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The Oxford Times Wine ClubEasy — don't go without a case!
INCREASED security at our airports is all well and good and perfectly understandable but it has caused me more than a little angst.
I've had to relinquish more than my fair share of corkscrews - typically gifts from producers - and at least one lost novel as I moved from body search to unexpected shoe removal and X-ray.
These are mere irritants compared with the substantial annoyance I feel at no longer being allowed to carry the odd bottle of wine in my hand luggage.
No siree . . . limits on liquids now mean that I'm obliged to protect my single bottle of burgundy among swathes of dirty laundry or down the odd trouser leg. It's a nerve-wracking experience. I spend most of the flight chewing my nails, wondering what sort of carnage is going to greet me at the carousel. Will I smell my bag before I see it? Worse still, will my bottle of Beaue 1er Cru ever make it or will it be lost forever in a piece of air space from which bottles of wine never reappear?
It's a sorry state of affairs and one that has, tragically, meant I now arrive at the homes of friends and relatives bearing boxes of chocolates and unwanted trinkets rather than a bottle of something tasty.
There are, of course, several solutions, none of which will be popular with our anti-binge drinking government. Why? All of my solutions mean buying in bigger quantities.
Firstly, if you have a six-bottle case of wine it's generally easier to package them in an appropriate box. This way you can get your wine loaded into the hold (separate from all white undergarments) and hopefully with a FRAGIILE, THIS WAY UP' sticker.
The second choice is to have your merchant of choice deliver it to your destination. I had begun to see an awful lot of this happening in my later years with a wine merchant - friends going away for a weekend, hen and family parties, bashes in country cottages. All you do is phone your merchant and request a delivery.
If you are adamant that all you want to take is a single bottle, your choices aren't that great. Sure, you can have the bottle packaged within an inch of its life and watch it disappear into the hold. Alternatively, you can bear in mind the rule that allows you to take any number of liquids in individual containers of no greater than 100cl. So, all you need to do is crack open your bottle of château le whatever and decant it into seven and a bit mini-bottles.
Still, I've been dwelling on this at some length during my tee-total visit to the in-laws recently. A few dry days really does focus the mind.
It's true that I was considering my alternatives for future visits but at the same time was conjuring up flavours of all the wines I would have particularly relished pouring into my imaginary wine glass.
I could vividly recall the bottle of Jean d'Alibert Pinot Noir that I'd tasted, just the other week, at the inaugural evening with the Woodstock Wine Society. I was recalling the fresh red berry fruits, the soft tannins and the pure pleasure that such a wine delivers.
Equally alive in my memories where the wines of Domaine de Mage, an estate that I have enthused about almost more times than is decent in this column. Crisp, clean fruits are the hallmarks of this estates' Sauvignon Blanc. This is just the sort of wine to satisfy a craving for something invigorating, refreshing and yet not in the least over-powering.
It will not surprise you to learn that both wines are in this weeks' Oxford Times Wine Club Case and whether or not you are planning to take to the skies soon, I strongly advise you to stock up on a bottle or two. You never know when your next guest will arrive via an airport near you. If they do, I can pretty much guarantee it'll be without a bottle . . .
Click here for The Oxford Times Wine Club offers.
3:30pm Thursday 3rd April 2008
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