Falling in love with fantastic wine

It feels so nice to fall in love, doesn't it? Isn't it an absolute miracle too?

Look at the person who you share your life with. Hopefully, there is one. And who knows? Maybe you both even like and love each other. Consider how astronomical the odds of the two of you ending up where you are right now must be.

If, right now, you happen to be staring at an unforgiving mirror in an empty room or, worse still, at someone who you're just not all that fond of, don't despair. The miracle of love may not have happened to you just yet. It will. There's no escape.

Worth celebrating, isn't it? The only trouble for me is that my lovely home, Rose Cottage, contains two different people with quite peculiar tastes which don't always go together. My darling wife, the illustrious Madame G., likes her novels long whereas I prefer comic books. I sometimes think eating meat's disgusting but she, well she just loves her hot dogs.

Most pertinently, I love red wine but she's a white girl. Also, she's into gestalt therapy which just makes me ill. Yes, we're gilt-edged, polymorphous and urban, yet somehow it works.

So we'll need two bottles. A big bottle for me to take upstairs and a wee glass for her. I'll take my big red up to my study and turn on some loud, funky music while she sips her wee white downstairs and watches reruns of Columbo.

We might be in separate parts of the house with practically opposite wines having unrelatable experiences but we both know that the glory of love will see us through this weird, exhausting trial for Lord knows what that is referred to as life.

Lovers of red, my bottle which just about gets the nod as today's Wine of the Week, by no more than the shortest of short heads to be sure is the rustic, robust 2017 M&S Classics Rioja Reserva (£10). This peppery, Spanish red has a deftly spiced, juicy palate with pronounced black cherry flavours before a lingering finish which delivers an abundance of cinnamon, spice and vanilla notes. One for a beef stew on a cool Spring evening.

Lovers of white (no-one loves you more than me), today's second selection is the fresh, fragrant and zesty 2021 Virgile Joly Sauvignon Blanc (£10.99, Naked Wines, www.nakedwines.co.uk). This zingy, easy-drinking French white bursts with citrus and mineral flavours - lots of elderflower and peach with backnotes of almond - before a clean, tingly finish. Madame assures me it was a perfect accompaniment to the rich and delicious chicken, butternut squash and miso stew we had for supper on Sunday evening.

But what about you? What if you have no special someone to experience different wines with while doing different things in separate rooms? First rule - drink the wine regardless. Now, there's a singer called Morrissey who might help. Some prefer Joni or there's another called Leonard (my own personal favourite is called Lou).

Anyway, there's a whole bunch of them. They go great with wine and are guaranteed to provide lonesome souls with soulful company and to enrich their lives. Failing that, there are books. But they take longer. Till next week, tipplers, sante!