Virtual around the world wine tour
- Thread starter Marchbanks
- Start date
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Another night in Argentina - a switch to full Malbec and Matias Riccitelli’s Vineyard Selection 2016.
It’s definitely less polished, more rustic than the Gran Enemigo - but that’s mostly Cabernet Franc, so it isn’t really fair to compare. This Riccitelli is nonetheless very good and satisfying, with tarry black fruit, some herbs and a long finish. And - sorry to bang on about it - much better value for money. Although my past notes don’t really discriminate much between the two, my memory tells me that I slightly prefer Riccitelli’s sister CF bottling. It would have been more instructive to try that after the Enemigo, I suppose, but variety is the spice of life. That would also have meant an element of forward planning, not one of my strongest suits.
As I was sorting out the tagging and album art on my NAS collection I discovered that I do indeed have some Astor Piazzolli. I think it must have appeared courtesy of a French pal whose hard drive had a brief flirtation with mine when he was here a few years ago. With apologies to Paul, it seemed silly not to give him a try.
I don’t have all five CDs indicated in the image, only two. But having given Astor an hour of my time I decided that’s probably two more than I need. I was expecting something exciting and passionate, but this was more like a BBC Radio 2 band show from the late 60s.
I definitely wanted something else to remember Argentina by. Julie Covington? Tango In the Night? Of course not, what do you take me for? Scouring Astor Piazzolli’s Wikipedia page for some inspiration I found a picture of him with a very famous Argentinian. Of course, that’s it!! But the rules are that it must be part of my collection… Bandcamp to the rescue. Not only was it available, it was free. A few minutes later it had been downloaded, tagged and scanned and was being played from LMS.
Although I couldn’t remember reading 131, I definitely recalled buying it a couple of years ago. It didn’t take me long to find it hidden away on my Nook e-reader. Good, something to keep me occupied on the forthcoming Atlantic crossing. One more stop in the Americas first, though…
It’s definitely less polished, more rustic than the Gran Enemigo - but that’s mostly Cabernet Franc, so it isn’t really fair to compare. This Riccitelli is nonetheless very good and satisfying, with tarry black fruit, some herbs and a long finish. And - sorry to bang on about it - much better value for money. Although my past notes don’t really discriminate much between the two, my memory tells me that I slightly prefer Riccitelli’s sister CF bottling. It would have been more instructive to try that after the Enemigo, I suppose, but variety is the spice of life. That would also have meant an element of forward planning, not one of my strongest suits.
As I was sorting out the tagging and album art on my NAS collection I discovered that I do indeed have some Astor Piazzolli. I think it must have appeared courtesy of a French pal whose hard drive had a brief flirtation with mine when he was here a few years ago. With apologies to Paul, it seemed silly not to give him a try.
I don’t have all five CDs indicated in the image, only two. But having given Astor an hour of my time I decided that’s probably two more than I need. I was expecting something exciting and passionate, but this was more like a BBC Radio 2 band show from the late 60s.
I definitely wanted something else to remember Argentina by. Julie Covington? Tango In the Night? Of course not, what do you take me for? Scouring Astor Piazzolli’s Wikipedia page for some inspiration I found a picture of him with a very famous Argentinian. Of course, that’s it!! But the rules are that it must be part of my collection… Bandcamp to the rescue. Not only was it available, it was free. A few minutes later it had been downloaded, tagged and scanned and was being played from LMS.
Although I couldn’t remember reading 131, I definitely recalled buying it a couple of years ago. It didn’t take me long to find it hidden away on my Nook e-reader. Good, something to keep me occupied on the forthcoming Atlantic crossing. One more stop in the Americas first, though…
paulfromcamden
Baffled
I'd completely forgotten she was Argentinian. I guess because she's lived and worked so long in France.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
The next stop on the journey is Uruguay, westernmost point 58°25′W. Bouza Sin Barrica 2016 is the wine. 100% tannat and probably the most uncompromising wine I have ever drunk. The first mouthful assaults your tastebuds and makes you believe (wrongly) that there is some kind of effervescence involved. Relax! There’s an unexpected smoothness behind it, huge depth and a very satisfying finish. Powerful, yes, but with a definite complexity too. And the lack of oak (‘sin barrica’) allows the purity of the fruit to come through. This is a good way ahead of the Peruvian offering and, dare I say it, maybe the basic Montus too. Uruguay and tannat seem to go together extremely well IME.
