Wine & the art of seduction – Victoria Moore
‘Does it matter what wine is poured when the intention is to seduce? And if so, what bottles might it be good to open? I ask these questions because I was browsing in wine merchants Lea & Sandeman last Friday when a chap, who I’ll call Mr X, walked in and asked for help.
“I have an important date tonight,” I overheard him say. “She likes white wine. What should I buy?” He twinkled. “My life is in your hands.” Unwisely, I interfered. I don’t know what came over me, but I gave him the most terrible advice. If wine choice matters, Mr X might well be miserably logging into match.com and cursing me right now. The American writer Jay McInerney once wrote that his friends favoured fragrant, heady Condrieu when an important date was in prospect – a good plan, so long as the Condrieu is freshly young and not heavily oaked. I had Mr X buying sancerre (a reasonable choice) for stylish ease and godello for interest (a silly idea). What I wish I’d told him to go for is fizz, not just because Lea & Sandeman has an Aladdin’s Cave of a champagne section, but also because being handed a sparkling glass sets an upbeat tone for an evening.’
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9467801/Wine-and-the-art-of-seduction.html
White Burgundy & dressed crab
What Victoria went on to buy was a selection of wines, including the fabulous £20 white burgundy Rully 1er Cru ‘La Pucelle’ 2010 from Domaine Paul et Marie Jacquesson which she then wrote about in the Telegraph Weekend section saying:
‘2010 burgundy is pretty special, both red and white. Rully can be a bit chunky but this glides, and I love the lemon meringue taste and texture that shines through the oak. “Sometimes I get this, and a dressed crab from the fishmonger next door…” said the bloke in the shop. I followed suit.’
£21.75 for a single bottle, discounted to £19.95 by the case of 12 bottles (£239.40 case)
The ‘bloke in the shop’ was our manager Sandor; a ‘top bloke’ if ever there was one and always on hand with a good suggestion, especially if there is a hint of seduction involved.