My father was a keen ornithologist and would take me out to bird reserves at almost any opportunity during my formative years. I enjoyed this greatly and inherited through these outings a love, albeit less passionate than my father's', of all things feathered. In my case this includes duvets.
Probably because of this early exposure to birds that many people will never encounter during their entire lifetimes, when at the age of ten I was asked along with all of my classmates to supply one question and answer for a general knowledge quiz and thought 'what is an Andalusian Hemipode?' to be a resonable contribution. My father was very proud. My teacher disallowed the question, probably because she couldn't tell whether the answer I supplied was correct or not.
This week we have a wine branded with the name of another bird not native to these shores.
Week Q (2015) Quetzal Malbec, Baja California 2014. M&S £8.50
The Quetzal is a colourful chap found in central America and if we're not for him it is unlikely that I would have picked a wine made in Mexico.
Wine education courses teach that the majority of wine grapes are grown between latitudes of 30 - 50 degrees North or South of the equator, as outside these ranges the climate is unsuitable by being either too hot or too cold. Mexico city is around 19 degrees North and far too hot, however, Mexico is a a big country and in its northern most parts, including the peninsula of Baja California, the climate is much more hospitable. So that is where the grapes for this wine grew.
It is a blend of two varieties, one well known and the other less so. They both originated in Bordeaux, but one has become more widely known than the other. It is 90% Malbec, now most famous in Argentina, and 10% Petit Verdot. It tastes very acceptably like similar blends or at least like other Malbecs from other places and I was pleasantly surprised as I suspected it may have been a bit rough. More prejudice, I am ashamed to admit. I can't say it has much 'spirit of place' about it, but for the price and the interest value of it coming from Mexico then I am happy.
Based on this experience I would be happy to try other Mexican wines, but my socks have not been blown off with the intensity of this first encounter.
Many years after my primary school quiz experience I was reprimanded by a lecturer (that's what they called the teachers at West Kent College) in Communications (that's what they called English....) for answering a general knowledge question 'who was William Morris?' by correctly describing him as a wallpaper designer. I have always enjoyed the obscure.
Probably because of this early exposure to birds that many people will never encounter during their entire lifetimes, when at the age of ten I was asked along with all of my classmates to supply one question and answer for a general knowledge quiz and thought 'what is an Andalusian Hemipode?' to be a resonable contribution. My father was very proud. My teacher disallowed the question, probably because she couldn't tell whether the answer I supplied was correct or not.
This week we have a wine branded with the name of another bird not native to these shores.
The Quetzal is a colourful chap found in central America and if we're not for him it is unlikely that I would have picked a wine made in Mexico.
Wine education courses teach that the majority of wine grapes are grown between latitudes of 30 - 50 degrees North or South of the equator, as outside these ranges the climate is unsuitable by being either too hot or too cold. Mexico city is around 19 degrees North and far too hot, however, Mexico is a a big country and in its northern most parts, including the peninsula of Baja California, the climate is much more hospitable. So that is where the grapes for this wine grew.
It is a blend of two varieties, one well known and the other less so. They both originated in Bordeaux, but one has become more widely known than the other. It is 90% Malbec, now most famous in Argentina, and 10% Petit Verdot. It tastes very acceptably like similar blends or at least like other Malbecs from other places and I was pleasantly surprised as I suspected it may have been a bit rough. More prejudice, I am ashamed to admit. I can't say it has much 'spirit of place' about it, but for the price and the interest value of it coming from Mexico then I am happy.
Based on this experience I would be happy to try other Mexican wines, but my socks have not been blown off with the intensity of this first encounter.
Many years after my primary school quiz experience I was reprimanded by a lecturer (that's what they called the teachers at West Kent College) in Communications (that's what they called English....) for answering a general knowledge question 'who was William Morris?' by correctly describing him as a wallpaper designer. I have always enjoyed the obscure.
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