Hmmm, I can smell.....

Adelaide is a small city, but it is perfectly formed. It is also a city full of surprises, if like us, you wander round with your eyes closed most of the time.

After living in this house for four months, we only recently discovered that the original Penfolds vineyard is only two miles from our front door, (Penfolds is Australia’s most famous label). And last Sunday was our well overdue first visit to sponge some free booze, otherwise known as ‘tasting’.

Looking back over this diary, there is recurring theme of wine, wine and more wine. Despite what you may think about my reasons for this, it really is what South Australia is most proud of. With seven wine regions in the state and most of the best wines in Australia coming from around here, the locals are pretty clued up about their wine; it’s just something they grow up with.

To be fair, SA really does have something to be proud of too. For example, one of Penfold’s wines (Grange for those of you in the know) was named best red wine in the world by some fancy magazine or other. Needless to say that wasn’t up for tasting, costing as it does £250 and upwards a bottle.

And people like to talk about their wine too. If you have wine with dinner, people want to know which wine. A night in with a DVD and a bottle of wine is not acceptable. It must be a night in with a DVD and a specified label and a report is expected. So you see, getting away from wine in Adelaide is impossible. Even if you wanted to.

Anyway, the clever money is on drinking the wine here as the kindest thing that can be said about the beer is that it’s cold.

All of which leaves us at a bit of a disadvantage. ‘Nice’ is about the limit of my tasting notes and to fit in around here that needs to change, so the time has come for us to sign up for a wine tasting course. Partly for interest, but mostly to save Mandy from herself.

The tasting room at Penfolds is rather well appointed and they do a very good service considering it’s free and there is no obligation to purchase anything. Set in an old pressing room full of dusty bottles, straw and various antiques with a suave and well informed barman filling the glasses, it is very well done.

In no time at all though, the posh surroundings and expensive wine had gone straight to Mandy’s head and before you could say ‘plummy finish’ she was transformed in to a gargling, glass swirling font of adjectives.

As one ‘nice’ wine was followed by another, everyone in the room was treated to Mandy’s opinion which started with ‘smoky’ warmed up to ‘caramelly’, before the splendid ‘liquorice bouquet’ and reaching a memorable crescendo with ‘grassy’.

The slick barman caught this last one and my translation of his pained expression was that he considered Mandy had been inhaling her grass rather than drinking it.

Keeping Mandy away from the free grog is easy when it comes to Aussie Rules Football though. Offer her the chance of standing on the hill (Aussie jargon, hill = terrace), within six feet of the brutal action and you are in grave danger of having your hand chewed off.

So it was an enthusiastic Mandy who accompanied me to watch the Redlegs with 4,000 other oddballs. It’s a shame, but the season is falling apart and even though they fought hard for ¾ of the match, in the last quarter they were totally outplayed.

I have no idea why North Adelaide looked so good, I still have no idea why one team is better than another and not the faintest grasp of the laws. But I know when to cheer and when to shut up and that is the international law of life on the terrace.

As for Mandy, she doesn’t care about who wins. As long they do it with a bit of grappling and near her. She’s very easy to please.

Take care,
M&W