The past two months have been a hell!
Work was a nightmare! Entertaining delegations from all over the place, visiting friends in other places, recruitment of new staff, finalising plans to relocate and a lot more have taken a minor toll.
Fortunately, the sun started to rise earlier, which in turn had somewhat beneficial result on my life, however, since I have a very photo-sensitive sleep unless we quickly come to summer solstice, I will be up so early that I'll probably beat an elderly person who needs, for the sake of the argument, only about 4 hours of sleep. No disrespect to the elderly, but to convey my point the dreaded thought and its acceptance, that of becoming older, is increasingly validated by a variety of means. The intensity of solar radiation in the morning may be one but there has been another which is even more disturbing; AB FLAB!
Understandably, once the stress levels increase, and mine increased to such an extent that I got my rash back, the appetite diminished not just for food but for fizz as well (not to mention.....). I have been so tired and looking it too that when I looked at myself in the mirror I thought I had fallen of the shovel of an undertaker.
But one Sunday afternoon I was redeemed (only for that afternoon, the whirl resumed on Monday morning) by Fortnum and Mason's special deal on Billecart et Salmon cuvees. The rose was a briliant bargain so one bottle landed in the basket without hesitation. However since it was only about 3pm I thought: 'I can't just sit on one bottle!' thus, I purchased a long awaited Blanc De Blancs. And what a drop that turned out to be!
Pure citrus fruit, dash of white flowers, balance of taste and perfect bubbles! AB FAB!
even the AB FLAB could be tolerated!
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Monday, 21 March 2011
CHAMPAGNE BLISS Vs FAMILY BLISS
Virtually everybody wants a Champagne Life!
You return from work feeling you need something to boost your mood after a hard day's work where. Your boss shouted at you for no apparent reason. The ride on public transport seemed endless with all odours being involuntarily inhaled because there is no airconditioning and the efficacy of the deodorant has long diminished and it is not entirely excluded that some individual was kind enough to remind you of their lunch alternatively the dinner in one way or another.
This is where I shall continue with two options; One of Champagne Bliss and the other of Family Bliss.
They say that children are life farts because you can tolerate only your own. However, even that is often not true. Some can barely tolerate their own offspring. I don't blame them. A child, god forbid if you have many, is worse, more expensive, more demanding than a mistress. Unlike her, children need new clothes and shoes more often than every season. Sometimes it seems that even though you finish one job with an abusive boss, the work at home does not finish but you get a second helping which at some point involves dealing with somewhat similar odours than those on the public transport from which you just got off. To add to that, you have no money, because those small sods don't have an income yet so if you want to indulge in a glass of something lovely you a/don't have the money, b/by the time you sit down you won't have the energy to enjoy the 'something lovely'. I shall say no more!
Champagne life, is slightly different. Yes the chores of domestic cleanliness are a given. But, after the arduous return from work there is only one thing waiting for you; a bottle of something lovely which you can enjoy uninterrupted and it is still cheaper than an offspring. So you'll be smelling, honey, white flower, red berries, and taste pretty much the same things...so no wonder that Champagne Bliss is so wanted. However, it does wear out.
Nevetheless, since we do have the privilege of choice we are responsible enough to make the right choice for us.
Bottoms up!
You return from work feeling you need something to boost your mood after a hard day's work where. Your boss shouted at you for no apparent reason. The ride on public transport seemed endless with all odours being involuntarily inhaled because there is no airconditioning and the efficacy of the deodorant has long diminished and it is not entirely excluded that some individual was kind enough to remind you of their lunch alternatively the dinner in one way or another.
This is where I shall continue with two options; One of Champagne Bliss and the other of Family Bliss.
