Tuesday 8 February 2011

Elmer Fudd must have been blind

It was back to work yesterday after a quiet time of milling around the flat last week whilst the horrendous gales ceaselessly battered the windows from outside (gales being the wind, not a bunch of angry female neighbours or work colleagues named in such a way).
Having saved all my holidays up for Baby Reid's arrival, I've found I've got a certain amount of annual leave to spare. Obviously Ka is still off work and it probably helps her, to some extent, having me around annoying her. It can't be easy being off work, on maternity leave, without a baby to look after, in fact, I know it is not. It's always the quiet moments that get you, especially when you are sitting in the house, on your own. It must be even harsher for Ka.
We don't get loads of opportunities to be on our own, thankfully, due to the family and friends popping round. Ka made her famous meatballs in spaghetti, last Tuesday night, and Chaz and Pauline popped round with whom we unexpectantly drank approximately one bottle of wine each. Chaz arrived with a rather lovely bottle of Chablis and an expensive looking Italian red, of sorts.
Of sorts, because I cannot remember what it was. I've no idea.
When it comes to wine, I'm afraid I am as ignorant as I am stupid.
What kind of wine is considered 'elegant'. What makes a wine 'complex'. Three for a tenner in Asda is about as 'complex' as it gets for me. Is the wine 'full of depth', 'rich' or 'silky smooth'?
These terms all sound more like how the sexy rabbit with the purple ribbon described Caramel chocolate in those adverts.
Did I just describe a rabbit as sexy?
They do have a bit of a reputation don't they?
Looney Tunes even played with the idea when Bugs Bunny would dress up like a woman to fool Elmer Fudd... Elmer Fudd must have been blind to fall for that!
There was Jessica Rabbit, but she doesn't really count considering she was rabbit in name only. Then there's the whole Playboy bunny thing, the creation of the soon to be married Hugh Hefner. Come to think of it Hefner looks a little like Elmer Fudd, except older and probably with less ammo.
Anyway, wine. I also have no idea what a wine's 'bouquet' should be.
Should wine smell like flowers? I've never drank a bottle that smelled like an toxic abundance of tiger lilies before and I doubt I ever would. Hoegaarden is about the closest I can think of to an alcoholic beverage that tastes like flowers (and that's pretty rancid).
Chaz knows all about wine now though, after being educated in the ways of the wine world by a past girlfriend, and treats us to some fantastic wine whenever we invite him round for dinner.
Tuesday night was the first time Ka and myself had enjoyed a wine after everything that's happened. When I say 'enjoyed' I use the term loosely, of course, because there's always going to be that slight, nagging feeling of guilt running through our head when we start feeling comfortable and recently, sometimes we've mentally stopped ourselves, unintentionally, as we've almost come ridiculously close to having a nice time and a laugh when seeing family and friends.
The wine was not the reason on Tuesday night, of course, as it was all down to the company. Pauline and Chaz were great dinner guests and were probably a little more satisified with their meals this time round considering the last time they visited they were served a buffet consisting of a plate of toasted cheese, a bowl of grapes, a plate of tomatoes and a bowl of baked beans, fresh out the microwave.
We did not serve wine with that particular feast. Who knows what the bouquet would have had to have been like to suit that feast.

1 comment:

Miriam Vaswani said...

I've found over the years that you can attach any string of adjectives you like to wine, and people will believe and admire your assessment, as long as you state it with conviction.

It doesn't work so well in Russia, unfortunately, since most of the wine here tastes like corn syrup.