The Dating Game

My sister and I found my mother's latest boyfriend on the internet. Background: post first marriage, she's not been a great picker. After a string of unsuitables, we decided to take action. Following a particularly jolly wedding (not hers), we got home and signed her up on a dating website. We added her profile, a picture (in retrospect, using one of Christie Brinkley was probably a) cheating and b) illegal but it was about 2am) and waited for the responses. Most of them were deleted on grounds of bad knitwear but Colin got through. That's when we told my mother what we'd been up to. Two years on they are still having a lovely time. She calls him ebay Colin. You can see why we had to step in. Left to her own devices she'd be dating a knock-off Louis Vuitton.

This week's white in the fridge: Nimbus Gewurztraminer 2009, £8, Source Wines
We drank this at a wine tasting I did for fellow knackered mothers at Graze for a nursery fundraiser a few weeks ago and it went down a storm. It is quite an opinionated little wine, looking like not much until you stick your nose in the glass and then all of a sudden IT IS SHOUTING AT YOU. Just like a toddler. It is saying: ooh, look at me, lychee, turkish delight and jasmine all rolled into one. Then you taste it; same thing. Delicious, crisp and floral. Gewurz (as it is known by those to lazy to say all five syllables) is a gem. The default is to say drink it with Asian food but I haven't found a better match yet so go with it.

This week's red on the side: Tesco Finest Argentinean Malbec 2009, £4.75 currently on offer, Tesco
Sorry. Another Malbec. Must have a thing for dark brooding beasts at the moment. This one is made by one of Argentina's most well-known producers, Catena. Years ago, I met the owner - Nicolas Catena, a really lovely man - when on a buying trip. I was told he was an economic advisor to the president. Kind of puts you on the back foot when negotiating. Anyway, the wine is a joy, made from grapes grown in vineyards in the Mendoza region. It is not the most sophisticated wine I've ever had in my glass but it is rich, full-bodied and very, very present. We had this with toad in the hole and everyone was happy. 

To happiness x

The Beautiful Game

I'm not a huge sports fan. I once asked Andrew Strauss if he was following the Ashes. I was making polite conversation, the Ashes was in the news at the time and I had no idea who he was. Obviously. But tonight, I watched The Arse whoop Barca's backside and it was great fun. It was just me, the Lightly Bearded Husband and wine and roast chicken and a fire and telly and sleeping children. Just don't ask me to explain the offside rule.

This week's white in the fridge: Cowrie Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Marlborough, New Zealand £5.69 or currently 2 for £10, Waitrose
I think I had a little moan a while back about cheap NZ Sauvignon Blanc boring me. Scratch that. This beautifully packaged exclusive parcel for Waitrose is an absolute gem. It is shipped in bulk to the UK and bottled here, so boosting the wine's green credentials in terms of lower carbon emissions. Not surprisingly, this is something New Zealand is keen to steal a march on, given that the wines have to travel so far to get here. Anyway, this is a lemon-crisp dry white with gorgeous bright fruit and balanced acidity. Did I mention the purty label? Oh, I did. Ignore me. We had this pre-chicken.

This week's red on the side: Tesco Finest Vin De Pays D'oc Malbec 2009, £7.49, Tesco
My friend bought a bottle of this over when she came to stay last weekend. We saw it off, and delicious it was too. Plummy, spicy, smooth, not too heavy, enough to cope with my slightly over chillied pasta. I'm sure she said it was on offer when she bought it but it is showing at full price now. Snooze you lose, as they say. Made from the brilliantly moody Malbec grape (one of the Bordeaux blend original grapes) this has been slammed back on the wine map by Argentina in recent years. It is also the grape behind the wines of Cahors, sadly now very difficult to find in the UK. Enjoy: we did.

Get in x

A woman's work...

According to Lorraine Candy, editor of Elle magazine, it's easier to run an office of 40 than build a Lego fort. You don't say. When I was on maternity leave after Eldest Boy was born it was obviously joyous, but it was also mind-numbingly monotonous at times. Engaging with little people against a backdrop of dirty washing and a toy-covered kitchen floor whilst running a free canteen and taxi service (with complimentary bottom-wiping, obviously) is hard work. Being in an office, having grown-up conversations, drinking a cup of coffee that's not gone cold, sitting in relative peace on the journey home? 'Tis the stuff of dreams. And they call it work...

