jamie goode's wine blog: Velazquez and the wine writers

Monday, December 11, 2006

Velazquez and the wine writers

Tonight was the Circle of Wine Writers Christmas party. Usually these events are hosted by the embassy of a wine-producing nation who then seizes the opportunity to ply the wine hacks and hangers on with booze from their country. This year we were due at the Spanish embassy, but because of refurbishment works we were relocated to the National Gallery (pictured), and a private showing of the Velazquez exhibition.
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez, to give him his full name, lived from 1599-1660, and is widely regarded as one of the greats. I was particularly thrilled to see a picture that, as a child, I had a small print of - a remarkably intense, detailed portrayal of an old lady cooking eggs, which was painted when Velazquez was just 19 years old (see right).
The party itself was a sedate affair that represented a good opportunity to catch up with people and meet a few more for the first time. By these criteria, it was an evening well spent. However, there were loads of people I'd never seen before, and a relatively low head count of the leading wine writers. Also, the Spanish wine people had their chance and muffed it: we were greeted by a glass of oxidized Cava, and then the wines we were supposed to taste ran out fast (and the clean glasses ran out even faster), so by around 8.30 pm there was nothing left to drink. It felt odd to leave a wine writers' party horridly sober...

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7 Comments:

At 8:17 PM, Anonymous Jack Hibberd said...

Just goes to show that wine writers cant organise a piss up in a...

 
At 9:09 AM, Anonymous Alex Lake said...

Maybe I'm missing something, but wine... writers... er, why should they be drunk on anything other than their florid prose? ;-)

 
At 9:11 AM, Anonymous Alex Lake said...

BTW - On the subject of literature and its ilk, discuss the subtle differences between the terms "horridly sober" and "horribly sober"...

 
At 10:47 AM, Anonymous Doug said...

Doesn't Jack mean that they can't organise a Pissaro in a ... ?

Simple - horrid means coarse or rough, therefore, by extension, detestable. Horrible means that which makes us shudder - from the Latin horrere - (ie arouses horror within us). Since I don't believe a sober wine writer will, by definition, arouse horror within us, I can only think Jamie is write to say "horridly"!!

 
At 12:04 PM, Anonymous Cru Master said...

did a school project on old deigo when i was about 12yrs old and the one painting that stands out in my memory: Las Meninas

what stood out even more was seeing Picasso's interpretation of the work, in the Picasso gallery in Barcelona - helped me understand the whole cubism thing- brilliant stuff.

going to wine writers dinner and there not being enough wine - travesty!!

 
At 12:40 PM, Anonymous Doug said...

When I wrote "write" instead of right, of course, I had a blinding epiphany of illiteracy. My "write" side of the brain didn't know what I was "righting", as it were.

 
At 7:48 PM, Anonymous Alex Lake said...

Lest I am misunderstood, I should say that I was not trying to suggest that Jamie usage was wrong incorrect. I don't have a problem with either word (in fact, I think "horridly" is more poetic). It struck me (for the first time!) how similar the words are to look at and then wondered what the difference in meaning might be.

Did wine writers find the imposition of sobriety merely disagreeable or downright scary? Or both? I think we should be told!

 

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