Does MW stand for “mighty weird”? The latest nonsense from these self-appointed Jedis of Juice is reported in Harpers. Speaking at a wine blogging conference, Tim Hanni MW is quoted as arguing the whole concept of food and wine pairing should be eliminated as we all taste food and wine differently.
Huh? Is Tim really arguing against wine tasting too, the cottage industry that keeps so many of his fellow Jedis in juice? And what is it about the name Tim? Is Tim the Nigel of wine? In addition to Mr. Hanni, there is keen golfer and helicopter habituée Tim Atkin MW and our own lovely Tim James CWM, a Platanna editor who phones up contributors late and night to harangue them about mistakes in their copy. Does Diners Club know how out of control their senior staff are? Poor old editor Phil van Zyl has to spend most of his time apologizing for Tim. Still at least Standard Bank pay well and in Phil’s case, with golden handcuffs, too.
Tim luckily has an aggressive PR poppie, Angela “lasagne” Lloyd, on hand to guard his back and tweet every perceived slight. Like old Tim not being invited for a slap-up feed at the Five Flies on Friday. Seems the reason Tim was frozen out of that particular freebee was that hosts Du Toitskloof already had their five flies and a sixth would have been against the rules and far too extravagant for this value-for-money producer.
Still I seem to be allergic to Tims in wine and take their nostrums with a scoop of Queijo de Azeitao and Queijo Amanteigado (above) which worked brilliantly last night with a Monis Muscadel. Ross Sleet, marketing magnifico at Cape Legends should send some to Setubal immediately as this stuff is too good to keep locked up in SA.
As to the fraught question of matching food and wine, lovers of the chicken biryani from Food Inn India on Long Street should try Pierre Rabie’s most excellent Giant Periwinkle 2013 Sauvignon Blanc. In spite of delicious flavours of lime and ginger, this is unfortunately not the kind of thing you’ll find on the FNB Top Ten Sauvignon Blanc laundry list.
But then Pierre probably doesn’t have sufficient stock to donate wines for the panel chairman’s wedding. Which I was told by a winemaker on Sunday happened a few years back with another highly rated Sauvignon Blanc. In fact the panel liked it so much, they included two examples this year, the only brand to be so lauded. What a coincidence! Thank heavens for blind tastings or a cynic might pick up delicate notes of rat pie in the FNB selection. Does the FNB marketing department realize exactly how dodgy these coincidences make the bank look?
