White Wine Day--- August 4th

[Bruce Tuncks]

I found it hard to believe there is such a day, but google agreed.

SO...  what should I open?  I usually drink reds.

[willedoo]

August 4th. is mead day on the Pastafarian holy day calendar. Must be something about grog on that day.

[onetrack]

Does this mean that August 4th is the only day you can open a bottle of White wine? Or does it mean, that on that day, you indulge in every variety of White wine you can find?

Sounds to me like a cunning marketing stunt by desperate wine producers, who are always trying to unload on the unsuspecting public, thousand of litres of barely-drinkable rubbish, that they've put in bottles with fancy labels, carrying slick names.

 

They've copped a bit of a hammering lately, what with the Chinese stopping the importation of Australian wines, the impact of bushfires, plus heatwave and storms impacts.

I wouldn't be a grape grower or a wine producer for all the tea in China, I reckon it must be a very difficult way to make a living - and believe me, I've indulged in some difficult ways of making a living, and endured numerous major traumas along the way.

 

[nomadpete]

33 minutes ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

I found it hard to believe there is such a day, but google agreed.

SO...  what should I open?  I usually drink reds.

Me too.

 

But I'm white, so I'll have a bottle of red with dinner, and still be complying with the "White wine drinker"  concept.

 

I'm a bit surprised that the PC brigade allow such a racist special day.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Thanks nomad, I never thought of that way of looking at it. Since I'm not a blackfellow, I can drink red and still comply!

And onetrack, when I went around the world years ago, I made a big point of drinking only the local stuff. I can therefore tell you with some experience that Australian wine is generally good. It would take more talent than I have to buy a truly dreadful Australian wine. Some ethnics in the middle-east and Europe make truly awful stuff. Not that I'm a fussy drinker, I just don't like alcohol free stuff.

But feel free to experiment yourself. I do agree about the labels , but what about the beer ones? I still like the beer tho, I just finished drinking "one hundred and fifty lashes" and I liked it.

[onetrack]

Unfortunately for you boozers, I haven't drunk wine for years - and I detest beer, and always have done. I do like a wee drop of Whiskey occasionally, but a bottle of Whiskey usually lasts me 6 or 12 mths.

I gave up wine drinking around 30 years of age, when I had a little "episode" of unbridled anger that resulted in vehicle damage and family upset, after an evening of drinking (white) wine (with a meal), that made me realise that it wasn't good for me.

The anger was actually deeper than the wine effect, as I found out many years later, when I was diagnosed with a degree of PTSD from service in SVN - but the alcohol in wine just made the anger surface, for little reason.

I have recently discovered James Squire (alcoholic) Ginger Beer, which I find quite refreshing after a hot, hard day of physical work.

I only ever knock off one can, I find that's plenty for me. Any more, and I start to feel pretty sh**** the next day.

I see no benefit whatsoever in consuming large amounts of alcohol in one go, and I'm surprised at how much some people still consume, even with meals.

[red750]

One glass of moselle every 10 years is about my limit. Aug 4 is my wife's birthday.

[old man emu]

I stopped drinking any alcohol when I was about 26, just to see how long I could go without. That lasted about 30 years. However, I did enjoy the taste of an icy cold beer, so I found a non-alcoholic beer brewed by Coopers of Adelaide. I could buy it in Wollies in the soft drink aisle. I satisfied my desire for the taste of icy cold beer, and my refusal to touch alcohol. Now the brewers are coming out with non-alcohol beers with the same names as their alcohol beers. But the new ones are twice the price of the one I have been drinking for years.

 

No I'm sitting at the computer with a chilled glass of Chateau d'Cardboard rough red after having two non-alcoholic beers before dinner.

[Jerry_Atrick]

I still like a tipple and have one regularly... although have cut right back... We have open plastic boxes for recycling on bin days, and it is very apparent those households in the village likes a tipple outside the pub.

[facthunter]

A lot of peoples lives (and marriages) are ruined by booze and some people are BAD drunks. Give THEM a wide berth.. In excess it will severely affect your health. IF you can't go without it for say 3 days you ARE an alcoholic.. It's the skins that give red wine it's colour. Nothing else unless it's adulterated. Sodium metabisulphate is the usual preservative. Decant it for 10 minutes and it's gone.. Wine and beer are probably the safest of alcoholic drinks as spirits are far harder on your liver and 1'5 bottles of whisky can be lethal.. . Lately links to cancer have been discovered with alcohol and sugar. and BOTH should be avoided if you are close to having Mature onset Diabetes which is well too avoid. Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

The key is.. moderation... Sadly, it had an effect to cloud one's judgement at the time.

[facthunter]

One glass is too many and a keg is not enough.  Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

Yes...

 

However.. this blustery Sunday arvo from the red zone of Eunice's rather flatulent state, it is roast dinner day.. Today, chicken - not Inghams, but Waitrose Organic (the only supermarket I trust for meat in the UK). It will have all the trimmings and my partner does a mean Cauliflower Cheese (goats as the kids are lactose intolerant).

 

I look for the bargains at Waitrose' wine "cellar".. Today, an East Australian (well, NZ, actually) Villa Maria Pinot Grigio for the missus.. This is a staple mid-quality white which NZ is famous for producing..

