Dirty Harry takes his revenge

It took him a while, but the revenge of Dirty Harry was cruel.  Asked by the Snatch (wine correspondent for Playboy magazine whose sales are going so well they’ve abandoned print for the internet) for “a couple of your vineous highlights of the year and one lowlight?” I was Harry’s lowlight. The lowlight of a lowlife.  Oh Harry.  How could you?  Is this the thanks I get for describing your childlike antics at Veritas last month?  The partner of the lady in the fur stole is still anxiously waiting to meet you.  Is the address of your Seaforth love nest a secret? Watch out for booby-trapped penguins!

Veritas postponed the closing date for the inaugural running of their Young Winewriters Competition due to school holidays which had me scratching my bonce with an HB pencil as in my day, naughty boys would smoke behind the bicycle shed. Not enter a Young Winewriters Competition.

At the Veritas Awards dinner on Saturday night, I thought that Harry Reginald Haddon (papped by Winnie Bowman, below as a reincarnation of mad Russian monk Rasputin) – HRH, the Prince of past participles, the Grande Voivode of verisimilitude, the Margrave of metaphors, the Archduke of adjectives – must be a favourite, if he entered. For this enfant terrible de terroir is a protégé of Tim James, who has a disturbing knack of winning wine writing tourneys even if he’s a spoofer in the tasting department. His Maj follows in the deep footsteps of Christian Eedes, who succeeded in irritating more wine estate owners than most.

hrh

But did His Maj shoot his bolt on Saturday night with a barrage of outrageous tweets like this doozy:

Harry Haddon ‏@HarryReginald 5 Oct
Apparently the #veritassies are the “oscars of the wine industry”. Lolz. I think they are closer to the rasberries.
Retweeted by Carla Kretzel

Or this one, before the event even, confirming that an open mind is not a requirement for SA wine writing:

Harry Haddon ‏@HarryReginald 5 Oct
On my way to the matric dance of the south african winelands, the Veritas awards dinner. Known colloquially as the #veritassies

His Maj is lucky he lives in SA as this one – accompanied by a photo of the poor dame wearing a fur stole – is probably actionable in the UK:

Harry Haddon ‏@HarryReginald 5 Oct
I found that dingo who’s been eating everyone’s babies. #veritassies pic.twitter.com/MtDiofm7g3
Favorited by Glenneis

The battery of my smart phone gave up the ghost around the time someone’s mother was called a Reserve Port. Is this cyber bullying really the message Veritas wants to communicate?