Sadly this is my last bottle of sixteen that I picked up at an absurd bargain price in a French supermarket five years ago. I even took a picture of the shelf…
A fiver a bottle! Decantalo want around £25 for the currently-available vintage. I doubt I’ll ever find a deal that good again.
I couldn’t find any music in my collection with even a tenuous link to Uruguay, Bouza (plenty of boozers, but that’s too easy) or tannat. I ended up going to the national flag - it has a sun on it. So Sun Ra, or rather Thomas de Pourquery’s fine album of covers.
That really was a rubbish connection, so I decided to go back to Bandcamp, play through a few things tagged with ‘Uruguay’ that looked interesting and didn’t cost a great deal, then buy one. Confusión Masiva pretty much sums up my default state, and I liked the imagery of anti-global warming and globalisation so I went for it.
I paid $3 for twenty minutes or so of pretty decent metal. It brought home to me how many really good bands there must be who will never be well-known outside their immediate environment. Why don’t you download their album and give them a couple of dollars too? It makes me chuckle to think what their reaction would be if they suddenly got half-a-dozen bungs from the UK for no apparent reason. Confusión Masiva, no doubt.
paulfromcamden
Baffled
I drew a blank on Uruguay I'm afraid. Nothing. Not even on Folkways' 'Music Of The World's Peoples, Volume Three'.
A bit of internet research did however lead me to Eduardo Mateo. Here's a great article about his life: "I first heard Eduardo Mateo thanks to a bald-headed man on a Vespa in a small Uruguayan town called Tacuarembó"
This is from 1989 a year before he died. I'm not quite sure what's going on but I've just played it three times in a row. Now to track down some of his records.
A bit of internet research did however lead me to Eduardo Mateo. Here's a great article about his life: "I first heard Eduardo Mateo thanks to a bald-headed man on a Vespa in a small Uruguayan town called Tacuarembó"
This is from 1989 a year before he died. I'm not quite sure what's going on but I've just played it three times in a row. Now to track down some of his records.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
We have crossed the Atlantic and are now in Africa. Morocco, to be precise (westernmost point 13°15′W - that’s as recognised by the UN rather than claimed by Morocco, for all you geo-politicos.) Tandem is a joint venture between Moroccan company Thalvin and (the now late) Alain Graillot of Crozes-Hermitage fame. Alain came across the Syrah vines while out cycling on holiday many years ago and offered his help. Cycling, partnership, tandem…
I think this 2021 may have been the last vintage Alain had a hand in. I think it’s the first Moroccan wine I’ve tasted, and it’s good. It’s light and fresh, and obviously designed for early drinking. It reminds me a bit of Saint Cosme CdR (a very good thing in my book.) It was £14.50 from the Wine Soc and I’ve now hoovered up their last bottle (sorry) - but the 2022 will be along in a couple of weeks, they say.
I searched my collection for something to do with tandem and found The Camden Tandem by Soft Machine from 1976, from the Softs album. Not for the first time, I have no idea how it got into my digital collection. I certainly don’t have a physical copy, and I’ve not heard it before. My heart sank a little because I saw Soft Machine a couple of years before this album and really didn’t enjoy the experience - and at least Mike Ratledge was still on board then. But I felt I had to give it a go both because of the link and as a nod in Paul’s direction for his contributions.
As feared, I didn’t get on with it at all. The triumph of technique over feeling and all that. I’m not a fan of that legato squirt-it-all-over-the-place-as-fast-as-possible guitar style. Or Karl Jenkins’ writing, come to that. The Camden Tandem was one of the better moments, but even then sounded like a rip-off of the opening of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Awakening.
I baled out. The Royal Scam is from the same year and probably displays as much musicianly technique as Softs, but it seems effortless rather than relentless, determinedly hard work. Forty-five seconds of Larry Carlton at the start of Don’t Take Me Alive gives me ten times more pleasure than forty-five minutes of John Etheridge’s frantic Holdsworth-y noodlings. (Sorry, John.)
