If you're so clever...

How many times have you heard it or one of its endless variations? If you're so clever how come you are not super successful/rich/something? Why do we automatically think that one leads to another, as if life is a logical continuum of cause and effect?

Now here's a good example of how contradictory life can be: the new POTUS (President of the United States, duh!) Mr. Donald Trump has told us all many a time what a smart guy he is and that he has made billions of dollars, so there's the obvious correlation. But here's the strange bit: if he's so clever how come his hairstyle is so weird, quite ridiculous really, and yet he cannot see it? Does his amazing mental capacity consider it a matter so insignificant that it is beneath his amazing capabilities? Or is is the heat of that amazingly active brain that has caused a malfunction in the tricho-function of his head leading to this obvious but unacknowledged disaster? It gets you wondering a bit about all this cleverness stuff...

No one likes to think of themselves as dim, not so clever or even a few sandwiches short of a picnic, do we? Many of us like to believe that we are gifted in some way or other, even smart guys (pace Donald), and site our achievements in academia, business or elsewhere as proof positive of our innate talents and skills. But is it really thus and do the facts bear this out? And should measurable success be the sole proof of our mental abilities, or lack thereof?

So many times in life the results don't necessarily reflect the effort that's gone in to something, yet often we on the outside look and judge purely on results. How many times have we ourselves uttered 'if he/she is so good/clever/whatever how come they're not super successful/made such a mess of it?' Why do we think that things in life happen in a linear and direct way when everywhere around us we can see that this is not necessarily the case? And why is it that even allegedly smart people lose their ability to think when their vanity gets in the way?

A related sentiment to this is, of course, 'if this is such a clever idea, how come nobody has thought of this before/done this/made this product' - this told to many a prospective innovator/inventor by somebody close to them - and very probably often, thereby dampening their creative flair and sometimes even stopping them in their tracks. How on earth do we think the world would ever move forward if we all felt that way?

I suppose it's a natural instinct to want to tear down somebody else's ideas and attack their sense of self worth, especially when they are not basking in the warmth and support of general adulation. Think how James Dyson would have felt when company after company in the vacuum cleaner field laughed in his face when he was trying to flog them his bagless cyclone idea; as soon as they saw him making a success of it, going it alone, they tried to copy him by ripping off his ideas but, alas for them, the wily Mr. Dyson had safeguarded his patents and took them to task. They were all made to pay for using his technology sooner or later and Dyson is the biggest name (and probably the most profitable...) in the industry these days, so who's laughing now? Should we all be dysoning now?

Which leads me to my final gripe, the sharp intake of breath and the 'oooh, no, you cannot do that..' which, uttered mainly but not exclusively by technical people when discussing a new/different way of doing things and who, when quizzed on why not, respond with 'it's not done, it just can't be done that way' but offer no explanation. To this my attitude has always been (and always will be, I have to say) 'I have news for you. Unless you can explain to me why something cannot be done in a certain way clearly and succinctly, that is exactly what we will be doing and how we will be doing it.'

It is always possible that what we have in mind is not thought through properly; a clear explanation  will make this obvious and will be a great help. It is equally possible that a clever idea may be a bit half-baked, and by discussing shortfalls with the originator we can help them perfect it. But it also may be that we're not as clever as we think, or even as everybody else thinks, so we haven't achieved what we thought we could.

On the other hand it's just possible we chose not to, or that life's ups and downs got in the way. Who's to say?

But on the subject of THAT hairstyle...please! Bad idea!

A Portuguese tasting

The day before yesterday I attended a tasting of Portuguese products, which took place at Lord's Cricket Ground in the modern, featureless Thomas Lord Suite; this is an anuual event by a company called Atlantico UK, an importer and distributor of a wide variety of foods and wines from Portugal and Brazil. I attended the same tasting last year with my friend Alex A. and his wife, and was expecting him to come along this year as well, but the gods of commerce had other ideas and sent  more productive business his way, leaving me alone on this occasion. Still, we wine people are a hardy lot, and I did a lot of grinning, bearing, swilling and spitting in order to evaluate part of what was on offer and be able to write about it.

