Picture perfect

Saturday night was fun, if a little wierd. I returned from eldest son’s School Ball with a splinter in my foot from shoes-off dancing. My husband returned with a painting having bid for it in the auction. I think he had the fizz equivalent of beer goggles for art on with that one. Fart goggles, perhaps. We got home, navigated our way through that slightly awkward conversation with the babysitter – the one where you hope she doesn’t realise how tipsy you really are because you’ve got children – and fell into bed. For two hours. Then: up cradling eldest boy with earache, closely followed by baby with cough and finally with middle boy who heard everyone else was up and didn’t want to miss out. The dancefloor was a distant memory.

Still, we’ve got the painting to remind us.

Current white in the fridge:
Domäne Wachau Grüner Veltliner ‘Terraces’ 2009 Wachau, Austria, £6.07, Waitrose, currently 20% off online
Austrian wine is sadly overlooked, perhaps due to a combination of nearer £10 a bottle prices and unpronouncable names. But Waitrose seems to have cut prices across much of their Austrian range at the moment and this one is a great introduction to the world of Gruner Veltliner (or Gru-V, as it is lovingly known by those who like to spend time thinking up natty names for difficult to pronounce wines). White peach, pepper, a touch of grapefruit, a hint of herbal…this wine is delicious, different and currently discounted. Now that is a great combination.   

Current red on the side:
Tero Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2008, £4/bottle, Tesco
I do love Italian reds at the moment. They can be a little bit animal, slightly unpredictable even, partly due to the enormous number of grape varieties grown as well as the spread of climates across regions. This one, from the Abruzzo region, is bright, ripe and moreish with black cherry fruit aromas and bramble fruit flavours. The late-ripening Montepulciano grape is best drunk young, so don’t stick this one away for a rainy day. Like you would. Very happy on its own but great with sausages and mash, I am happy to report.

Groovy x

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8 Comments

  1. So, what is the painting of?

  2. Well, I think it is of a woman walking but I couldn't see it properly from where I was sitting! I am sure it is a great painting, it just didn't work for me. Still, beauty in the eye and all that…x

  3. I was trying to be nice about it – but even on the night he was telling me it was dreadful, but that he'd be able to sell it on, or something!

  4. Charles Saatchi needn't worry yet…x

  5. Oh dear. I think you're going to have to post a pic of it so that we can judge. So coincidence: we went to Pizza Express last weekend and enjoyed a really nice bottle of Multipulciano – will deffo give the Tesco one a go, thanks x

  6. Best bit is that we forgot to bring the painting home, so still not seen it up close! The tension is mounting…

  7. Oh yes, I know that trying not to talk utter rubbish to the babysitter… oh the shame!

  8. I'm a big fan of Domaene Wachau's wines (and all Austrian whites in general), but for me the Rieslings are superior to the GVs.

    See here:

    http://cambridgewineblogger.blogspot.com/2011/01/riesling-terrassen-smaragd-2009-domane.html

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