Oh yes, the link… ‘Don’t make me do it without the Fez on…’
I think this 2021 may have been the last vintage Alain had a hand in. I think it’s the first Moroccan wine I’ve tasted, and it’s good. It’s light and fresh, and obviously designed for early drinking. It reminds me a bit of Saint Cosme CdR (a very good thing in my book.) It was £14.50 from the Wine Soc and I’ve now hoovered up their last bottle (sorry) - but the 2022 will be along in a couple of weeks, they say.
I searched my collection for something to do with tandem and found The Camden Tandem by Soft Machine from 1976, from the Softs album. Not for the first time, I have no idea how it got into my digital collection. I certainly don’t have a physical copy, and I’ve not heard it before. My heart sank a little because I saw Soft Machine a couple of years before this album and really didn’t enjoy the experience - and at least Mike Ratledge was still on board then. But I felt I had to give it a go both because of the link and as a nod in Paul’s direction for his contributions.
As feared, I didn’t get on with it at all. The triumph of technique over feeling and all that. I’m not a fan of that legato squirt-it-all-over-the-place-as-fast-as-possible guitar style. Or Karl Jenkins’ writing, come to that. The Camden Tandem was one of the better moments, but even then sounded like a rip-off of the opening of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Awakening.
I baled out. The Royal Scam is from the same year and probably displays as much musicianly technique as Softs, but it seems effortless rather than relentless, determinedly hard work. Forty-five seconds of Larry Carlton at the start of Don’t Take Me Alive gives me ten times more pleasure than forty-five minutes of John Etheridge’s frantic Holdsworth-y noodlings. (Sorry, John.)
Oh yes, the link… ‘Don’t make me do it without the Fez on…’
paulfromcamden
Baffled
I appreciate the thought Marchbanks! And apologise for being the cause of you enduring that...
I've never actually been on a tandem but two of my siblings do actually own them. Though they would be the Barnet tandem and Weymouth tandem which doesn't really scan as well for noodly jazz rock.
I've never actually been on a tandem but two of my siblings do actually own them. Though they would be the Barnet tandem and Weymouth tandem which doesn't really scan as well for noodly jazz rock.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
A hop across the Med and into Spain (westernmost point Cape Touriñán, 9°18′W.) I’ve opened a bottle of 2015 Psi de Pingus, from the maker of the unaffordable Pingus and barely affordable Flor de Pingus. This is 90% Tempranillo made up with Grenache. I tried my first one of these about a year ago and wasn’t desperately impressed - it seemed rather tart and closed-up. Whether that was just a dodgy bottle or me being in a more than usually grumpy mood I don’t know of course, but I really liked this one. There was still a little tartness, but sweetish cherry flavours balanced it out beautifully. There’s a bit of oak - not too much for me, though - and the tannins are firm but again, nothing to frighten the horses. Good stuff, in other words.
I had a search for Psi in my collection and found Psi Power by Hawkwind from a rag-tag compilation of songs by them and their side projects/offshoots. Mostly it sounded like 1977 punk bands trying to play like Hawkwind although, oddly, the Hawkwind tracks sounded more like widdly-widdly guitar rock. This was apparently the work of Huw Lloyd-Langton. I admit his style didn’t offend me anywhere near as much as Soft Machine did.
I also found Psisya (close enough) on John Zorn’s Book of Angels 12, featuring Joe Lovano. Joe is a little subdued here for some reason, although he does match Zorn’s squeals on a couple of occasions. Pleasant enough, but not one of my favourite Books.
I had a search for Psi in my collection and found Psi Power by Hawkwind from a rag-tag compilation of songs by them and their side projects/offshoots. Mostly it sounded like 1977 punk bands trying to play like Hawkwind although, oddly, the Hawkwind tracks sounded more like widdly-widdly guitar rock. This was apparently the work of Huw Lloyd-Langton. I admit his style didn’t offend me anywhere near as much as Soft Machine did.
I also found Psisya (close enough) on John Zorn’s Book of Angels 12, featuring Joe Lovano. Joe is a little subdued here for some reason, although he does match Zorn’s squeals on a couple of occasions. Pleasant enough, but not one of my favourite Books.
