Bah, Humbug!

I REIFIED this poor beast (left) from glazed clay aged thirteen - now it's filled with Champagne stoppers.

Yet it still seems decidedly down.

Unlike the recently discovered mug, two bottles pleased me unconditionally today, both vestiges from the recent 'Catford to Canons' trip, available from wine importing colleague, Robert Fernandez.

The first, which required some stabilisation after the journey, was a flush Pinot Gris from Alsace, Domaine Allimant-Laugneer '05, which showed an organic brown sugar/classic 'Humbug' bent, a perfect partner to Alsatian Munster cheese.

The second wine, an '02 AC 'Ladoix' from Aloxe Corton (Chapuis) [very good value at around 4 Euros in France; English taxation on wine is in my opinion a tax on health, see earlier article] was Burgundian. With a red jelly blush, this 'Green & Blacks' cocoa scented wine possessed a whiff of Barclay Menthol cigarettes and somehow a "water from the hot tap" smoothness.

Unantagonistic, like an unobstrusive, but elegantly beautiful waitress.