Some of you may know of my long association with Portuguese wines, going back more than thirty years, when, together with - and utilising his local knowledge - a Portuguese gentleman, we created a company  which for many years was a pioneering force in the development of the market for fine Portuguese wines in the UK. The aftermath of the late 80s-early 90s recession and the changing face of the market put paid to that project, to my great regret.

My affection and admiration for Portugal and its people remains undimmed, however, and I would very much hope to work with some of them again in the not too distant future, as I have always found them (yes, there are exceptions...) knowledgeable, modest, honest and hard-working. Keeping in touch with the wines and other products at least allows me to have an informed feel of what is going on, and tasting is an essential part of that process.

If I was expecting to be greatly impressed by the wines on show, different to the year before, I was somewhat disappointed: the wines I tasted were, by and large, well-made and well-presented but with few really high points. The potentially best wines on show (Cartuxa) were present but remained unopened while I was there, as the estate hadn't turned up and the importers were not organised enough or willing to present them. In the end I gave up and did not taste all the wines on offer, as the slightly unhelpful layout and taster's fatigue defeated me; I also, to my shame, forgot to taste the estate-bottled port on offer, a category that we were the first ever to promote and export (Champalimaud's exquisite Very Old Tawny and 1982 Vintage single estate wines in November 1986) in the mid-eighties.

There was also a white wine on show with a twee name and slightly naff presentation that is the first wine I have ever come across which tasted of nothing - Sad! (To imitate a newly elected world leader).

All in all the whites from Portugal are less interesting than the reds, with some of the local varieties producing rather flabby, round food wines, and the international varieties not showing to character. The real glories in white wine are mainly to be found around the single estate Vinho Verde producers, a currently underappreciated style on the international market. The reds show a bit more character and, I feel, have a better chance on the international scene.

One estate of note, and a very ancient one too (established in 1498), is Quinta de Pancas, situated just north of the Lisbon area. They skilfully blend local and international varieties to produce smart, modern European wines of quality and with personality. I was particularly taken with the Pancas Reserva 2013 (45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Touriga Nacional, 20% Alicante Bouschet) with its dark colour, rich sweet red berry fruit and very long aftertaste.

A sister estate to Pancas is Quinta do Cardo, located in the interior north of Portugal near the border with Spain at an altitude of 750 metres and now producing organic wines. Here, in a mountainous region teeming with rivers, the grape varieties used are almost exclusively local and produce wines of restrained finesse with minerally overtones (white 2015) and reds full of red berry fruit, decent tannins and balance, though I found the flagship 2012 T.N. Reserva, inky and oaky, a bit short on the finish.

Quinta de Sao Sebastiao (San Sebastian to you and me) makes decent wines in what was bulk wine country - Arruda dos Vinhos not far from Lisbon. I tried three whites, quite liked the Quinta de Sao Sebastiao 2016 fresh white, and thought the Sao Sebastiao 2016 juicy, clean and easy to drink, but was disappointed with their 2015 Sauvignon Blanc (a first attempt, bound to improve), produced for the local market but lacking S.B. character and with a slight spritz. Alas I ran out of time and did not taste their reds.

CARM (Casa Agricola Reboredo Madeira) is located in the Upper Douro valley near the Spanish border, in a spectacularly beautiful part of the world that is perfect for making wine and olive oil. And they do both successfully with local varieties, smart presentation, panache and serious prices too. The white was delicate and fruity on the nose, with a green fruit palate and a long, slightly bitter, finish. The reds, as usual more exciting, were made from Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca and Tinta Francisca, with the Reserva and Grande Reserva 2013 wines showing well (Reserva: good deep colour, restrained yet rich nose, spicy and rich palate, long/Grande Reserva: Slightly lighter colour, refined and restrained nose, sweet red fruit round palate, long and good). I also liked the two olive oils on show, clean, delicate and classy.

