We’re Sainsbury’s people at Miss Bouquet HQ. I thought it was a Southern thing but Mr Bouquet (who proudly hails from the North) is a devout follower as well. Protest as much as you like but we all know that Waitrose is for special occasions and for one-day-when-we’re-rich. Tesco on the other hand is a funny one because try as we might it’s just never done it for us. You either like it or you don’t. ………

Everything is not as it once seemed at the Olympics. Can we feel the same about all those medal winners as we once did? Have we been mislead?

As far as competitions go its one of the most straight forward to understand; there is one gold, one silver and one bronze available for each discipline and the best three athletes on the day are the only three to be rewarded with a medal. Its simplicity always gets me but also makes me wonder about the worlds best wine competitions and whether medals on bottles are misleading the regular and lovely UK wine drinker. ………

If there’s one good thing to take from Brexit it’s a renewed feeling of aspiration for all things European, a shift in perception and enjoyment of some of our mainland imports that we may have taken for granted: olive oil, croissants, manchego, spaghetti bolognese, wine…

This feeling of refreshed appreciation for our neighbours’ influences on our everyday lives is unlikely to fade any time soon and companies that can embrace it should do very well indeed. The Winefathers for example ………

As the haze begins to lift following the arrival of baby Bouquet #2 my mind is buzzing with ideas, energy and blog posts to make up for a four month hiatus. Maternity leave and even night time feeds give a refreshing amount of head space for seedling thoughts of the future to germinate. But as any mum might empathise, finding your voice again after such a game changing addition to your life can require some serious soul searching to genuinely reconnect. ………

Whether this summer ever gets into the swing of things or not the ambitious plans of the drinks industry, to seduce us to try their wares, must plough ahead regardless. From pairing fine wines with fast food to cocktail fruit fusions made by wine producers and abandoning the ancient art of ummm…. drinking through your mouth…. by absorbing your drink in a mist of breathable booze: this season has been all about breaking with tradition.

The main trend emerging from the Médoc region of Bordeaux is not quite so remarkable but for an area that dines out on centuries of winemaking history it’s Merlot of all things that is paving the way for a new future. ………

With Baby Girl Bouquet very much on the way I’ve been trying to brush up on all things girly. Enlisting the aid of some friends I was whatsapp’ed a picture to help me on my journey “Who’s this?” was the question. Snow White?? “Belle, from Beauty and the Beast” came the answer with a pity face emoji.

Naturally I turned to the bottle for inspiration: Innocent Bystander Moscato from Australia. If it wasn’t for the rather sinister chap lurking on the front label, I’d argue this bottle of low alcohol (5.5%) lightly fizzy pink wine was about as girly as wine can get. It’s sweet too, perfect for the sugar cravings that baking a baby girl often comes with. Serving it really cool helps take the syrupy edge off for non-pregnant palates while the rhubarb, raspberry and custard flavours remain in abundance . A surprisingly good match to ripe cantaloupe melon which as pairings go helps take the guilty edge off too! Available by the half bottle at winetrust100.co.uk, rrp £6.95.
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