A relaxed Friday afternoon in South London

The last couple of weeks in London have been hot and full of sunshine, with the last couple of days being the hottest; when my friend J and I arranged to have lunch on Friday 6th July we were not to know this, however. Why is this significant, I hear you ask, bursting with impatience? Well, sit back and relax, for everything will be revealed, explained etc... Patience dear reader, patience.

J is a wine trade friend and, unlike me, he is still active in the trade on a day-to-day basis running his own successful business partly advising, partly importing and distributing wine to anyone discerning enough and with the requisite liquidity (ha-ha). He is very good at what he does, knowledgeable, informed and open-minded in his approach, seeking out interesting wines for his diverse, thirsty clientele. I have known him for many years (about 30!), since we were both establishing ourselves in the trade, and we have been friends for rather a long portion of that time. Our lunches have been known to be long-lasting, highly interesting and entertaining, VERY liquid and with the drink consumed always being of decent/good, even great quality befitting our background, interests and expertise, so why should this one be an exception?

The initial plan had been for a restaurant lunch, which would have been fun, but J had to be at home to look after their dog, and this ended up being better in so many ways. For one we were, at least partly, in the company of his lovely wife, whom I had not seen for ages, but also we were able to be far more relaxed dress-wise, both indeed attired in shorts and polo shirts in response to the heat. Furthermore, entertaining at home results in far more modest costs for all concerned and a bigger and better choice of wine.

A glass of chilled rose from Provence was thrust into my eager hand on arrival, and it was everything that wines of this type should be - juicy, bone dry with an undercurrent of strawberry fruit, subtle yet obvious, and a great drink for summer either as an aperitif  or with food. Rose wines had been unfashionable for a great many years, but thankfully this is no longer the case, so there is a good variety available on the market. This example (Chateau Trians 2017) is of the lighter-in-colour, stylish but with plenty of taste, versions, modern and clean, delightful served cold in hot weather, this is miles away from the cheap, nasty off-dry stuff available at the lower end of the market. What can I say, I'm a fan of rose wines and I certainly enjoyed this one.

A white wine from Italy followed, Roero Arneis Daivej from the Deltetto family, clean and typical, a round mouthful which works well with food, but is able to stand on its own as well, ever so gluggable if slightly unremarkable, this disappeared quite quickly with our starter. A versatile little number that I'm sure you would have enjoyed, dear reader, if only you had been invited...

Our main course being meaty somehow we needed to find a space for a red wine, and J had set aside a Barolo 2011 from Tenuta Rocca and a Chianti 2013 from Badia a Passignano, both spending time in the fridge so that they could warm up in the glass, but not too much. Here we had two good examples of Italy's great red varieties -Nebbiolo in the Piedmont for the Barolo and Sangiovese in Tuscany for the Chianti. When I first started in the wine trade Barolos were uncompromisingly tough and needed a lot of time to come around and be drinkable, but the modern ones are different, juicier and better balanced, though still tannic and big. From a good if not outstanding vintage, this was all rich red fruit, dark colour and a long finish, drinking well now and with quite a few years of life ahead, gently improving, if only we hadn't consumed it.

Good Chianti is a joy to drink (the cheap stuff generally is not, lacking fruit and balance) and ages very well, with this a fairly young example just shaking off the firmness of youth and showing its typicality, with a hint of woodiness. Sangiovese is lighter in colour, less dense and purple, than Nebbiolo and less powerful; this example was youthful with a hint of awkwardness, plenty of ripe fruit and the class so lacking in run-of-the-mill Chiantis.

Sauternes is one of the great wines of the world, under-appreciated like many sweet wines as our ignorance rules our palate and fashion. Chateau Rieussec is one of the major properties of the region, with the Grand Vin a regular super star. Having never before tried their second wine - Carmes de Rieussec - the example before us from the excellent 2009 vintage was everything a Sauternes should be: bursting with complex white fruit flavours, layered gentle honey sweetness and incredible length, not far off their top stuff. If I had to choose a high point this would have been it, a sublime way to end a meal.

By now you are shaking your heads in disapproval at our indulgence and good fortune. I too was shaking my head, but in wonder at my great good fortune, in wonder at the generosity of my kind friends, in wonder at my capacity for discovering ever-changing enjoyment from the varied aromas, tastes and textures of wine. Yes, I'm a lucky little bastard, get used to it!

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