Global Wines Portugal have assembled a portfolio of wine brands mainly from the north of the country (Dao, Douro, Bairrada, Vinho Verde), with some Alentejo and Lisbon thrown in. All are smartly presented, as befits a marketing organisation, with some traditional and some modern looks. The wines I tasted under the watchful supervision of the ever helpful and informative Patricia were all well made and from the Dao (Cabriz and Casa de Santar) and Bairrada (Quinta do Encontro); surprisingly the whites were more or less equal to the reds, with Cabriz Reserva 2015 (very closed distinguished nose, big/chewey/long palate) and Casa de Santar (bigger than the Cabriz, big mouthful of restrained fruit) whites standing out. On the red front the Cabriz Reserva 2012 (dark red colour, oaky/creamy nose and palate, long, good), Casa de Santar Reserva (vibrant red colour, blackberry and cream on nose and palate) and Quinta do Encontro Reserva 2014 (dark colour, ripe red berry nose, red fruit and tannin on palate, long) were interesting but not, to my mind, outstanding.

Some fascinating wines were made by Alves de Sousa in the Douro valley from their own properties and shown with great panache and affection by Domingos Alves de Sousa, one of the pioneers of the region. He showed me an amazing selection of wines, especially the reds, and they are so many that I will need to do a separate write-up for them. All in all I tasted eight wines (two whites, six reds) and missed out on his ports through my aforementioned negligence and lack of time! His passion and enthusiasm reminded me a bit of the late Eduardo Serpa Pimentel of Quinta da Pacheca, whose twinkling eyes, love of wine and kindness I will never forget.

One of the real glories of Portugal is, to my mind, its charcuterie, and there were several companies showing, though they seemed fewer than last year. The products on show were sensational and deserve to be known by international audiences, as they are as good if not better than their other international competitors to this, perhaps ignorant on the subject, mind; from the extreme north to the rich south they produced tasty, juicy products with excellent taste and texture - so impressive!

Olive oil on show was unctuous and clean, delicately fragrant with no aggressive edges, and the little cheese I managed to taste was flavoursome and ripe, a decent mouthful. I was unable to taste some of the soft drinks, beers and sweets on offer.

Of the pre-prepared foods the little brazilian cheesy dough ball was a delightful nibble, the cod balls (yes, I know...) yummy, the savoury pies tasty, the pasteis de nata (the glorious portuguese custard tarts) delicious. But the true star for me was the truly spectacular almond tart from 'A Tarte', as good as anything I have ever had along those lines in a very long time... Wow!

There were more things I never got a chance to taste, more's the pity. I should have allowed myself more time...

(Un) Common courtesy

Everyday life can be a tiring affair, with so many things one needs to do,  so many interactions with other people. In order to make our day to day existence more bearable we long ago created a social code of behaviour that involves being polite and considerate towards one another as a form of social lubricant. We call this behaviour common courtesy and should encounter it all around us a lot of the time.

Unfortunately recently there has been a tendency to disregard courtesy and all that goes with it, perhaps as a misguided expression of individuality or, even, because of political correctness. This is evident everywhere in London, from the way people behave when driving, riding their bicycles or just walking in the street, and to me it is disappointing and annoying in equal measure.

It used to be quite rare to hear the beeping of a car horn in central London, but now it happens every few seconds and makes you jump, with the reason often being just to communicate with a friend, a form of hello or at other times because the vehicle in front has dared hesitate for a second. It is not yet as major an irritant as in Mediterranean countries or the Middle East, but still it is unnecessary and stressful.

What about all the people walking about lost in their mobile communications device, who will suddenly stop in mid-stride and force you to either collide with them or take evasive action? Or the cyclist riding straight at you on the pavement and expecting you to step aside when he is breaking the law? The three people walking side by side who expect the solitary walker coming from the other side to give them room rather than the other way around?

And everyone I know has a story about a neighbour on the train or restaurant having a loud yet private conversation, sharing details of their work or personal life that I, for one, have no desire to know.

