Good wine, a lot of noise noise and why magnums are always a good idea.
I drank some nice wine this month, including:
A magnum of 2012 Vincent Paris Granit 30 that I took to my friend Judy’s house for Sunday lunch. She’s an excellent cook, proving that Beef Bourguignon, or Beef Burgundy as I prefer to call it, with buttery mash and greens (she did unctuous cheesy leeks as well) is easily as good, if not better, than a roast. I thought there was going to be more than three of us, hence the magnum, but we got through most and my friends had something to enjoy the following day with leftovers. In any case, regardless of numbers magnums are more fun, it’s that simple.
Then there was the St John wine tasting and Vignerons lunch. You may or may not know they have import/on-trade wine arm as well as their restaurants (and own winery in the Languedoc). There were some superb wines and interesting conversations with the makers, followed by an energetic feasting style lunch. A pertinent reminder to buy more frequently from St John, both as consultant and consumer. I was thrilled to be sat with food writers Thane Prince and Xanthe Clay, and wine writer Nina Caplan.
I’ll do a round up of my St John favourites next week, along with another bunch from Yapp Brothers - I’ve been really enjoying some of their massively over performing sub £15 options this month too (including the case of six currently featured on their homepage).
And most recently, two school friends and I squeezed into Hawksmoor to take advantage of their January special - rump steak and a side for £19 (with options for veggie/pesci). I took a bottle of Lacoste Borie 2016 from the Berry Brother’s and Rudd Winter Sale* that I wrote about the other week. It’s only 10% off - now £28.80 - but that’s better than nothing and it was so good I’d happily pay full price anyway. It had immense drinkability (= very f*cking tasting in wine speak, the 2016 hype is real) and that type of persistent intensity and deep complexity that meant one bottle happily went the distance for all three of us. It’s not often you can say that.
And because it was Monday, corkage was £5. FIVE POUNDS. If you live in London and you are not going to Hawksmoor every Monday of every week with a nice bottle of wine you need to sort yourself out. It means we drank fine wine for under £35. In a restaurant. Out of their gorgeous glasses which I didn’t have to polish prior or wash up after. Poured out of their pristine decanter that I also didn’t have to polish prior or wash up after.
So we had an unimprovable time, something that would indicate the unbearably loud experience I had at the Manchester outpost in December was a one-off. Honestly, I’ve been in quieter nightclubs. Admittedly I hate noisy places (although this was something else). It’s why I’ve always hated going to gigs. I tried to enjoy gigs when I was younger and felt obliged because they were deemed cool, but at some point I realised it’s far cooler to just do things you truly enjoy. So perhaps it’s not so much music I don’t like, but music venues. They’re loud, uncomfortable and serve bad wine. Obviously Glyndebourne, and the posh Halls (Wigmore, Royal Albert etc) are exceptions, although I still think the worst thing about Glyndebourne is having to leave your picnic to go back inside.
And so, onto the noise of this month. It started on here, when I got told off on Notes by a bloke in America who was upset about my choice of prose to restack and then told me I wasn’t allowed to use the word ‘balance’ anymore because Fox News have ruined it. I soon stopped replying because I’ve got better things to do than argue with people I’ve never met, who spout out at you without entertaining the idea you might actually be on the same team. Social media must be a stressful place for those people to inhabit, the irony being it’s those people it most attracts. Almost as if it was designed that way………… And then the one who restacked my Note to all their followers, a somewhat unsavory tactic you used to see on Twitter to sort of haul people over the digital coals instead of engaging with them like a grown up. Either way, all evidence to suggest Notes has reached its ‘Twitter at the point at which it started to eat itself alive with anger’ era.
Of course this was a mere pin drop on the noise-o-meter compared to the Beckham bombshell. When will parents realise that shoving your child/children into the public eye from a young age, more often than not to fit their own narrative, rarely ends well? It’s seems the very opposite of protecting them, the most basic of all parenting responsibilities. ‘Sadly never’ is the probably the answer. I mean, I bought my son a tennis racket when he was 18 months old and I’m certainly not cancelling the lessons I’ve scheduled to start on his third birthday.
I don’t want to end on a negative note, least of all one about the bloody Beckhams, so let’s remember not all noise is bad. This month I finally got round to listening to the new Grab Yourself A Glass podcast with Victoria Moore and Andrew Neather, a pair of top wine hacks (Victoria is at the Telegraph, Andrew is ex Evening Standard, both on Substack too). As such it makes for a very well informed monthly chat about what’s going on in the world of wine, and of course what they’re drinking. It’s new, they’re only on Ep.4, but has a lovely radio-style vibe and is well worth a listen while you potter about, ideally having grabbed yourself a glass of something good.
Have a lovely, quiet(!) weekend and I hope you drink some nice with with it.
Ruth
*The Winter Sale goes on until 8th Feb so still time to get some… and me to get some more!
Thanks for your kind comments about our podcast, Ruth!
American blokes...