I’m struggling a bit today. My eyes feel gritty, having over-dosed on the Eye Dew (blue) last night. The whites have gone from the bluey whiteness so beloved of housewives in soap powder adverts, to looking like road maps. My voice has deepened to a ‘bar-room baritone’ from too much drinking and laughing (and probably too much shrieking loudly, but I don’t want to think about that right now).
The Italian Wine Dinner last night was fantastic. I knew we were on for a great night when we started with a prosecco which was wonderfully fresh and light. Prosecco is rapidly becoming my favourite fizz. Why drink one bottle of champagne, when you can drink four bottles of prosecco for the same money? When the chap talking about the wines mentioned the huge increase in sales of prosecco recently in this country, H started shooting me meaningful looks, as if my personal consumption was solely responsible.
There were two white wines – a delicate, peachy Pinot Grigio, and a very unusual Soave, that tasted of apricots, with a creamy finish (who needs desserts when there are wines like this!). I haven’t drunk Soave since I was in my twenties. We used to put it in the fridge with the one and a half litre bottle of Lambrusco, and chill it so much that you couldn’t really taste anything.
The reds were interesting too. There was ‘a nice Chianti’ (thankfully not served with liver and fava beans) which all the women at our table liked, and a big, syrupy, alcoholic Barolo, which all the men preferred.
Finally, there was something I have never drunk before - a red Valpolicella dessert wine. I’m not a big fan of 'stickies' but this was very pleasant – a bit like sneaking a slug of undiluted Ribena straight from the bottle.
I think I need to stay off the juice tonight, or until my voice goes back to its normal pitch. I have spent the day sounding like a female impersonator. If I had better hair, clothes and make-up, I might look like one too.