Don't think for a moment that there was a time not that long ago when everything was perfect and everyone considerate, because there wasn't. We were, however, more aware of each other and less eager to cause offence, perhaps realising that being polite is not the same as being submissive or weak, but just a mechanism to make life interesting. Today we are more selfish, more full of, often inflated, ideas of or our own self-worth and less automatic respect for others. The result of this is that we are less patient and tolerant, less prepared to show courtesy to unknown others.

Doubtless Brexiteers will attribute some of this to the immigrants that are more and more a feature of life in multicultural London, and they are not entirely wrong: it has recently become established practice that, instead of trying to fit in and assimilate with the host culture, new arrivals insist on continuing their patterns of behaviour from home, thus bringing and imposing (or trying to) new habits and modes of personal conduct previously unknown. This in turn disrupts the equilibrium and encourages some previously compliant people to begin misbehaving, making matters worse. How does it stop?

Well, I think it's really quite simple, and it involves every single one of us. All we have to do is modify our behaviour a little bit to take into account others around us, be more sensitive and considerate of their needs. It costs hardly anything, makes life better, helps people smile more at each other, and I am certain that others will imitate this given half a chance. What is there not to like?

What the hell are you talking about?

You only have to switch on the television, be involved in social media or, indeed, read a newspaper to wonder if the world is going mad these days. From politicians pronouncing black to be white or vice versa to criminals denouncing prison as being cruel or violating their human rights, we seem to feel that we are entitled to present facts as they suit us, with the apotheosis being President Trump and his people telling blatant untruths and calling them alternative facts.

And every day it is getting worse.

Recently a woman here in London was convicted in court because she behaved aggressively towards a cyclist while driving her car, ranting and raving at him, threatening to run him over. The whole episode was caught on his helmet camera and she is clearly shown to be threatening the cyclist, who happened to be well-known BBC presenter Jeremy Vine, yet she is reportedly 'not happy' at her conviction despite also ranting about this on social media while the court case was in progress, having several other offences and a suspended sentence in her background. Is she serious? What is she saying, that despite everything she has done she must not be punished?

A very fruitful source of amusement on this front is, of course, Boris Johnson, currently Foreign Secretary and previously Mayor of London, who constantly lets pearls of wisdom escape his mouth. The fact that often his observations are intelligent and, possibly, even accurate does not mean that he should be saying these things. How is he going to face President Trump (The Donald) having said that one of the reasons he does not go to New York is his fear of meeting Donald Trump when, during his tenure as mayor, Trump suggested that London was an unsafe city to live in - and implying it was because of the large unchecked numbers of foreigners in our midst.

Another complaint is how we use language officially in everyday life, like the announcement on a train that 'we are arriving at XYZ where this train will terminate'... The other day I wanted to congratulate the conductor who said that 'we are now approaching XYZ where this train will complete its journey', but was unable to find him. Perhaps he is following new instructions or there is a new movement afoot to speak properly, all a good thing, for language used correctly is a thing of beauty.

I must confess to another pet hate, the use of the word peadophile to imply someone who has erotic and sexual interest in children; the correct word is pederast (from the greek words for child and eros, physical love i.e. sexual). If we take the use of -phile (from the greek word philos: friend, lover/amateur-not sexual) in that way, then a bibliophile is a very strange person indeed, and you had better hide your pet gerbil if a zoophile comes to visit. Whilst I appreciate it is probably too late to change to the correct word now it continues to 'impact' on my sensibilities... And of course impact is a noun, not a verb, so it has an impact really...

Of course this is small fry when someone as error-prone as George W. Bush walks this earth, though I fear that he is about to be eclipsed by the new U.S.A. administration. I so hope not!

Old World, new wines

One of the great things about London, if you are interested in wine, is the large number of tastings on offer on a more or less regular basis, some for trade only but others open to the public for a, usually modest, price. This has long been the case, though the content of tastings has changed to reflect the changes in the wine world. Recently I attended one such tasting by the Association of Wine Cellarmen, a long-established group based on, as the name implies, people involved in the cellaring of wines but now also comprised of many members outside the trade.

