Great green grapes

Last weekend, my favourite sibling invited me to join them on a socially-distanced tour of the local vineyard. (Yes, there is a vineyard within the M25. This is the kind of unlikely fact that makes me enjoy living on the fringes of London.)

 

I am pleased to report that the tour was followed by wine tasting.

 

Before going any further, I need to make two things clear:

1. I do not own shares in this (or any other) vineyard.
2. I do not have a refined palate (having decided long ago that I could not afford to cultivate one).

We tasted two still, white wines: a Bacchus and an Ortega. Both were organic and vegan. Both had the aroma and flavour of grapes. Both were delicious.

 

Ortega grapes

We bought some. (I say we: actually, my sibling bought some and I owe them the money for my share.) It would have been rude not to. They are rather dearer that my usual wine budget, but sometimes you really do get what you pay for. It's also important to support local businesses. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

 

As a bonus, we gained quite a lot of middle-class points. (Full disclosure: I wasn't wearing my pink trousers but I was wearing a sunhat that made me look slightly silly.)

We made the most of the sunny weather by buying and eating ice creams. (More virtuous support for the local economy, obviously.) And I topped up my middle-class points further with a purchase of anchovy-stuffed olives from the farmers market.

 

Stuffed olives

Back at home, half of a bottle of the 2019 Ortega went very nicely with roast chicken.

The next day, we lost all those hard-won middle-class points by drinking the rest of the bottle alongside a dinner that included oven chips. But I like to think that combining fancy-rustic wine with convenience food shows eclectic taste. Cheers!