Monday first Monday of month is when the Grumpy Old Men meet. The choice this month was Little Marrakech*, second time I’ve been there with Grumpies. As is my wont, as it is Moroccan cuisine I chose a Moroccan wine to have with my tagine.
N.V. Chais de Sidi Brahim (Morocco, Beni M’Tir)
I was a disappointed when it landed on the table to see that it was a Merlot Cabernet blend - I was expecting some indigenous Moroccan varieties, but it was very drinkable. However, I have decided Moroccan cuisine is not for me, for all the dramatic showmanship of whipping off the tagine top to release puffs of steam lifting to the ceiling like Red Indian smoke signals…
Tuesday Mrs M was playing Bridge on-line so we had dinner earlier. Time to make puttenesca sauce in which to immerse penne,
with which we had mixed salad and no-brainer™
2020 Casa Vinicola Roxan The Wine Society’s Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Italy, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo)
Wednesday chilli sin carne (with roughly crushed chickpeas instead of mince) served in pitta bread pockets. Opening the pitta packet I found a mould spot on one, so I carefully examined the rest already on oven shelves ready for warming and found one more. Urghhh. And the packet was opened before the Best Before Date…
With the chilli I opened my first 2019 vintage Kadette.
2019 Kanonkop Pinotage The Society’s Exhibition (South Africa, Stellenbosch)
It seemed a bit lighter than previous vintages.
Thursday I made bread dough with OO flour and left it to rise while I took the mouldy pitta back to M&S where I got a lecture on the necessity to keep the receipt. I replied the that they should not make not giving a receipt their default. The entire packet only cost 50p and I wasn’t returning something because I didn’t want it. What I really wanted was for them to pass it back to the producer because I didn’t want to get mouldy bread again.
Anyway, they’d sold out on the shelves and had to wait for a staff member to locate more ‘upstairs’. I was there so long, my my pizza was brought to the dining table 20 minutes late. Usually Mrs M is banging her fork on the table if dinner is delayed but she was in an equitable manner, probably brought about by me pouring her a hefty measure of
2020 La Crotta di Vegneron Petite Arvine (Italy, Valle d’Aosta)
Many years ago we had Petite Arvine for the first time sitting outside a restaurant looking down from a lofty position to a lake below. I thought it was in Switzerland but it may have been northern Italy, can’t remember where exactly but I remember the wine…
Mrs M thought it was like Viognier, but I find that oily and flabby. Although aromatic this wine was taut and crisply dry and I liked it. But would prefer it was closed with a screwcap rather than cork.
And so ends the second week when I don’t want to read the headlines in the papers, watch TV news, and leave the radio off at news time.
*no link given for Little Marrakech because Norton says the site is trying to download malware. It was OK in the past.
(Sidi Brahin from Little Marrakech, others from good ole TWS)
01438 741177
to TWS and 