They say that children are life farts because you can tolerate only your own. However, even that is often not true. Some can barely tolerate their own offspring. I don't blame them. A child, god forbid if you have many, is worse, more expensive, more demanding than a mistress. Unlike her, children need new clothes and shoes more often than every season. Sometimes it seems that even though you finish one job with an abusive boss, the work at home does not finish but you get a second helping which at some point involves dealing with somewhat similar odours than those on the public transport from which you just got off. To add to that, you have no money, because those small sods don't have an income yet so if you want to indulge in a glass of something lovely you a/don't have the money, b/by the time you sit down you won't have the energy to enjoy the 'something lovely'. I shall say no more!
Champagne life, is slightly different. Yes the chores of domestic cleanliness are a given. But, after the arduous return from work there is only one thing waiting for you; a bottle of something lovely which you can enjoy uninterrupted and it is still cheaper than an offspring. So you'll be smelling, honey, white flower, red berries, and taste pretty much the same things...so no wonder that Champagne Bliss is so wanted. However, it does wear out.
Nevetheless, since we do have the privilege of choice we are responsible enough to make the right choice for us.
Bottoms up!
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
CHAMPAGNE - CHECK MATE
Once one utters the words 'check mate' a defeat is on the way. At least for me because I'm terrible at chess, but I am not quite sure I can play it.
In my understanding, it is a point at which there is no other choice but to resign on one's efforts and accept the situation for what it presented itself to be: a conclusion. Having said that, I am not convinced that a defeat is the only outcome but generally it may be seen as such.
One day, a day that was a day on which I would reward myself for working hard I went to my usual shop and thought 'I should buy a bottle' but I did not. According to the staff at the shop I surprised them, and subsequently, they declared 'we underestimated your will'; I went to the shop and bought nothing and that evening I drank nothing either.
The board was set on my first visit to the usual shop and for nearly 3 years I played my part with bottles of Champagne to my best ability, only to realise that all that time the wine was winning but that one evening I thought: 'let's just pop in and say hello' and felt no impulse to buy anything and none of the bottles spoke to me.
Was the game over? Who was the winner? I moved the last piece to say 'I am done here'.
p.s. thanks Majid.
In my understanding, it is a point at which there is no other choice but to resign on one's efforts and accept the situation for what it presented itself to be: a conclusion. Having said that, I am not convinced that a defeat is the only outcome but generally it may be seen as such.
One day, a day that was a day on which I would reward myself for working hard I went to my usual shop and thought 'I should buy a bottle' but I did not. According to the staff at the shop I surprised them, and subsequently, they declared 'we underestimated your will'; I went to the shop and bought nothing and that evening I drank nothing either.
The board was set on my first visit to the usual shop and for nearly 3 years I played my part with bottles of Champagne to my best ability, only to realise that all that time the wine was winning but that one evening I thought: 'let's just pop in and say hello' and felt no impulse to buy anything and none of the bottles spoke to me.
Was the game over? Who was the winner? I moved the last piece to say 'I am done here'.
p.s. thanks Majid.
Monday, 7 March 2011
THE BOLLLINGER INDEX (1 BLG = GBP 30.00)
Whatever money I earn I either spend on Champagne or travelling and often both. I cannot say that drinking Champagne and travelling is particularly exciting as my ideal flight drink is a good old G&T but I shan't deny that I have done it the noble way too. The fact is that in retrospect a flight to Sydney from London is about 25 hours long and being infused on Champagne is actually a little worse on landing then being infused on Gin. On the minus side, the good stuff is only served in the premium cabins and often it is not what I would like to drink anyway but gin is on tap in any cabin. So for me a Sydney trip is never too long as it is not 25 hours but 15 G&Ts that I have to deal with; more importantly, you don't want to be drinking Champagne you don't like just for the sake of it.
The Bollinger Index (1BLG = GBP 30.00) establishes how expensive certain places are to live in and subsequently whether or not I could/would live there. So Sydney and Dublin I am, for the given reasons, ruling out but Scandinavia here I come!
The other aspect of The Bollinger Index is related to prices but not necessarily of Champagne wines but more generally. Good example is rent. London or anywhere. For a studio in London you would cough up about GBP 250.00 which translates into BLG 8.33 meaning that you could get 8 bottles and 2 glasses of Bollinger for it. As another comparison is lets say a pair of cuban heeled boots from YSL priced at GBP 620.00. For that amount of cash you ll get 31 bottles of Bollinger Special Cuvee so The Bollinger Index would read BLG 31.
