Wine tasting days

I'm writing this on a Thursday, but I do love Saturday afternoons. A free couple of hours to mooch  about in Market Harborough...pay a visit to my favourite shops, buy something special for supper, and change my library books.

Even if friends are over for the weeekend, they like a whizz around my favourite haunts....and more about those in future blogposts...but this is always a popular port of call with anyone.

Duncan Murray Wines..a small wine shop, with big ideas and a warm welcome for everyone .Opened by Duncan and his wife Megan about five years ago, I've been a loyal customer ever since. Why? Well the choice of wines for one thing.....





I can get my favourite gluggable reds...something special to take to a friend, there's something for everyone's budget. But I know I could get those in many other places.

No, what's great about this little place is the brilliant banter every Saturday between 12noon and 3pm, when there's wine tastings from different countries and areas.

It's almost like a club...most people like to taste new wines they haven't tried before....usually between three and five different bottles...it's nice to talk to others about wine in a casual friendly atmosphere ....

...and there's the jokes.....from Duncan mainly...accompanied by raised eyebrows and a wry smile from Megan. Don't worry though, his wines are much better than the jokes.....

Sometimes different wine growers come to do their own tastings...occasionally there's a few nibbles to accompany the wines ...for example, from Spain we had some manchego cheese and chorizo, but with last Saturdays' tasting, there was something you couldn't possibly eat....

Yes, it's a rock. A kimmeridgeon about 150 years old from the Chablis area....the rock explains the flinty character of the wine from the region. And that's the attention to detail in this wine shop.....
When did you last see one of those in the supermarket wine section?

So on a Saturday afternoon if you see me in Market Harborough, I haven't been drowning my sorrrows in the pub all lunchtime, I've merely been learning more about wine in a very sociable way. Mind you I now go to the library before the wine tasting....I was getting some funny looks from the librarians...

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Today's track is slightly different....I could have played UB40's Red Red Wine...but this sketch still makes me laugh every time I see it....It's the incomparable, and very young (!) Fry and Laurie.....on wine tasting.....