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an acceptable Riesling made by 20 Bees. Most of my friends are iffy on 20 Bees, but I have a fondness for just about everything I’ve tasted so far. I like Riesling, though most people I know do not.
I had three glasses tonight, am in a woozy haze (I certainly mean this in a good way) and find its crisp and pear-like off-dry nature appealing. Good price point.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Reisling 2003.
An intense fruity auslese for an intense fruity evening.
I don’t have much to pair it with…some cashews and salty wholegrain crackers. It’s lovely enough to bring a tear to the eye. What have I done to deserve such a wine? (weeps silently into her sweater)

It sparkles. It is tasting of fairies and rose petals. I have it in a flute before me now, highlighting and saluting the summer evening.
Down the old rat hole!

I had to clear out Lois’ place two and a half years ago, I found a boxed, bagged and unopened bottle of scotch that had been given to her in 1961. She has never been a scotch drinker, though it would probably do her good now!
I am not a scotch drinker either.
I knew a schnorrer, once, who said ‘I’d like to be a part of that’, uninvited, barely able to keep from licking lips. It was offensive; I was offended.

I have heard that one can trade in bottles of unopened spirits (which can fetch good prices) at the LCBO. I will think optimistically, and try to trade the scotch for a couple of bottles of really fine champagne. Wish the Rat good luck on this, please.

is the ever delightful Banyuls. It is really more of a winter thing, being rich and heady, like an after-dinner port.
In summer, though, it seems less heavy than port. That’s my excuse. What I have before me tonight is Domaine Madeloc, by Pierre Gaillard. It isn’t special enough for an occasion, but it is delightful for a night of painting and poetry.

Three and a quarter squeals out of five.

are readily available. I am bound to make a beautiful summer bellini, and I have found my prosecco! I am not sure if I heard a distant bell as I nodded my approval to the array of lush fruit that invited my touch and taste.

are readily available. I am bound to make a beautiful summer bellini, if I can find out where my prosecco went.

Tonight, a dense, hot, nearly liquid atmosphere. I want, I desire much. I am giddy from a glass – only a glass! – of Domaine Riere Cadene, a Muscat de Rivesaltes. It is my dinner, my dessert, my sweet afterthought.
I am wafting on the scent of my own pulse. I want to fling back the doors of the house, float weightless in the muggy air until I am one with the outdoors, the wild molecules.

Again.
I never get tired of this one.
There’s a thunderstorm outside. The air is thick with an oncoming heatwave, lilacs past their prime, flowering 100-year-old chestnut trees, earthy things in the night, a hard rain, and a whiff of skunk. The wine goes with this.

...this year, is to try many different wines, note my favourites, compare them, and develop a taste for pairings.
The latest treat for dessert on Burns’ Night was a South Australian vin doux: The Bothie, 2005, from Torbreck.
It was a good wine to savour on its own. It was scented heavily with apricot and peach, rich but not unctuous. I would like this one again.