The champagne lunch at the top of my to-do list
Saturday November 07 2009
John Grehan's most embarrassing wine moment left him red-faced and seriously out of pocket.
"I remember an afternoon in The Unicorn some years ago when I gladly helped myself and guests to a delicious bottle of wine from the bucket -- of the table next to us.
"The owner of the bottle was very understanding, and of course I said I would replace it. It was a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino and I think it was around €150. A run -- and a very nervous wait -- to the banklink was needed," says John, general manager of the travel and lifestyle website lastminute.com.
Red or white, John? "A chilled white wine with rivulets running down the bottle on a sunny day, or a heavy red enveloping you on a lazy night. It's an impossible question."
He shows a distinct preference for two French whites: a Burgundian Chardonnay and a Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Sancerre -- the latter of which he loves with fresh seafood.
Though in the travel business, a trip to Cherbourg to "load the car with excellent wines and Champagne" went slightly awry for John.
"Being well-versed travel agents, we did not realise that the hypermarkets closed on a Sunday [they did at the time]. Instead, we had an excellent lunch with wildly expensive Champagne costing the equivalent of a month's salary, and later a trolley dash around a small shop where we bought whatever was on offer to save face.
"I have never done it since, but it is still on my list of things to do -- even if it is just for the lunch again!"
- Katherine Donnelly
Irish Independent