 

But today, for me, they had in their fine wine racks, on sale, a Margaret River I have not previously heard of.. Howard Park.. It is an oaked Chardonnay - which is a treat as people in the UK have moved away from oaked Chardies..  Of course, it was on sale - only way I buy them.

 

So, over a long and lazy dinner, with the wind picking up to what it was on Friday - which was nuts (122mph on the Isle of Wight.. here it got to about 90mph - I lost a corrugated perspex roof and two main roof tiles) - I will enjoy probably half the bottle these days.. maybe an extra tipple.. and it is my turn to cook tomorrow and the remnants will be splashed into a seafood pasta

Edited February 20, 2022 by Jerry_Atrick

[old man emu]

 

3 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

this blustery Sunday arvo from the red zone of Eunice's rather flatulent state,

I was thinking of you and Phil when I heard Eunice had blown in. Don't you go climbing on the roof to replace the tiles. Too many old blokes (and young ones, too) end up dead or worse trying to be DIY roof tilers. Makes you think that a thatched roof isn't such a bad idea after all.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Thanks, OME.

 

I am in a Grade II listed house.. so there are too many restrictions for me to worry about replacing a couple of roof tiles. Call to the insurer and they will sort it out. We will have to have a listed building officer come out and inspect the damage and then the repairs to make sure it is done like for like.

 

The corrugated perspex will be fixed relatively easily..

 

Back to the wine.. Dinner has been had.,. the Margaret River wine was a damp squib.. not much taste or body..  so there will be more of it in the pasta tomorrow...

 

 

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Sunday ...... is roast dinner day..

That's a really interesting and wonderful English custom. I suppose it arose during the 19th Century Industrial Revolution in conjunction with greater attendance at Church.  People did not have to go "t'mill" on Sunday so they went to Church in the morning and had time to slow cook a lump of meat and some vegies. I think it's nice that the custom allowed families to relax and spend time together. Here, Sunday is a time to go separate ways to partake in one's own interests. 

[Jerry_Atrick]

I am not sure.. My kids mentioned something about a king who made some decree that peasants should be able to afford a chicken to roast on Sundays or something like it., It is, like you say, the British day for relaxation and the roast is quintessential to that, and often it will include the grand parents of at least one side of the family. However, I also like the southern continental Sunday meals.. In a round-robin sort of way, they put a spread on for the extended family and friends.. often with over 20 at the table from toddlers to great grand parents. I have been to one in Spain and Italy and it is wonderful. The literally sit down at about midday or 1pm and it is all over by about 5 or 6 pm. Stereotypically, all the ladies pitch in to help..

 

In central Europe, it is more nuclear family oriented as far as I can tell.

 

It was only 2/4 of us today - son was asleep at the time.. but that's OK.. We had a lazy dinner.. the dishes are now done. and I am listening to a bit of music and working on my web site while waiting for tomorrow morning to roll on.

[Old Koreelah]

On 20/02/2022 at 11:09 PM, facthunter said:

A lot of peoples lives (and marriages) are ruined by booze and some people are BAD drunks…

My dad was one of them; it poisoned our childhood. It was a revelation when I visited a mate’s place. Her dad was getting grumpy so the whole family told him to go to the pub (which was nearby). He came back jovial and much more agreeable.

[Marty_d]

9 hours ago, Old Koreelah said:

My dad was one of them; it poisoned our childhood. It was a revelation when I visited a mate’s place. Her dad was getting grumpy so the whole family told him to go to the pub (which was nearby). He came back jovial and much more agreeable.

Of course he did!  If the family is making you grumpy and you get away from them anywhere you'll return more jovial.

My getaway is my shed (I made damn sure the door locks from the inside).  Only because I'm too far from a pub.

[old man emu]

Unfortunately, abstinence from alcohol is deleterious to social acceptance in Australia. Failure to consume it leaves one excluded from involvement in some groups. Even attempts to join while only drinking non-alcoholic drinks result in jibes and questioning of one's manhood. Perhaps that's a 20th Century artefact, but my observation of those born after 1990 makes me think that it's not.

[red750]

These days women are worse than men. I have two female former work colleages as friends on FB. One is always on about how she can't wait to get away for a weekend on the turps, and how many times she has been written off, the other posts photo after photo of her and her fiancee (2nd or 3rd time around) with a glass of one thing or another in front of them. Sometimes just the glass.

[spacesailor]

One of my daughters is married to an EX ALCOHOLIC who can now drink.

spacesailor

, 

[kgwilson]

I rarely drink wine these days but I still brew my own beer & enjoy a nice cold home brewed IPA after a hot day. Also after a long day, or a frustrating day, or a great day or pretty much any day including today which is a rainy day.

[ClintonB]

9 hours ago, old man emu said:

Unfortunately, abstinence from alcohol is deleterious to social acceptance in Australia. Failure to consume it leaves one excluded from involvement in some groups. Even attempts to join while only drinking non-alcoholic drinks result in jibes and questioning of one's manhood. Perhaps that's a 20th Century artefact, but my observation of those born after 1990 makes me think that it's not.

I've found great northern Zero to be quite OK as I too like the beer for taste rather than getting tanked. One cannot fly, when the weather is good the next morning if too much booze the night before, along with the driving early etc. I would much rather get up with the options open. I tell others to stuff off if they comment on it.

[red750]

kgw, you mean any day ending in "ay"?