What I’ve missed about wine…

Apologies, explanations and inspiration

I must apologise profusely. It’s been far too long since I wrote on here.

Since my last post, things have changed a fair bit for me. I’m delighted to announce that I am pregnant! I’m coming up to five months and finally getting into the swing of things.

But it’s not been the easiest ride. Firstly, the news rallied a real ‘all systems go’ on our house renovations (new-born needs somewhere to sleep that isn’t a health hazard), and a gear change on French lessons (I need a way to communicate better with French doctors and midwives). On top of that, and probably most importantly, for my first trimester I HATED wine. In fact, after ‘forcing’ a glass on Christmas Eve I nearly missed the whole event.

But now that I can finally enjoy an occasional small glass or a taste from a Coravin-ed bottle, I finally feel ready to get back into the saddle.

Since it’s my first post back, I thought I would write about the reflections I’ve had about wine on my forced hiatus.

A friend of mine said she didn’t enjoy her pregnancy because it stripped her of things that she considers essential to her identity - namely fashion and late-night parties. Me? I didn’t realise how much I would miss wine, and how much it shapes my identity.

So, what exactly have I missed about wine?

I have missed the first al fresco glass in the spring sunshine with a roll neck jumper and sunglasses. Your cheeks flushed, fresh out of hibernation and the cool wine dancing down your throat.

I will never take my first glass of wine outside in Spring for granted again!

I can’t believe that I’ve pined for that anonymous wine of a French ski resort to wash down (or rather help digest) a fondue. Yearning for the guilty pleasure of picking the cheapest local white to accompany skewer after skewer of molten bread and knowing I will pay the price later.

After months of DIY dominated evenings, I feel like I have been robbed of the reward of a glass of cool Chardonnay in a hot bath (I don’t have a bath either at the moment, for what it’s worth.)

I have also really missed the pure joy you get from choosing a wine you think a guest will like. Mentally scanning the Rolodex of likes, of past holidays, of previous dinners and then physically trawling your rack for that special something they might never have tasted. That delicious Hawkes Bay Syrah for the Hermitage nut.

I’ve not had the pleasure of the Sunday lunch bottle that turns into the second and a lazy afternoon spent on the sofa. Of topping up and slowing down until you find a perfect equilibrium amongst crosswords and TV.

I’ve even missed the rushing regret you feel when you see a ‘special occasion bottle’ on the side, remembering you opened it last night after too many ‘less special occasion bottles’ before it.

But most of all, I’ve missed how tasting wine leads to thinking about wine. And thinking about wine leads to thinking about the world - art, music, biology, geography, politics. The orchestra of subjects sprung from a single unifying instrument – the wine glass. And that glass, when shared with others, leads to a refraction of ideas and conversation so vast that, in my opinion, no other single topic comes close.

This idea, of the subject of wine flowing through a prism, refracting topics and discussion beyond the glass itself is the main reason I love wine.

With that in mind, I’m energised to taste again, to think again and to write again. Watch this space for more wine tasting and wine thinking.

Coming up this week - literature. And a ‘Love Letter to Grenache.’

Wine of Note This Week

Plakoura Mandilari, Domaine Lyrarakis 2018

Tart and bright cherry fruits with herbal leafy character that I’ve come to associate with my favourite Greek wines. Whilst not heavy by any stretch of the imagination, it was still tight and rigid with grippy fine tannins and an acidity that shoots up the nostrils. Although it could be that I’m simply getting back into the swing of things with this wine marlarky, I think in reality I’ve probably opened this too soon.

I’ve got another bottle in the cellar and I think I will wait another 5 years - suggest you do too if you have one. The rewards, I suspect, will be worth it!

(Bought mine from The Wine Society, now sold out. But Lay and Wheeler have some in stock).