Hot weather = less clothes. I'm not great at less clothes, unless you count wearing my dressing gown, which I can do for hours, with ease, every Sunday morning. No, I'm happier when jean-clad and wrapped in jumpers. But this heatwave has seen me, for the first time in years, wearing shorts and genuinely not caring about the fact that I might not be entirely hair or cellulite free. It's not as if I've made no effort - there is some fake tan involved this year, as mentioned before - but when I left my thirties, I think I left my post-baby-body-consciousness behind too. On reflection, buying comfortable sandals may have taken it too far but if anyone questions them, I'll say they're old skool. Bloody marvellous.
Current white in the fridge: Verdicchio di Matelica 2012, £6.99 when you buy 2 bottles, Majestic
This one was sent to me by Amy, who has a brilliant wine blog and works in the wine trade. She thought I should taste this. I'm very pleased she did: it's brilliant. Made from the Verdicchio grape (which means 'little green one' and makes me think of my children's noses as much as it makes me think of a grape) grown in the Italian region of Marche. It is exactly right for this weather, with lashings of lemony fruit flavours. Crisp as a white cotton shirt, too. Happy with a bowl of olives, and a star with fish.
Current red in the rack: Markus Schneider Ursprung 2011, £14.75, Red Squirrel
Back in January, one of my new year's resolutions (ok, my only one) was to drink more off-the-beaten track wines. A few days later, I got an email from a man called Nik, and he told me about his online wine company, Red Squirrel. Nik is a man on a mission: namely, to be a bit different when it comes to wine. He's got stuff on his site I've never even heard of and I love that. He sent me some wines to try and this one is properly hashtag amazeballs. Made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Portugeiser and Cabernet Mitos, this is juicy as fresh gossip, with lots of blackcurrant flavours. And the fact that it's from Germany, from the Pfalz region, is for me the biggest surprise of all. Completely brilliant with burgers, as it happens.
Chin chin x
Ps. Last week's Winser London competition is open until 13th July, click here to see details. £150 of clothes up for grabs. Not a comfortable sandal in sight.Labels: 2011, 2012, Cabernet Mitos, cabernet sauvignon, Germany, Italy, Majestic, Marche, Merlot, Pfalz, Portugeiser, Red Squirrel, red wine, Verdicchio, white wine