This week's white in the fridge: Terre a Verre Picpoul de Pinet 2009, £10, Source Wines
We had a wine tasting to raise a bit of money for Middle Boy's school earlier this week and this was one of the stars in the line up. The grape is Picpoul, meaning 'lip-stinger', apparently because of the high acidity of the grape. I promise you it doesn't sting. It does tingle, though. The delicate jasmine-scented aromas, peach-like fruit flavours and crisp acidity are brilliantly balanced. From the Coteaux de Languedoc region in the South of France, it is a gorgeous example of this underrated grape. Loves food, especially my chicken curry (mild).

This week's red on the side: Piccini Supertuscan 2008, £8.54, Tesco
This wine is a so-called 'super-tuscan' because the blend of grapes used is not the traditional blend required for it to be labelled as Chianti. This particular one is mostly Sangiovese (as with Chianti) but with a bit of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon added for good measure. Be prepared: this is big, bold, herby and blackcurranty with an added whack of spice just when you think the wine's work is done. You can feel the acidity and it makes your mouth water, so add food for best results, preferably something meaty or spicy. Or both. I bought it when on offer a few weeks ago - half price I think - but we've run out. I'll shout when it's on offer again. 

Now, fancy winning a trip to Valentine's trip to Venice via Naked Wines? Me too. Click here for details.

Pip pip x

Guest Post from VB!

I'm friends with VB. Not that VB (seriously though, have you read Mrs Beckham's interview in this month's Vogue? She's fab). This is Very Bored, or Very Bored in Catalunya to give her blog its full title. Luckily, boredom drives her to write very funny stuff. It also drives her to drink (in moderation, obviously) and she knows lots about good Spanish wines. So thank you, VB, for your post below on Spanish wines worth foraging for.

I wanted to do a post about Catalan wines that are available in the UK, sadly my research showed that there are very few Catalan wines available in British supermarkets and wine merchants, in fact there are precious few Spanish wines full stop. Except, of course, the erstwhile Rioja. Now I am not knocking Rioja, hell I drink enough of it, but I wanted people to realise that there are alternatives, bloody good alternatives, to Rioja. Spain has some fantastic wine regions, I am lucky in that 40 minutes drive from my home are the wonderful wine regions of Priorat and Montsant, and just under an hour away north and I am in Penedès— home of wine giants Torres and of course Cava country.

Priorat is a tiny region in Tarragona and the wines are usually extraordinarily expensive, prices tend to range from €20 to €500 a bottle so I was delighted to find that Sainsbury’s do a Taste the Difference Priorat at just £9.99, sadly the website doesn’t specify which grapes are used but I am guessing it would be a blend of Granacha and Cariñena with a dash of something else (Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah).

The area surrounding Priorat is called Montsant and much more affordable but just as quaffable wines can be found from here. Booths supermarket (sadly only up north) stocks a wine from my most favourite vineyard - Capçanes. Mas Collet made from the Granacha grape at £8.16.

Torres, a huge company based in Penedès, make a fabulous Granacha/Cariñena blend in their Sangre De Toro which is available from Morrisons & Asda at £7.03 and Waitrose at a penny cheaper!

Moving across the country to Navarra, sadly overshadowed by its next door neighbour Rioja, this style is certainly hard to track down. I’ve managed to find some - Agramont - at Majestic at £7.99 a bottle – a Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon blend.

Last but by no means least, and a particular favourite of Mr Very Bored is Ribero del Duero. Hailing from the Castilla y León area of north-west Spain. Not for the faint hearted, the Blason is a full bodied wine (Tempranillo is the grape) with a full bodied price tag to match at £12.34 a bottle from Waitrose Wine Direct. Save it for a special occasion with a great piece of red meat.

Wendy can usually be found chewing the fat over at Very Bored in Catalunya when she’s not busy slurping lovely Spanish wine that is.