Wine tasting evening
The wine industry in all its forms is better than most in offering opportunities to women.
There are several notable female wine critics – Jane MacQuitty and Jancis Robinson and half of the writers on Decanter magazine.
Last Thursday evening I attended a tasting of South African and Californian wines where the tutor was a woman. I could neither place her accent nor face: she was in her thirties, she could have been slav, eastern European or Finnish but her English was fluent and idiomatic.
She began by stating she was tired by the exertions of the last 48 hours involving trips to London and Glasgow and her powerpoint was not functioning properly. No one was interested and nor should they be. We are paying £27 and expect a professional service, not moaning, and a computer should be tested in advance.
You can say these things on the Rust without fear of being accused of stereotyping and being sacked for misogyny but in my opinion women are happier to talk of their physical and mental condition than men and in doing so succumb to it. Of course I know male hypochondriacs and women like Bob Tickler’s p/a Polly who never speaks of any ailment even when she has a relatively serious condition.
Our tutor, let’s call her G, was certainly animated while glugging the wine and openly criticising or praising it. There was an interesting discussion on decanting and uncorking wine.
I mentioned my Italian Brunello di Montalcino, a fine wine. By mistake I left it uncorked and open for 24 hours and this certainly improved its maturity and body. G said there are no hard or fast rules and wine experts are divided even on the basic procedure of opening a red two hours before drinking.
We tasted South African and Californian wines. There are similarities in both regions. Both do not have an appellation controllee system so you can more or less produce what you want, the only constraint being a certificate of origin (to much furore they have introduced this in Piedmont for Barolo wines).
Both export a lot of wine but I made the point that, given the weakness of the rand against the pound, it should be much cheaper than it is. G said there can be middle men and duties between the grower and the consumer driving up the cost but this does not explain why South African wine is normally priced the same as other New World Wine exported from counties with a much stronger currency. Both produce a variety exclusive to them: the Pinotage in South Africa and the Zinfandel in California.
Of the six wines we enjoyed the most a Frei Brothers Russian Valley Chardonnay from Sonoma USA ( £17.99) and a Brazin Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel (£13.99).
A Zinfandel pairs well with lamb. The South African wines, especially the Pinotage, were disappointing. South African wines carry severe health warnings.
G had read one label with this warning:
“Don’t drink and walk in the road.”
