Trollied Tuesday: drink pink
Interesting bit of boozenomics this week: British sales of rosé have risen to the extent that the pink stuff has joined the basket of good used to calculate inflation. (Wine in a box is out too; but something tells me that having lots of relatively cheap booze on tap is going to become more popular soon).
Anyway, the bare stats are one thing, but what do we extrapolate about British drinking habits from this? Probably that aspiration isn't dead yet: people want to believe the climate is continental - it is not; or else that good rosé is easily found at a reasonable price - it is not. I did have a look in a large-ish Sainsbury's this afternoon to see if I could find some decent pink stuff, but none of the sub £8 wines looked especially appetising; there was, however, plenty of Mateus Rosé. That does make me question how far rosé's rehabilitation has really progressed.
Please note, I do like the stuff. At its best it has a zest and freshness that is evokes the joys of spring and early summer; it can be the most joyous of wines – refreshing in extreme heat, warming when the temperature is cooler. However, if the buying habits of people who will either pay over the odds for wine or drink any old gut rot for reasons of fashion are being used to calculate vital economic indicators, then I fear we may be in more trouble than I had thought.
Nor shall I comment on pink champagne. It is a drink best left to women and homosexuals. These two groups may yet spend us out of recession.
Anyway, the bare stats are one thing, but what do we extrapolate about British drinking habits from this? Probably that aspiration isn't dead yet: people want to believe the climate is continental - it is not; or else that good rosé is easily found at a reasonable price - it is not. I did have a look in a large-ish Sainsbury's this afternoon to see if I could find some decent pink stuff, but none of the sub £8 wines looked especially appetising; there was, however, plenty of Mateus Rosé. That does make me question how far rosé's rehabilitation has really progressed.
Please note, I do like the stuff. At its best it has a zest and freshness that is evokes the joys of spring and early summer; it can be the most joyous of wines – refreshing in extreme heat, warming when the temperature is cooler. However, if the buying habits of people who will either pay over the odds for wine or drink any old gut rot for reasons of fashion are being used to calculate vital economic indicators, then I fear we may be in more trouble than I had thought.
Nor shall I comment on pink champagne. It is a drink best left to women and homosexuals. These two groups may yet spend us out of recession.
Labels: trollied tuesday, we're screwed
posted by buff and blue at 8:46 pm
2 Comments:
Your fault for going to a plebby (or at any rate Liberal Democrat) supermarket like Sainsburys: Waitrose will sell you some decent rosé for a fair price.
(Ah, their biggest branch is located in my adopted home town: but one of the ones on the Finchley Road - particularly the John Barnes branch in Swiss Cottage - will serve you adequately, I assure you, on the basis of past experience)
Ah Bill, I've missed reading your blog - you do make me chuckle.
Puss
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