I don’t remember that I ever thought of weekend and midweek wines when I was working, and now I’m not working I certainly don’t. I just consider what I feel like drinking at the time. What do people think makes a midweek wine? Is it:
A wine of which you’d drink one or just possibly two glasses and then lose interest.
A wine with relatively low alcohol.
A wine with relatively high alcohol.
A wine which doesn’t need much thought or attention.
Whatever’s left over from the weekend.
Something else.
I try to buy wines that I think I’ll enjoy whenever I drink them so this midweek/weekend split intrigues me.
For me, the distinction is also a bit blurred as I’m part-time work around main childcare; but broadly I tend to drink generally cheaper & cheerfuller wines midweek, often a rose, as I’ll spread a bottle out over 2 or 3 nights [well; usually anyway!] While a weekend bottle tends to be a bit more “special” to enjoy over evening food and into the small hours [my chance for some quiet me-time, without which I can’t function very well]; also wife tends not to drink midweek as she’s got relatively low tolerance, but will do a glass or two on a weekend night. Most weekends TBH sees a bottle/s of white open as that’s my usual preference, and a red as that’s wife’s usual preference. We often find ourselves with 2 or 3 partly-drunk bottles on the go which I dip in & out of over 2-3 days; partly circumstance and partly to see how the wine changes over time open.
Work is behind me, so though I try to open a special wine to go with the Sunday roast, but otherwise any wine that takes my fancy and that I think will go with the meal.
A weekday is sometimes the best for opening a posh bottle because: a) I probably won’t have to share it ; and consequently b) I’ll be able to drink it over two or three days to see how it develops, especially if it’s still quite young.
And midweek… food is typically ‘less considered’ - so maybe leftovers from the weekend or something rustled up from whatever is in the fridge. Therefore the wine choice is more rustic, less expensive, less risky as well - I cant be bothered with opening an aged but possibly duff bottle.
So we are talking Cote de Rhone, not Ch9DP. Muscadet not Chablis.
And occasionally midweek, the opposite happens and it’s Champagne or posh Chianti, because we at Chateau Lapin are sometimes worth it.
I used to work five weekends out of eight, on shift, for many years and over time the concept of the weekend became meaningless to me. Although I no longer work that still remains the case and I rarely differentiate between the days of the week when it comes to what I might eat or drink on any given day.
The same thinking can apply to things like birthdays, Xmas and New Years too. The fact that I have nobody else to please but myself does mean I lack motivation at times though !
Haha, the exact opposite of how I approach things… I think of the wine I want to drink on any given occasion, and then agonise for days over what I’m going to eat with it. And only then does the search for that particular food item begin. It’s a hard life, you know
Guilty as charged - I was only checking CT ‘drinkability’ this afternoon to see what fits the bill!
…which reminds me to finish the process. ISTR Naoussa being towards the top of the agenda, followed by Etna Rosso. I’d love it to be Piedmont, but I’m in danger of exceeding my self-imposed 2 bottles per month limit, because frankly, not being Simon Cowell, I don’t have the wherewithal for such ‘largesse’.
Sounds like it could help turn any week into a splendid one. Does it need to age a while or are you going to get started as soon as an occasion arises?
01438 741177
; and consequently b) I’ll be able to drink it over two or three days to see how it develops, especially if it’s still quite young.
