previous posts
- Squidgy on the Inside
- Pounds, Shilling and Wine
- Rudolf's Bio
- Low On Juice
- Boiled Aphids
- Anyone for Home Secretary?
- Prehistoric Vienetta
- Frozen Dog Turd
- A Lung Full of Air
- The Big Bitter
- Meatball Marinara
- Back to the 1980s
- The Case of the Mystery Bottle
- Bubblegum
- Quantitative Beesing
Links to Other Blogs/Sites
- Jack Keller's Wine Blog
- Wine Wire
- Sour Grapes
- Vinography
- Jamie Goode's Wine Blog
- The Pour
- Spittoon
- Basic Juice
- Fermentation
- Winehiker Witiculture
- Wein-Plus
- 365corks.com
- Complete Wine Course
- morethanorganic.com
- Vivi's Wine Journal
- Nat Decants Free E-Newsletter
- London Restaurants - Square Meal
- Lloyd Morgan
- Classic Wines
- Guardian food blog
- allaboutyou.com
- Little House Wine
- The Italian Wine Blog - Wine 90
- Berrys' Wine Blog
- redwine.co.uk
- Martin's in La La Land
- These Glory Days
- Wine Wire
- Cambridge Guide
RSS Feed| July 08, 2009 |
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Waitrose are going 'eco' and shipping wine from Chile in enormous plastic recyclable tanks. A wine lake floating on the sea. There are some downsides to this method, as in any decentralisation of a process. For example the equivalent 32,000 bottles of wine could be tainted if a tank is not properly cleaned. If the seals are not working properly the wine could be ruined by excess oxidation. But the obvious benefits seem to win the day . They are even bottling it in the UK in 60 percent recycled glass bottles. The proof of the pudding is in the eating methinks. I suppose the whole process just highlights the way the bulk food and drink industry works to provide for the 61 million UK residents. You feel like a battery farm animal with your nose in an automated feeding trough. Just squirt a bit more wine in, keep us happy pigs. My own green contribution to wine transport is a little more modest and has been of late fairly hazardous. I often cycle the six miles or so across fields to and from work, and the other day I popped a bottle of wine in a pannier to take home. Five minutes into the journey there was a loud bang and the heavens opened. Cambridgeshire is ironed to perfection. Not a wrinkle, lump or bump in sight. I was very exposed. If you have seen the film 'Independence Day', I felt I was about to be obliterated by a flash of light from large grey UFO like those people on top of a sky scraper. Lightning is much hotter than the surface of the sun, so I needed a plan to reduce my chances of being a roasted accompaniment for my wine (one in three million to be precise, although I challenge anyone to not translate that to about 1 in 2 when caught in the fury of nature). Contrary to popular belief, rubber tyres are no protection from this sort of attack (Cars are safe due to the Faraday cage effect of the roof rather than the tyres...gosh I may be having a nosebleed). I had heard of lightning conductors, so maybe a strategic placement of the bottle of wine with its foil cap would distract any strike. The wine taking a hit for the greater good. On second thoughts it would probably become a sort of stick grenade and do more damage than good. Vaporised grape juice, flaming alcohol and globules of molten glass, nice. For people that worry about travel shock and the precise temperature fluctuations that may damage wine, this would be a good example to note in your wine spotters diary as a point of no return. The rain was now long steel rods drilling into the ground, and this combined with the thickening darkness added to the feeling of being enclosed in an iron maiden. So, I found a modest tree, taking my lead from some nearby cows, and against any lightning geeks advice. In my mind there were two benefits, one was the canopy rain protection, the other was that maybe a boiling electrified tree would steam me dry, although it would take more than a close encounter with the sun's surface to dry out my sodden shoes. You are supposed to crouch down onto the balls of your feet in a storm, away from trees, water etc, but I stupidly had chosen self respect over looking like another wet turnip in the field. Thunder is just the noise lightning makes (light travels faster than sound so you see the lightning way before hearing it), and five seconds between seeing a lightning strike and sound means it is about one mile distant. Flash...one elephant, two elephants.....bang. Still to close. Then sunshine appeared, signalling a break in proceedings. This is apparently where you are in most danger. Lightning can strike up to 10 miles from a storm, a bolt from the blue. I eventually arrived home with a bottle that may well have suffered minor travel shock from the bumpy farm track. I am not one to worry about this unless we are talking about quality or unfiltered wines with sediment. Purists say that any bottle agitation can change the complex distribution of the constituent parts of wine, and that some wines even with no sediment need a few hours, days or more to relax before drinking. In this case I was the one that needed to relax... with a glass of wine. Do they make a Faraday cage for a bike? I will look into it. Have your say |