It’s 7 PM. Time for an aperitif. A “drink” before dinner.
What’s your favourite kind of aperitif? We actually have a fairly limited repertoire of aperitifs. We rarely take a have “regular” wine. Well it happens. White in this case. It is rarely red. We almost only have red with food. We like red wines with “structure” (e.g. tannin and good acidity). It typically does not work well as an aperitif. We think.
What has become something of our standard issue aperitif is a glass of Noilly Prat. Noilly Prat is a dry vermouth, slightly spicy and herbaceous and very fresh. Sometimes, preferably, with a slice of lemon or lime. Very occasionally there may be a tiny little splash of gin too. Like an inverted dry martini.
One of the reasons that it often is a Noilly Prat is that we always have a bottle in the fridge. Noilly Prat is indispensable when you are cooking. A dash in an omelette, in a sauce, in a sauté, in the chef. If we don’t have Noilly Prat at home then we have a crisis. When we last ordered groceries in the online store we were only allowed to buy a single bottle instead of the three we usually order. Are they rationing it for us? Or was it just out of stock?
If it is not a glass of Noilly Prat then it will probably be a glass of champagne. Champagne is the standard aperitif into France. De rigeur. If you get invited to someone’s home, you can be almost certain that there will be champagne for aperitif. Maybe a little unimaginative?
In the summer time, like now, it can sometimes be a glass of rosé. That’s one of the best uses of rosé wine, because we rarely say to ourselves “to this particular dish, it would be a good match with a rosé”. No, the food is almost always better matched with a white or red wine.
Sometimes, if it’s really hot, then it can be a gin and tonic. Not bad at all. But it’s hard to find a tonic that is dry enough.
Occasionally it can be a white wine, dry or nearly dry and lightly aromatic, fresh and fruity. Whetting the appetite. That’s what the aperitif is all about. Awakening your appetite, not killing your hunger.
So what is your favourite aperitif?
And then two important messages:
First:
Early in the autumn our first book in English will be published, on wine and the environment, on organic wine growing and winemaking. The title is “Biodynamic, Organic and Natural Winemaking, Sustainable viticulture and viniculture”. Read more about it in the Brief!
And then:
There are still a few places available on the wine tour to the Douro Valley this autumn. Book soon if you want to join us in Portugal.
At this time of the year it is also high time to think of the coming winter (I know it’s hard!). We have two very exciting long-distance wine tours this coming winter season:
- Chile and Argentina in South America (Feb)
- South Africa (March)
This July issue of the Brief we have loaded with plenty for you to read, so I hope that you still have some vacation left to enjoy it!
Britt & Per
PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief !
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[box type=”note” size=”large” style=”rounded” border=”full”]This is just the introduction to the latest issue of the Brief. Subscribe to the BKWine Brief and you will get the whole edition in your mailbox next month.[/box]