Damn. I was in Waitrose this afternoon and forgot about this. I did hoover up a quantity of their roasted veg antipasti from the deli counter at under half-price though.
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mandryka
pfm Member
These
When you first try one you think, oh fuk I could never eat these, but I can assure you if you follow these instructions from "An old Turkish guy" they are unbelievably moreish (and moorish ovs.)
I don't use chilies because I'm a wimp. I've also learned that the best way to soak them is to let the tap drip on them very slowly for about 3 or 4 hours.
Waitrose Moroccan Olives Salted À la Grecque | Waitrose & Partners
Buy Waitrose Moroccan Olives Salted À la Grecque online from Waitrose today. Picked, packed and delivered by hand in convenient 1-hour slots
www.waitrose.com
When you first try one you think, oh fuk I could never eat these, but I can assure you if you follow these instructions from "An old Turkish guy" they are unbelievably moreish (and moorish ovs.)
I don't use chilies because I'm a wimp. I've also learned that the best way to soak them is to let the tap drip on them very slowly for about 3 or 4 hours.
Dogberry
pfm Member
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
blossomchris
I feel better than James Brown
Been scoffing the salted in jars for a good while, our son got us on t\hem.
may try the lemon/olive oil recipe for a picnic next week.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Virtually I’m still in Spain, but physically I’ve now decamped to France. Tonight’s bottle is Tondonia 2008. My first experience of a wine that divides opinion - some like the acid tang, others can’t believe it’s really meant to taste like that. I’m in the former group. For me it’s not a million miles from the Psi de Pingus, admittedly with the sweet cherries replaced with slightly sourer ones. Both are mostly Tempranillo with some Grenache, but the Tondonia has some others too, including Graciano.
The trouble is (here we go again) I see this is now a £60 bottle. At that price, no thanks. I bought mine (this was the first of six) three years ago for £21.75, back in the days when there were some serious bargains in the Waitrose 25% off promos. And we thought it would last forever…
On my arrival the feral cat took just minutes to find me, and having established that I was the same sucker she remembered from previous years and had stopped at Carrefour on the way in order to buy her some kitty milk, was happy to pose for a photo.
After a long day on the road I’m too knackered to think of a musical connection, so I’m simply going with the Complete Mingus Debut Recordings. Firstly because I’ve got 12 CDs of them to plough through and secondly because the cat, being a Cool Cat, is a Mingus fan. She gives me a cold stare when I play Electric Masada.
The trouble is (here we go again) I see this is now a £60 bottle. At that price, no thanks. I bought mine (this was the first of six) three years ago for £21.75, back in the days when there were some serious bargains in the Waitrose 25% off promos. And we thought it would last forever…
On my arrival the feral cat took just minutes to find me, and having established that I was the same sucker she remembered from previous years and had stopped at Carrefour on the way in order to buy her some kitty milk, was happy to pose for a photo.
After a long day on the road I’m too knackered to think of a musical connection, so I’m simply going with the Complete Mingus Debut Recordings. Firstly because I’ve got 12 CDs of them to plough through and secondly because the cat, being a Cool Cat, is a Mingus fan. She gives me a cold stare when I play Electric Masada.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Virtual and actual countries now coincide as I move into France (westernmost point - Pointe de Coursen, 4°47′W.) I’ll be here for a while, but tonight I’ve decided to open a bottle of Ernest Burn 2006 Riesling Vendages Tardives. This, a Gewürz VT and a SGN are the only remaining bottles from my trip to the vineyard in early 2019.
It’s brilliant, it really is. It’s deep and honeyed yet still obviously Riesling. The acidity cuts through and stops any possibility of cloying sweetness. And just look at the colour! I thought it deserved to be shot in the setting sun to bring out the gold in Goldert. In the current absence of a cooler I had left it in the fridge for an hour. Way too long - it took a while for the full richness to become apparent after opening.
The last time I looked at the Burn website this was still available - pretty extraordinary for an eighteen-year-old white wine. Sadly, you would have to work out how to get it, as they don’t export to the UK and have never had any retailers here.
