Was it worth it?

Today has been busy! It was the Wine Evening at Sue and Paul's house tonight and Sophie had asked if she could have some friends over to stay so we made sure that the house was all clean - especially the conservatory where they were going to sleep - and Keith and I had to go and get more drinks for them which meant a long trek over to Kettering, as the small Tesco store near work (Sophie still had to go in today) had no choice whatsoever.

The weather has been foul with grey mist and damp in the morning and heavy rain and winds in the afternoon which stretched into the evening. I ran over to Sue and Paul's house with the wine glasses and two decanters, plus all the tasting sheets and got soaked!

The Wine Evening was a much smaller affair than normal tonight. Three of the members were otherwise engaged and the fourth didn't turn up at all so there were just six of us which was a bit disappointing as I was really looking forward to putting the wines to the test and seeing whether it's worth paying quite a bit extra for a more expensive wine.

I think the resounding agreement was no, it's not! My wine, a New Zealand Cloudy Bay at a smidgen under £20 from Waitrose was way too intense for my taste with a pronounced cat's pee smell and a tart acidity. As it was a 2012 vintage, maybe it was a bit too young. The exact equivalent from Aldi at £5.49 was much more subtle which made me think this was the more expensive wine! My Dad brought a £20 bottle of Rioja, also from Waitrose, but his cheaper bottle of Tempranillo was just as good and none of us thought we could justify the extra expense. Sue and Paul's Merlots were both delicious, but the £2.99 version was very good indeed!

It was a great night, though, with lots of beautifully presented, delicious food, but I couldn't help feeling guilty that I hadn't decided to postpone the evening as Sue and Paul had put on an impressive spread and there's only so much that six of us can eat! Keith broke his no alcohol rule and enjoyed several beers and rather a lot of wine so he might have a headache tomorrow!