Miss Bouquet - …nose good wine!

Its not until something really awesome comes along that you realise just how much of ‘average’ we put up with. Take the X-Factor for example, yes Rage Against The Machine reached number one thanks to a pre-meditated internet campaign but surely the fact that Joe Mc-yawn-Elderry had nothing but the A-Factor in the first place didn’t help! (A for average that is)

Anyhoo, average this show most definately was not. It was the most creative and thought provoking theatre production I’ve seen in a long time. And this is where my measurement of average came in, why have I spent many hard earned pounds and long evenings sitting in front of remakes of stories I already know? You know the ones – Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Shawshank Redemption, Grease, Legally Blonde….. this regurgitation of Hollywood blockbusters, old and new, leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu.

Looking around the wine aisles lately it seems the music and theatre worlds aren’t the only ones to be suffering from a bout of the ‘average’ bug. Lots of lovely new shiny labels are appearing on the shelves but do we really need another £4.99 Australian shiraz or £3.99 Californian zinfandel blush?

Non, I think not.

Yet this me-too approach seems to be the only thing supermarket buyers are capable of. That was until I came across this little gem at Sainsburys (no less).

The first thing that caught my eye (and to be honest, the reason it made its way into my basket) was the lovely French boudoir style label it was dressed in. Very chic, for a south African 😉 The wine itself is also anything but average, full of kiwi fruit and gooseberry aromas with hints of herbal tea and peppery spices on the palate, lovely, crisp and dry on the finish. It’s a perfect example of creativity gone right.