Varuna Aluvihare

Why drink Wine ?

I am supposed to write about one of my great passions, drinking wine.

Before I bore people with a list of wines worth drinking, I thought

I would ponder aloud on why it has become such a passion. The most

obvious and popular reason is that, barring execrable examples,

it contains alcohol. Whilst alcohol has made a major contribution

to western civilisation and adolescent dating, this feature is not

unique to wine. What we drink reflects who we are.

Among the competition, lager and bitter are much more popular and

certainly there are good examples of each. But and it's a big but,

lager drinkers are usually adolescent and possess the least discriminating

of palates. Bitter drinkers are middle-aged and boorish on their

chosen subject and spirit/shorts comes with added sugar for girls

and straight for pin-stripe suits. All of these have greater claim

to be representative of our age.

What about wine drinkers? They have their fare share of the ignorant

and the snobbish of course. On the plus side a basic knowledge can

impress, particularly in the ultimate arena for the first meet,

a posh restaurant. Wine bores, like stamp collectors and train spotters,

will give you a plethora of other reasons. Above all these, I feel

that the best reason is that among all alcoholic beverages, wine

is the most natural partner for food.

The world of food and wine matching is fraught with snobbery and

ignorance but there really are ethereal combinations that, like

all great partnerships, enhance each other and de-emphasise their

respective faults. It helps that being able to cook a decent meal

AND produce good wine to match are the way to a discerning woman's

(whoops, I mean partner's) heart. This has become one of the cardinal

features by which one recognises that oh so modern entity, the 90's

man in touch with his feminine side.

Talking

of food and wine, I have just returned from the Amalfi coast and

whilst there I was constantly amazed at the quality of both, almost

regardless of price. Whether at Michelin starred restaurants or

the local "pasta shop" the emphasis on prime ingredients and cooking

based on local expertise is routine whilst in the UK this is exceptional.

This, in spite of the fact that we have fantastic produce here.

I include a link to one of the Michelin starred restaurants as it

is in a fantastic location, serves superb regional cuisine with

real elan, has an unimpeachable wine list and as with most things

Italian, its all done with effortless grace. One of the starters

was scampi done in a traditional style deep fried in batter. I nearly

fell of my chair when this was recommended by our reliable and affable

sommelier/maitre de. It arrived in a basket but here any similarity

with our much vaunted pub fare ended. Three large langoustin (each

the size of a small lobster) had been shelled only around the body

(leaving a tailpiece for ease of grip!) and then covered with a

light batter before deep-frying. They oozed a sweet, sea salt flavoured

goo when bitten in to and the texture was meatily satisfying. A

perfect paradigm of the difference between UK and Italian cuisine.

The rooms overlook the sea and both these and the food are reasonably

priced. www.tavernadelcapitano.it

A good wine for barbecues is Southern Right Pinotage 2000. Most

South African wine is to my mind disappointing and often over priced

but this is chock full of damson and plum fruit with hints of grilled

meats and coffee. On the palate there is rich ripe fruit (after

all its not French!) framed by hints of coffee and cedar wood with

soft tannins in the finish. There's enough oomph here to last a

few years but delicious now at around £9.00 from Noel Young Wines

in Cambridge. To ease your conscience a contribution to the conservation

of the said whale is made with each bottle sold!

- June 2005

About the Author

Lifestyle and Wine Guru,