I found a few tributes to Ernest Burn in my collection. First there was Sons of Kemet…
…I must admit I’m not the world’s greatest Shabaka Hutchings fan, but the cat definitely liked his clarinet playing and the twin drums rumbled nicely into the evening air.
Then there was Chic…
I wanted to finish off with something French. It was now twilight (10.45pm!), the birds had stopped singing, the cat had wandered off to her next meal. Everything was still. I went for Caravaggio with their mix of skittering electronics, spooky organ, treated voices, heavy (tenor) guitar and Apocalypse Now samples. Electro art-rock from Paris, says their Bandcamp page, although I bought the CD after hearing it on FIP Jazz. Recommended.
It’s brilliant, it really is. It’s deep and honeyed yet still obviously Riesling. The acidity cuts through and stops any possibility of cloying sweetness. And just look at the colour! I thought it deserved to be shot in the setting sun to bring out the gold in Goldert. In the current absence of a cooler I had left it in the fridge for an hour. Way too long - it took a while for the full richness to become apparent after opening.
The last time I looked at the Burn website this was still available - pretty extraordinary for an eighteen-year-old white wine. Sadly, you would have to work out how to get it, as they don’t export to the UK and have never had any retailers here.
I found a few tributes to Ernest Burn in my collection. First there was Sons of Kemet…
…I must admit I’m not the world’s greatest Shabaka Hutchings fan, but the cat definitely liked his clarinet playing and the twin drums rumbled nicely into the evening air.
Then there was Chic…
I wanted to finish off with something French. It was now twilight (10.45pm!), the birds had stopped singing, the cat had wandered off to her next meal. Everything was still. I went for Caravaggio with their mix of skittering electronics, spooky organ, treated voices, heavy (tenor) guitar and Apocalypse Now samples. Electro art-rock from Paris, says their Bandcamp page, although I bought the CD after hearing it on FIP Jazz. Recommended.
paulfromcamden
Baffled
It's been rather a long week so I apologise (again) to Marchbanks for not keeping up with his Virtual Wine Tour...
I'm going to make up for lost time by suggesting Evan Parker's Lines Burnt in Light on his psi label (gifted to me by a very kind PFM member).
Not everyone is a fan of 60 minutes of Evan on solo soprano sax (my OH tends to leave the room) but it always gets the cat's ears twitching attentively so it's possible the French feral feline may also enjoy it.
I'm going to make up for lost time by suggesting Evan Parker's Lines Burnt in Light on his psi label (gifted to me by a very kind PFM member).
Not everyone is a fan of 60 minutes of Evan on solo soprano sax (my OH tends to leave the room) but it always gets the cat's ears twitching attentively so it's possible the French feral feline may also enjoy it.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Into Birthday Week, with a couple of heavy hitters coming up. But for today, I’ll kick off with champagne. As I know sod all about the styles of the different champagne houses, it’s purely symbolic and a bottle of bottom-of-the-range Taittinger picked up in a Tesco promo for £27 will do fine. It seems perfectly good to me - no nasties about the taste that I can distinguish - but my preferred fizz will be along later in the tour.
I have surprisingly few champagne references in my collection, only one in fact.
I like Whatevershebringswesing but find it a very melancholy record. I can’t help thinking Kevin was having doubts - disillusion, depression, maybe just drinking too much (remember kids, just say ‘no’) - I bet Song From The Bottom of a Well was about his current mental state, not a fiction. Despite all that, drinking champagne in a French garden as the sun sets seems a very Kevin Ayers thing to do, so I raised my glass to him.
I wanted a bit of cheer after that and remembering it was Sunday night managed to tune my portable LMS installation into WKCR. Joy of joys! The five-hour profile tonight is a Sid Gribetz presentation on Harold Land. All is good in Marchbanks World.
Hang on a minute - what’s this??
I’m reminded of the story of Mike and Bernie Winters playing the Glasgow Empire. Mike started the show with some solo patter that met with total silence. After a few minutes Bernie wandered on with his gormless smile. A voice from the audience called ‘Och, no… there are two of them!’
I have surprisingly few champagne references in my collection, only one in fact.
