Monday, July 24, 2006

Pre-warming the glasses

We all know about the stubby holder - the oh-so useful invention that helps stop your beer heating up unpleasantly before you've had a chance to drink the thing. We have wine coolers and eskys and any number of convenient ways to keep alcohol cool in the hot Aussie summer.

I get that.
Really, I do.

And I do also get the fact that when they recommend drinking red wine at room temperature they do not mean 30 degrees. But where it all falls down is that the great Aussie reds were born in the heat, with the dirt and the fruit and the sun- all full to bursting in the mouth. So when it is sodding below 15 degrees, the wine is too cold to taste.
I've taken to running my glass under hot water before i fill it, sitting the bottle near the heater, nestling the glass between my knees, anything to try and coax the flavours out of this gorgeous blood ruby 2003 Limestone Coast Cabernet Sauvignon that is being transformed into a flavourless, vaguely red sort of drink type thing by the cold.

But what I reckon.. Wha' oi rekk'n is.
We need some sort of reverse stubby holder for red wine in winter. Not one that keeps it cold, or even just stops it getting colder, but one that somehow manages to heat it up slightly. Enough to counter the chilling effect of the air, enough to raise the bouquet. May be, knowing you lot, a deluxe high powered one capable of mulling wine, in a range of fetching medieval colours. Personally, i'd settle for something, some way of imbuing my reds with the fabulous flavours i know they have.
Other than clasping the glass between my thighs, I mean. (Though that does work rather well...)

Let the French have their light pinot noirs, let the Italians have their chianti. As far as my reds are concerned, room temperature is 20 degrees. At least.

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