The tasting revolved around wines from (the former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia, now known confusingly by Macedonia alone. I say confusingly because Macedonia as a geographical area includes parts of Greece, where Macedonia is a protected geographical indication area within EU regulations, but also bits of Bulgaria and Serbia, Kosovo, even Albania. Still, politicians will have to work these things out while we mortals struggle on with our little lives and try to make sense of it all.

While it was part of Serbia the area was a prolific producer of, mainly indifferent, wines in some quantity. In recent years investment has gone into the local wine industry and, as a direct consequence, the wines produced are of a much higher - and consistent - quality;  I was very curious indeed to try this new lot and see for myself. The wines we tasted were all from the STOBI winery, named after the ancient town whose ruins are nearby, and a modern, large producer (500 hectares, 4,5 million litres) with extensive, sophisticated facilities.

We kicked off with four white wines, all of the 2013 vintage and much better for the extra bottle age. All were well-made, clean and serious:

1. The first wine, made from the local Zhilavka grape variety, had a golden colour, a fruity modern nose, equally fruity on the palate with high acidity and a long and slightly bitter finish. Not to my taste.

2. This was the Stobi Cuvee, made from R'kaciteli, Zhilavka and Zhupljanka grapes (yes, all local), had a light golden colour with subtle green fruit on the nose. I found it better balanced than the previous, with a rounded palate and long finish, a food wine.

3. An unoaked Chardonnay came next, bright golden in colour, creamy slightly green typical Chardonnay nose with sweet fruit and a decent glug of green fruit (unripe mirabelle?) on the palate, balanced, long finish ending with a bitter aftertaste - for me, another food wine.

4. Muscat Ottonel is part of the Muscat family, though less distinctive, and in this incarnation was greeny gold in colour, had spicy oregano fruit on the nose and delicate complex green fruit on the palate, once again with a long, bitter finish. The most interesting of the whites?

The reds were a mixture of local and international varieties, all from the (apparently excellent) 2011 vintage, with the Vranec grape variety providing the local presence and Petit Verdot and Syrah the foreign interlopers:

5. Stobi Vranec had deep, rather vibrant, red colour and ripe, plummy fruit on the nose. On the palate it was cram full of complex ripe red berry fruit, balanced with good tannins and a long finish - a lovely wine to glug on a cold night with or without food. The star of the evening? I would have liked some of this but, alas, it is now sold out, and the current vintage is 2013.

6. Vranec Veritas Reserve is the 'big, serious' brother/sister to the above, with a deep, dense, almost black red colour, a woody, sightly sweet, slightly oxidised nose full of ripe cherry fruit and a big and tannic palate, creamy red fruit and good long aftertaste. A bit of a beast, needing time?

7. The Petit Verdot I have always considered as completing a blend, not free-standing, so I was pleased to see this example with its ripe, dark colour and its sweeter berry nose, ripe and clean. The palate was ripe, tannic, with a good balance of ripe cherry fruit and a long, slightly green, finish. It seems to need more time, but how will it age?

8. These days Syrah is found all over the world; unsurprisingly, since it gives us some lovely reds almost wherever it's grown. This example had a nice dark colour and a refined, delicate if rich nose - red fruit creme brûlée? On the palate it was ripe and tannic, full of not sweet red berry fruit, with a long finish.

It was very gratifying to see so many well-made wines coming from a new winery in an old world area, even if I feel there is plenty of room for improvement, especially in the whites. The presentation is also very smart and tasteful, as can be seen from the photographs of the empty bottles; remains to be seen how eye-catching it is on an international wine shelf, especially the U.K., where competition is so fierce. I do find the wines quite ambitiously priced, though, at this stage of the winery's career and feel that their reputation in the international markets needs to be a bit better established before they can charge a tenner a bottle, or more for the more serious reds. If wines are to be successful on the big international stage their producers will have to look carefully at their strategy (quality and price-wise) and forget about their success in whatever local market they occupy.

Dear wine producers, please remember that being too ambitious at the outset without the quality and class to match your marketing is just as bad if not worse than not being ambitious at all.