An Occasional Tipple: Uncorking the mysteries of love and magnifique wine
Hocus Pocus, I see a crocus! Ding-a-ling-a-ling! Here comes Spring! At this very special time of year, however, thoughts may tend towards roses and wine rather than crocuses. Before wending their wondrous path towards love, sweet love.
The Good Book tells us that love is patient and kind and never jealous, boastful or conceited.
Speaking of which, my darling wife, the illustrious Madame G., has had a lot to contend with recently, what with me abandoning her and our infant son Gregory, recently, to go swanning off to a very prestigious business leaders conference in Birmingham last week where I was doing a bit of motivational speaking for a hefty fee. Someone’s got to bring home the bacon, hey?
Love is nothing, however, if not forgiving. So, I will accept her pardon and endeavour to be more present forthwith. Now, some Sicilian wine for all you thirsty lovebirds out there.
I plan to woo my Madame on the 14th with an enticing roast chicken dinner- think roast potatoes and cauliflower in cheese sauce etc, yum yum- which I shall match with the rustic, opulent and vibrantly aromatic 2022 Corte Aurelio Nero d'Avola (£5.99, Lidl). A full-bodied yet delicately spiced Sicilian red, brimful of ripe, concentrated cherry and blackberry flavours alongside notes of black pepper and coriander before a lengthy, deeply satisfying and very savoury finish .
If your loved one, like mine, prefers something white then today’s WINE OF THE WEEK, the fabulously fresh and fragrant 2024 M&S Mystery Bay Sauvignon Blanc (£8.99) should fit the bill. A theatrically ripe, citrussy bouquet welcomes a luscious palate full of gooseberry and pear flavours. Zingy and upbeat, this elegant white will also go wonderfully well with seafood, especially oysters. And we all know where oysters lead, hey?
As you luxuriate in your own intimate soirees, it may interest you to know that while the French may still see themselves as the kingpins of romance, we can teach our garlic-munching cousins a thing or two about that. Let me expand. Whilst studying theology at the Sorbonne many moons ago, I came across the story of Irish Carmelite priest, Fr. John Spratt. So impressed was Pope Gregory XVI with Spratt's teaching on the subject of romantic love that he gifted St. Valentine's remains to his Carmelite order. And they reside to this day in the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Whitefriars St., Dublin.
Naturally, we made a big deal out of this and turned the saint's feast into a celebration of romance. An instinctively secretive and devious people or maybe just fearful of public rejection, we spared our blushes by starting the tradition of sending cards and tokens of love anonymously. The US naturally got in on the act and soon Hallmark took over.
This year when my lovely Madame, after one glass too many, begins to tell me again about how her people invented romance, I could simply correct her. But I think I shall prefer instead to pour her another glass of her beloved Mystery Bay and just nod along, while marvelling at the patience and kindness of love which is never jealous, boastful or conceited. Sante!