco, costing £7.99 and is very inoffensive.
The winemaker, Thomas Jung, has worked hard at making single grape wines. The Cabernet is full of red summer fruits and berries, accompanied by plums and woodiness. The blackcurrant comes out centre stage and stays till the curtain call.  Excellent for my home-made pizza.

Taste the difference.

A wine caught my eye this week,that is worth a try.
It is an obvious attempt by Mr Sainsbury to find an alternative to Oyster Bay or the pricey Cloudy Bay.  It is part of the "taste the difference" range.
Maybe it was the strange price they had come up with, who knows? I think the range of "taste the difference" is very apt.
Sainsbury's are laying down their very own Pepsi challenge, to all you Sauvignon drinkers.
Can you pick the wine out of a line-up of other similar looking bottles? I wrote a review some years ago about Oyster Bay .

Firstly, New Zealand are very good at producing Sauvignon. Marlborough is a region on
the north of the Southern island, that is especially good at this grape. Allowing for the slight yearly difference in taste of the grape, this wine is worth a punt. So go on,see if you can taste the difference?

Warwick Castle to Chianti

This week found me in Warwick castle. An unexpected treat, that  turned into a full on day with everything from vulture displays, flaming trebuchets and a bowman that couldn't hit a barn door.
The ticket price does not include all the displays inside, so it became a quest to do all that was included.

I did draw the line at the Princess tower, aimed at five year old princesses, because the pink dress would have clashed with my shoes. There was much to see,with lots of historians/failed actors bringing the subject alive. A timed itinerary helped you keep on track and kept you on you toes.


Lunchtime found me on the banks of the river island, watching as grown men rotated an out sized hamster wheel. This in turn primed a trebuchet bucket, that was ignited, flinging a ball of fire through the air.

The best bit for me was the longbow man, who had all the gear but no idea. His banter was great, but he failed to hit the target dramatically every time. One of the audience said the man needed a new string for his bow. At last, something on target! Another highlight was the birds of prey, heaven know what they are fed, but they were all huge birds and they have been trained to buzz the spectators.

So now the tentative link to wine, well after a full day of climbing towers, zip wires and Horrible History stalls, it felt only right to reach for the cork screw. The tonic of choice was a Chianti coming from the Coop, but originally grown in the mountains south east of Rome. The wine is a blend of three grapes, with 85% Sangiovese, followed by 10% Canaiolo and 5% Cabernet. The wine from memory was in the £7.00 price bracket and is unlikely to offend. It has been stored in oak barrels for 21 months, this comes through but I have to say that the barrels can't be new or there would be greater effect on the wine. The wine is gentle and plummy, going perfectly with the pasta supper.