Wine

There is usually so little I can say about wine.

France has a somewhat superiority complex about their 'Old world' vintages.

Classic wines, classic grapes but what can be said.

I am guilty as the next person for smuggling a Chilean red out of a budget supermarket.

So when I am looking for a characteristic 'nose' of toffee, violet, cedarwood and currants I know straight away I have a Merlot

Cabernet Sauvignon blend, or do I look at the price? The label usually tells me little and I cannot sneakily open a bottle for a

shot and a sniff!

I have now narrowed down many years of living in France to officially know nothing about wine.

I do however know that some brands are in local supermarkets and may be cheaper than the 'cave' that represents them,

that however much the full bodied robust red 'nectar of the gods' may be, the true Old world wine, Rose remains my favourite

so long as they put the blend on the bottle.


And generally the producers don't!

Why?


Of the most famous appellations, St Emillion constitutes on of the most Famous Bordeaux wine regions, world renown in fact

yet how is it, that they are not obliged to put the grape varieties on the labels.


The average British supermarket, for example Tescos, on the other hand has so much on the label that they are close to

contravening laws on excess packaging by way of the label alone!


So now I have but a handful of the massive choice of wines to enjoy, all because over the past few years I hate buying blind

and now I have finally decided what I do like, life would be so much easier if I knew a bit more about the liquid delights in the

bottles.


So there it is, perhaps I have found the secret of the success of wine. 99% is bought clueless and is simply awful but once

opened there is no return or it's a secret gem bought for a pretty label. Now there is a thought!