Just to be even more peculiar I divided 1 BLG into 6 units as there are 6 glasses in each bottle and named it RDL as in 6 Riedels.
The point is that having visited a few places I could tell that the prices of Champagne wines do vary from place to place. Somehow I always settled on looking at Bollinger but, believe it or not, this is not available everywhere. Nevertheless, everytime I relocate the first shop I go to is a wine shop and I check the prices of Champagne wines. Of course I convert ever single one of them most of the prices are not that difficult to remember.
Classic example has become Bollinger Special Cuvee where the variable is pretty high. For instance a bottle of it costs in London is anywhere between GBP25.00 - GBP 44.00 mostly I buy it for GBP 30.00. In Sydney the same will go for AUD 100.00 which with the current rate of exchange amounts to GBP 76.92. In Dublin a bottle is at EUR 55.00 so with the horrendous rate of exchange again this translates into GBP 50.00. In Paris the prices are little bit more humane reflecting the higher end of Londons' shops. But the biggest surprise is where you would expect it the least: Scandinavia!
The Bollinger Index (1BLG = GBP 30.00) establishes how expensive certain places are to live in and subsequently whether or not I could/would live there. So Sydney and Dublin I am, for the given reasons, ruling out but Scandinavia here I come!
The other aspect of The Bollinger Index is related to prices but not necessarily of Champagne wines but more generally. Good example is rent. London or anywhere. For a studio in London you would cough up about GBP 250.00 which translates into BLG 8.33 meaning that you could get 8 bottles and 2 glasses of Bollinger for it. As another comparison is lets say a pair of cuban heeled boots from YSL priced at GBP 620.00. For that amount of cash you ll get 31 bottles of Bollinger Special Cuvee so The Bollinger Index would read BLG 31.
Just to be even more peculiar I divided 1 BLG into 6 units as there are 6 glasses in each bottle and named it RDL as in 6 Riedels.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
ROSE - THE STYLES
When I started with my intellectual immersion in Champagne, I was determined to try them all, but some, after tasting weren't as captivating as others. I have in mind Rose (pink) style.
It was too sweet, it was too plain, it was too pink and that was enough to make me dislike it. In the earlier days there weren't many Roses. The few I can recall were almost unattainable and my reasoning validated spending money on the white more premium wines; just as any sensible student would do!
Krug Rose, was so expensive I just thought it was a completely different virginal extract a tipple to dip a nipple in. Bollinger Rose was not really on the market in its NV option. Laurent Perrier had been already an icon but not really that famous to make it to the top shelves of posh shops in Sydney. Billercart et Salmon? Who the ..... was Billecart et Salmon? and many others.
Anyway, several years later, I had the pleasure of tasting quite a few; in fact, I did not just taste them, I actually drank them! Fyi I am Mr. Swallows.
So here follow the most memorable Rose Champagne and those that were so, hmmm, you will see...
Laurent Perrier Rose NV
- Superb aromas but restrained;
Ruinart Rose NV
- Raspberry Cheesecake
Dom Ruinart 1990 Rose
- (WOW!!!) Peach pie which has just been taken out of the oven overwhelming anyone with the sweet yet burnt juices of the peaches on the baking tray.
Krug Rose
- What the...?
Billercart et Salmon Rose
- Blood oranges
Bollinger Rose 1988
- Dead!
Bollinger Rose NV
- A basket full of freshly picked sun-kissed strawberries. (quite syrup like)
Gosset Rose
- Summer berries (mostly raspberries, and red currants) slightly restrained in taste.
Louis Roederer Rose 2002
- Yum! Slightly spicy and earthy.
Cuvee Dom Perignon 1992 Rose
- £300 a bottle, thank God I did not pay for it!
So this is it if you have any question feel free to ask.
