Sasha Sykes described it as her "bitter sweet epiphany" in The Telegraph, muses the Countess du Ruel. I, like Sasha, eagerly await the day in dullest January when these knobbly and ugly citruses from Seville arrive for marmalade season. Bon Appétit... but hurry up, the season's short.
Extraordinaire! We're in for a real treat with the 2009 Bordeaux, cheers the Countess du Ruel.Even before the grapes were picked, the
2009 vintage was heralded as the best taste in young wines of the last thirty
years. This is saying something as the
2005 vintage has been touted for years as the new millesime.
What is it about vegetables that make grown men go mad? says Atticus.
Last weekend was the National Vegetable Society Championships, a fiercely contended annual competition that pits vegetable against vegetable, or rather
vegetable grower against vegetable grower. It can get brutal. Recently,
a local show in Torquay was marred by a late-night attack on the
local allotments during which a number of edible contenders were horrifically
wounded.
It looks like our chances of drinking expensive bubbly at bargain prices have gone down the drain, moans the Countess du Ruel, at least for the moment. Growers in the Champagne region have decided to harvest fewer grapes in 2009. Blast! I thought we might be set to enjoy a bonanza of cut-rate champagne on our tables this autumn.
We Europeans can't live without our wine, boasts the Countess du Ruel.Thierry, my friend in the wine trade, tells me that the great vintages, once the reserve of the super wealthy, are coming onto my radar. Could it be that due to the meltdown the likes of Haut Brion, Mouton Rothschild, and Cheval Blanc are now in my price range? Probably not. Still my vin ordinaire may improve.
