As temperatures drop and the nights draw in, thoughts turn to cosy drawing rooms, a blazing fire in the hearth, a fragrant casserole in the oven and a nice glass of Sherry to sip while you wait for the cooking to finish. It’s wishful thinking, really. Modern houses aren’t big on either drawing rooms or […]
I am not a fan of mulled wine. I like the idea of it spreading warmth on a winter’s day and I like the smell of the fruit and spices, but the drink is always disappointing and it has ruined many a party at this time of year. I am expecting a nice glass of […]
SOME people like to drink a dessert wine with, reasonably enough, their dessert. I like to drink them as my dessert. The sweetness of the wine combined with the sweetness of most puddings is just too much for my taste, but a glass of Sauternes, sipped just by itself, is a lovely end to a […]
To chill or not to chill? That is the question. The answer is that a little spell in the fridge is good for many wines, including reds. Just don’t overdo it. Don’t use your refrigerator as a wine store. And that goes for whites as well as reds. White wines, Champagne in particular, are very […]
I AM not certain what constitutes a callow youth but I’m pretty sure I was one, way back in the day, when I got a summer job in what passed for a posh restaurant in the Belfast of the late 1960s. I served a very glamorous woman, dining with equally glamorous friends, but told her […]
A LOT of nonsense is written about matching wines to seasons. If you like a wine in winter you unlikely to go off it in the spring, so drink what you like whenever you like to drink it. But there is a degree of commonsense behind the matching. Obviously in summer we look for crisp […]
BACK in the Seventies, no trendy home was without a Chianti bottle. Some people even drank the wine, but the key thing was the rotund bottle, known as a fiasco (flask), in which candles could be burned, the accumulated wax giving them an even chubbier shape. Ruffino Chianti was the best known label bottled in […]
SO what wine will you drink on St Patrick’s Day? I recommend Vin de Liffey, the black one with the white head, best sipped from a pint glass. But Ireland is officially listed as a wine producing country by the European Commission and if you are very persistent (and a wee bit mad) you can […]