Lady with Biceps

A SPLENDID EVENING chez wine importing colleague, Robert began with tall flutes of Veuve Clicquot NV (full bodied, precociously mature with some fresh truffle) followed by a sniffing-session with the 'Nez du Vin' aroma bottle kit. It's harder than one might imagine to pinpoint the differences between raspberry and blackcurrant, or coffee and caramel. Worth honing one's olfactory senses with, however.

A tasting of 1er Cru wines from Beaune ensued. Les Bressandes '98 was complex, with creme fraiche, raspberries and blackberries on the nose, a dusky, engaging palate and a long focussed aftertaste.

A Beaune Teurons '91 from Chateau Beaune was initially reticent with cottage cheese on the nose, a sanguine palate (due in part to its verge of maturity) and a polite acidity. A compulsion to regularly sip it was considered a good sign. A firm, supple lady with biceps not at first apparent.

A magnificent Boeuf Bourguignon complemented, prepared, lovingly, to the recipe of Chef Bernard Loiseau, who tragically took his life after his Cote d'Or restaurant was downgraded in the eyes of select critics.

*

Here is a rather curious sign, sent to me by a beautful girl in the northen segment of our continent.

A visit to the Curzon cinema, Soho, to see Al Gore's climate-change polemic, 'An Inconvennient Truth' sensitively highlighted, amongst a tally of quite arresting statistics, just how atypically hot the '03 vintage was, particularly across Europe. As those wines come to market, it does seem that their ripeness is prone sometimes to compote.

Incidentally the cinema is licenced, meaning my colleague, Kyle and I enjoyed halves of Hoegaarden and Extra Cold Guiness in the auditorium. Much more civilised than silty popcorn.