Very chilled - in the good sense - after the winter break. Like a sort of hibernation, really... total slump gets you charged up for a new year's work.
Drank mostly Italian this Christmas/NY. Am a big fan of our fanatical Italian buyer Anne, who is enthusiastically bringing back lots of wines I haven't had in a long while, or which I've never had but always wanted to try. Est! Est! Est! Verdicchio. Zamperino. A lot of this is due to her having re-discovered old Renato Trestini; the man who gave me my Italian wine education way back when... He's still got the best address list in Italy.
With Renato and also Burt Anderson the American Pro-Footballer turned wine writer we put together, sometime in the Eighties our biggest ever Wine Offer; The 'Tour of Italy' - or something - divided Italy into 12 regions and did a monthly mixed case from each. 144 wines. It didn't have a lot of takers, to be honest. We drank most of it ourselves. But what an amazing education - and treat!
Nightmare for our shipping department so never been tried again - in any country - since. Pity that, but I have to listen to the wise heads.
But I often think I can't be the only person in the world who wants to try the wine of every wine region in the world. If we could find enough who did then we could launch 'The Never-Ending Wine Offer' where mixed boxes of the weird and wonderful just keep arriving on the doorstep.
Not for the sensible people. Simon wants us to put fewer different wines in our mixes. Just the wines you know you like. Sensible; Simon. For people with neat, labelled cellars. Me, I still prefer pulling out of some weird bottle from the chaotic jumble that is my own cellar, wondering what the hell it is. Something I've completely forgotten how it got there. I like the risk. It’s not a big risk.
Anyone else like this?
For me the idea of twelve different wines I've not had before is very attractive. The idea that I could still be opening bottles from new places till the day I drop off my perch is a happy thought.
Always dreaming like this on the M6. Drives you mad; a motorway where you know every tree, field and sheep. Good job I'm not driving.
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Tony,
ReplyDeleteI would love to try wines from all regions. Sounds like loads of fun. My husband hates that our cellar is always filled with wines he doesn't know, he would prefer to see things he knows, but I can't stop buying new things to try all the time.
bTW since I'm finally commenting, we are trying to join your wine club, but having trouble making sure our friends that recommended it to us get proper referral credit-seems to be a difficult process that is actually delaying our joining the club as soon as possible. Any help from someone on your staff would be great.
Hi there – apologies for the delay in getting back to you on this and we’d love to help. Email your details to customerservice@laithwaites.co.uk and someone will get back to you very shortly.
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