I like Whatevershebringswesing but find it a very melancholy record. I can’t help thinking Kevin was having doubts - disillusion, depression, maybe just drinking too much (remember kids, just say ‘no’) - I bet Song From The Bottom of a Well was about his current mental state, not a fiction. Despite all that, drinking champagne in a French garden as the sun sets seems a very Kevin Ayers thing to do, so I raised my glass to him.
I wanted a bit of cheer after that and remembering it was Sunday night managed to tune my portable LMS installation into WKCR. Joy of joys! The five-hour profile tonight is a Sid Gribetz presentation on Harold Land. All is good in Marchbanks World.
Hang on a minute - what’s this??
I’m reminded of the story of Mike and Bernie Winters playing the Glasgow Empire. Mike started the show with some solo patter that met with total silence. After a few minutes Bernie wandered on with his gormless smile. A voice from the audience called ‘Och, no… there are two of them!’
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Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Intermezzo. Halfway through the tour and birthday night. Time for a meal out. I locked my bike in the car park and exchanged my fluorescent yellow safety jacket for the burgundy waistcoat in my saddlebag. ‘Très chic!’ said an elderly man getting out of a Belgian-plated car. I thanked him as I straightened my bowtie and tried not to look too disapprovingly at his Standard Old Gent Summer Uniform (vital components - deck shoes, shorts and light jumper hung nonchalantly over shoulders, sleeves knotted in front.)
I followed him and his companions into the restaurant and was led to my table. I had already decided to go for the six-course taster job with a different wine for each course. Naturally every one was French, so that fitted in neatly with the tour.
First up was a Saumur Chenin 2021 - not bad
Then a Roussanne-Marsanne 2022 blend from somewhere I’d never heard of, but was told was somewhere near Côte-Rôtie - I liked this a lot
Then a Cinsault from the Aude region - pretty bof
I had noticed that this was one of those restaurants where punters aren’t allowed control of their own bottles of wine - they are all kept together on the other side of the room until the sommelier decides it’s time for you to have some more. I couldn’t help wondering if my taster glasses were being taken from bottles that had been opened for other folk, on the grounds that they wouldn’t miss a small amount. I thought this seemed a good strategy, and noted it for when La Table de Marchbanks eventually opens its doors.
A Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage 2021 - a rubbish year in the Rhône, but I still thought it was too young
A 2014 Chinon from Couly-Dutheil, the best of the night’s reds, was served with the excellent Philippe Olivier-sourced cheese. I tried to tell the sommelier about my meeting with Charles Joguet many years ago, but his polite smile and nod suggested that my ability to communicate in French had now disappeared for the evening.
Finally, a Côtes de Gascogne Gros Manseng/Sauvignon Blanc blend went with the dessert. I didn’t note the vintage, but I was told it was called Chambre d’Amour. I don’t think he was kidding. This was lovely, I might try to search it out. And yes, I might have let it slip early on that it was my birthday.
I was the last client remaining in what had been a full restaurant. I’d been there well over two-and-a-half hours. As I left I heard the door being locked behind me. All that remained was to unchain my bike, switch on the lights and enjoy a twenty-minute ride back to base in the beautiful 10.30pm twilight.
I’m afraid I don’t have any musical notes. There was some playing, but I was only aware of it on rare occasions. Fine by me, I loathe intrusive music in restaurants.
I followed him and his companions into the restaurant and was led to my table. I had already decided to go for the six-course taster job with a different wine for each course. Naturally every one was French, so that fitted in neatly with the tour.
First up was a Saumur Chenin 2021 - not bad
Then a Roussanne-Marsanne 2022 blend from somewhere I’d never heard of, but was told was somewhere near Côte-Rôtie - I liked this a lot
Then a Cinsault from the Aude region - pretty bof
I had noticed that this was one of those restaurants where punters aren’t allowed control of their own bottles of wine - they are all kept together on the other side of the room until the sommelier decides it’s time for you to have some more. I couldn’t help wondering if my taster glasses were being taken from bottles that had been opened for other folk, on the grounds that they wouldn’t miss a small amount. I thought this seemed a good strategy, and noted it for when La Table de Marchbanks eventually opens its doors.
A Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage 2021 - a rubbish year in the Rhône, but I still thought it was too young
A 2014 Chinon from Couly-Dutheil, the best of the night’s reds, was served with the excellent Philippe Olivier-sourced cheese. I tried to tell the sommelier about my meeting with Charles Joguet many years ago, but his polite smile and nod suggested that my ability to communicate in French had now disappeared for the evening.
Finally, a Côtes de Gascogne Gros Manseng/Sauvignon Blanc blend went with the dessert. I didn’t note the vintage, but I was told it was called Chambre d’Amour. I don’t think he was kidding. This was lovely, I might try to search it out. And yes, I might have let it slip early on that it was my birthday.
I was the last client remaining in what had been a full restaurant. I’d been there well over two-and-a-half hours. As I left I heard the door being locked behind me. All that remained was to unchain my bike, switch on the lights and enjoy a twenty-minute ride back to base in the beautiful 10.30pm twilight.
I’m afraid I don’t have any musical notes. There was some playing, but I was only aware of it on rare occasions. Fine by me, I loathe intrusive music in restaurants.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
‘Birthday’ meal in last night. Another fizz occasion, of course. Triple Zéro sparkling Chenin from the late Jacky Blot is excellent - for my tastes it’s a step up from the champagne I had a few nights ago. I prefer the cleaner, sharper taste. Maybe that’s all down to the grape difference, maybe it’s Jacky’s no added sugar rule. As I said, fizz is a bit of a blank area for me.
I searched for ‘triple’ and ‘zero’ in my collection but I didn’t fancy Beefheart or GYBE, and I seemed not to have Less Than Zero, which I did. So I went for ‘three’ and ended up with Art Bears, who had two of them. Quite apt as the words are based on writings from Amiens cathedral, which is only forty miles from here.
It’s become a birthday tradition to open a bottle of Tertre Rôteboeuf. I limit myself to one bottle a year. Everything about this was huge and spectacular, from the room-filling scent of blackcurrants as I opened it to the mouth-filling intensity and depth as I drank it. Was it better than the 2012 I had last year? No idea, it doesn’t really matter - they were both amazing.
As I moved on to the Tomme aux Salicornes cheese that I had bought earlier at a local farm, cat no. 2 skulked in warily and polished off the remains of the saucer of kitty milk. I thought there may be some kind of advanced Socialist collective going on, but as it scarpered when cat no. 1 suddenly reappeared, I think it may have been simple theft. (No political comment intended.)
I stuck with ‘three’ and got the Minutemen. Not the most rewarding track on the album, but the preceding forty-two make up for it, of course.
Then, as night began to fall - a glimpse of yet another cat. This one went into full reverse the moment it saw me, so I only had time to snatch a quick pic.
This morning there’s no sign of any of them. Perhaps they are addressing a conference somewhere. Or canvassing for Sunday’s election. To be continued…
I searched for ‘triple’ and ‘zero’ in my collection but I didn’t fancy Beefheart or GYBE, and I seemed not to have Less Than Zero, which I did. So I went for ‘three’ and ended up with Art Bears, who had two of them. Quite apt as the words are based on writings from Amiens cathedral, which is only forty miles from here.
It’s become a birthday tradition to open a bottle of Tertre Rôteboeuf. I limit myself to one bottle a year. Everything about this was huge and spectacular, from the room-filling scent of blackcurrants as I opened it to the mouth-filling intensity and depth as I drank it. Was it better than the 2012 I had last year? No idea, it doesn’t really matter - they were both amazing.
As I moved on to the Tomme aux Salicornes cheese that I had bought earlier at a local farm, cat no. 2 skulked in warily and polished off the remains of the saucer of kitty milk. I thought there may be some kind of advanced Socialist collective going on, but as it scarpered when cat no. 1 suddenly reappeared, I think it may have been simple theft. (No political comment intended.)
I stuck with ‘three’ and got the Minutemen. Not the most rewarding track on the album, but the preceding forty-two make up for it, of course.
Then, as night began to fall - a glimpse of yet another cat. This one went into full reverse the moment it saw me, so I only had time to snatch a quick pic.
This morning there’s no sign of any of them. Perhaps they are addressing a conference somewhere. Or canvassing for Sunday’s election. To be continued…