If you want to invalidate my comments on the premise 'all depends on personal taste', unleash your passion with no restraint.
It was too sweet, it was too plain, it was too pink and that was enough to make me dislike it. In the earlier days there weren't many Roses. The few I can recall were almost unattainable and my reasoning validated spending money on the white more premium wines; just as any sensible student would do!
Krug Rose, was so expensive I just thought it was a completely different virginal extract a tipple to dip a nipple in. Bollinger Rose was not really on the market in its NV option. Laurent Perrier had been already an icon but not really that famous to make it to the top shelves of posh shops in Sydney. Billercart et Salmon? Who the ..... was Billecart et Salmon? and many others.
Anyway, several years later, I had the pleasure of tasting quite a few; in fact, I did not just taste them, I actually drank them! Fyi I am Mr. Swallows.
So here follow the most memorable Rose Champagne and those that were so, hmmm, you will see...
Laurent Perrier Rose NV
- Superb aromas but restrained;
Ruinart Rose NV
- Raspberry Cheesecake
Dom Ruinart 1990 Rose
- (WOW!!!) Peach pie which has just been taken out of the oven overwhelming anyone with the sweet yet burnt juices of the peaches on the baking tray.
Krug Rose
- What the...?
Billercart et Salmon Rose
- Blood oranges
Bollinger Rose 1988
- Dead!
Bollinger Rose NV
- A basket full of freshly picked sun-kissed strawberries. (quite syrup like)
Gosset Rose
- Summer berries (mostly raspberries, and red currants) slightly restrained in taste.
Louis Roederer Rose 2002
- Yum! Slightly spicy and earthy.
Cuvee Dom Perignon 1992 Rose
- £300 a bottle, thank God I did not pay for it!
So this is it if you have any question feel free to ask.
If you want to invalidate my comments on the premise 'all depends on personal taste', unleash your passion with no restraint.
Sunday, 27 February 2011
CHAMPAGNE - THE BEST?
The best? Hmmm, what a myth!
I am often asked 'What is the best Champagne?' and I am stuck, at least I have been stuck to answer this question for a long long long time.
I originally thought that the best did not exist, but even now I don't think it can be defined in simple terms, but the best is something elusive inasmuch as would be the best song in the world.
Speaking of songs; I will always love you by Whitney Houston is the best selling single EVER! On par, with the sales of the howling female, in Champagne Moet et Chandon would be the equivalent which certainly is no wonder that in Champagne Moet is regarded as the 'coca cola' of Champagne. (fyi Pepsi is Piper Heidsieck) Personally, I would not even bathe in Moet. Once I received a text from a friend in Sydney: 'Drinking Moet and it won't be the same without you'; last time I was at his house I was jet lagged and I washed his windows so naturally, I thought, 'is he washing his windows?'....and with the Moet? To cast a light of difference, I do admit that Whitney was a brilliant vocalist, inasmuch as Moet must have been a very good Champagne about 150 years ago. I do dare drink Cuvee Dom Perignon but not every vintage rocks my boat.
Were I to consider the best on the premise of quality my bold declaration would be in 4 letters: KRUG; but even here I am chuckling and confidentely declaring that there are better Champagnes than the K one.
Each to their own. I am lucky enough to drink a lot! If that can ever be regarded as lucky, but you get the gist.
One can even ask 'What is the best style?'. My answer would not be any clearer!
Champage is the BEST DRINK, which many will argue, but I can't say that highest sales figures, superior grapes, inflated brands, unique vintages or who knows what else can give anyone an idea what is the best.
I have had my few love affairs with a few wines and on reflection the styles, the grape classifications, the vintages the wines could not be anymore different; nonetheless, I think I do have an old time favourite...
... and the wine that is my favourite, has been regarded by many bona fide critics as their favourites as well...
... and no it is probably not what you might think...;)
I am often asked 'What is the best Champagne?' and I am stuck, at least I have been stuck to answer this question for a long long long time.
