I Am The Lord Of Hellfire And I Bring You............. by Mark Deamer

I Am The Lord Of Hellfire And I Bring You.............

Hey did you go to that really hot Italian wine tasting?

I am making no reference to the quality of the wines here. It was just bloody hot. It was humid too. Really is the peak of BST the best time to be showing red wines? I have attended two tastings over this period; Wines of Italy and Wines of Spain.Tasting the white wines was achievable, at least they are chilled.But even the slightest addition of new oak and you are beginning to look round for water and a comfortable place that might come in handy should the urge to snooze become too much.

I see no point what so ever in showing red wines in these weather conditions other than for the suits to get drunk. No one even took the opportunity to present their lighter red wines chilled. Wine and red wine in particular is much like me in this weather, becoming sulky and edgy. And even though I am an experienced and enthusiastic taster able to assess the technical aspect of wine, there simply is no pleasure in it. I didn't want to taste any more wines. I mean as a consumer you would be hardly likely to sit down for lunch in the glare of the midday sun with a bottle Amarone or Barolo. I know our antipodean cousins are not opposed to adding an ice cube or two to their Shiraz but it doesn't show the wine in it's full splendour. Stewed tannins and volatile acidity are unpleasant. Not to mention it was evaporating in the glass. Fugg the machismo of 'Being able' to drink red wines in this condition. Wine at the wrong temperature is just as pointless as drinking wine too young

So as it seems that this country has the worse air conditioners in the world, and most venues are something akin to a greenhouse the simple solution (to me) would be to taste whites (or gin and tonics) in the summer (hot) months. They can be chilled and tasted as they are intended to be served/consumed. Once those 8 weeks are over and we return to our more normal grey, damp and cooler weather we can try reds in all their full glory just as god intended.

I anticipate having to trawl through two feet of snow in february next year for a Mosel Riesling tasting all things being equal. They will probably be served frozen and on a stick.