According to the calendar, we’re nearly at the end of March but I have no idea where the time has gone. A quarter of the year has already passed and yet, what do we have to show for it? Pratically nothing, in my case.
Normally at this time, we’ve got back from a week in the Loire, slurping oysters and devouring as much salted butter as humanly possible, and we’re gearing up for Vinitaly and the spin-off natural wine tastings. Not this year and we don’t really know when we will again. The continued inability to plan ahead is increasingly tiresome.
We’re still at home (a new lockdown in Italy started 10 days ago) and if you turn on the TV, the headlines haven’t changed much. Do you remember the days not so long ago really when we knew nothing about viruses and vaccines?
The only difference is that over the last couple of weeks, the baby has turned into a fully-fledged toddler – along with all the tantrums that this adorable phase brings.
At the winery, the vineyard maintenance work is coming to an end and our attention is turning to the bottling of the 2020 vintage which will start next month. The upside of this entire situation is that the 2020s are turning out to be quite special. Who would of thought it! What a cruel twist of fate that the year most of us will want to forget – our annus horribilis – may become the year that we look for on a label.
Meanwhile, we haven’t drunk anything noteworthy recently. Quite possibily a side-effect of this daily ennui but the wines we have opened lack their sparkle.
That said, I have discovered a new cocktail on David Lebovitz’s website that has become my go-to aperitif in the evenings. The Jasmine.
Here’s my twist on it (for two people): put 3 oz gin + 1.5oz fresh lemon juice + 1 oz Triple Sec / Cointreau + 1 oz Campari in a shaker. Add ice. Shake. Pour. Garnish with a wide strip of lemon zest and top up with a splash of tonic water. (Or not, depending on how your day has gone!) Sit back and enjoy. Repeat this process tomorrow. And the next day… and the next…
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