I originally thought that the best did not exist, but even now I don't think it can be defined in simple terms, but the best is something elusive inasmuch as would be the best song in the world.
Speaking of songs; I will always love you by Whitney Houston is the best selling single EVER! On par, with the sales of the howling female, in Champagne Moet et Chandon would be the equivalent which certainly is no wonder that in Champagne Moet is regarded as the 'coca cola' of Champagne. (fyi Pepsi is Piper Heidsieck) Personally, I would not even bathe in Moet. Once I received a text from a friend in Sydney: 'Drinking Moet and it won't be the same without you'; last time I was at his house I was jet lagged and I washed his windows so naturally, I thought, 'is he washing his windows?'....and with the Moet? To cast a light of difference, I do admit that Whitney was a brilliant vocalist, inasmuch as Moet must have been a very good Champagne about 150 years ago. I do dare drink Cuvee Dom Perignon but not every vintage rocks my boat.
Were I to consider the best on the premise of quality my bold declaration would be in 4 letters: KRUG; but even here I am chuckling and confidentely declaring that there are better Champagnes than the K one.
Each to their own. I am lucky enough to drink a lot! If that can ever be regarded as lucky, but you get the gist.
One can even ask 'What is the best style?'. My answer would not be any clearer!
Champage is the BEST DRINK, which many will argue, but I can't say that highest sales figures, superior grapes, inflated brands, unique vintages or who knows what else can give anyone an idea what is the best.
I have had my few love affairs with a few wines and on reflection the styles, the grape classifications, the vintages the wines could not be anymore different; nonetheless, I think I do have an old time favourite...
... and the wine that is my favourite, has been regarded by many bona fide critics as their favourites as well...
... and no it is probably not what you might think...;)
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
CHAMPAGNE Vs ASSIGNATION
How do you decide between pleasures? Which one to take first? or both? Choices, choices, choices choices....wouldn't it be just simpler if there was only ONE form pleasure, even if it entailed swinging from the ceiling anticlockwise?
I face this dilemma all the time. I spend almost an hour in a shop looking at bottles or boxes of Champagne hoping that in that time one will speak to me in such a way that it would make me choice it over the other 30. They don't.
Most of the time I have had them all from the normal selection, so those I have not had are pretty easy to choose especially if the price tag is inviting. The latter however does not happen that often.
As much as I mentioned that I would wish a bottle to speak to me, it is me that leads an internal monologue about the styles, the harvests, the houses, prices and anything else against my current mood or what I may feel like drinking in the next 4 hours.
I get so hyped up about one particular style that I fly into a shop get a bottle and just wash it down as if it were water and I had just got back from a tour around a desert. This too does not happen often.
There are times when I work my appetite up for a specific bottle that is given to me. I have received a lot of bottles in my life, but still I have purchased far more so I am still stuck with the dilemma.
So the truth is, that whatever I choose I have to accept the responsibility of the consequences of my choices and at times gifts are a relief but in the end if that is not an option all I need to do is to K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid).
Bottoms up!
I face this dilemma all the time. I spend almost an hour in a shop looking at bottles or boxes of Champagne hoping that in that time one will speak to me in such a way that it would make me choice it over the other 30. They don't.
Most of the time I have had them all from the normal selection, so those I have not had are pretty easy to choose especially if the price tag is inviting. The latter however does not happen that often.
As much as I mentioned that I would wish a bottle to speak to me, it is me that leads an internal monologue about the styles, the harvests, the houses, prices and anything else against my current mood or what I may feel like drinking in the next 4 hours.
I get so hyped up about one particular style that I fly into a shop get a bottle and just wash it down as if it were water and I had just got back from a tour around a desert. This too does not happen often.
There are times when I work my appetite up for a specific bottle that is given to me. I have received a lot of bottles in my life, but still I have purchased far more so I am still stuck with the dilemma.
So the truth is, that whatever I choose I have to accept the responsibility of the consequences of my choices and at times gifts are a relief but in the end if that is not an option all I need to do is to K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid).
Bottoms up!
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