As a storyteller, this is my version of what is meant by The Finish.
With Christmas fast approaching it’s time to pick my wines yet again. Another year has gone by so bloody fast.
Anyway back to the plonk, I put so much effort into planning the meal around my wines.
Why I hear you ask?
Simply because I love my food and wine, and it has been the way I have made a living for over 30 odd years now.
The joy wine can bring you and at times a surprise, with flavours I was not expecting.
The way it sits in the mouth and on the plate, acids, tannins, and fruit everything that goes into a bottle of wine, sometimes good other times exceptional;
The way it finishes in the mouth. Is it long and still evolving in your mouth long after you have swallowed the last drop; the finish
Christmas, each year I get the very best wines I can afford, so I can Spoil Myself for all the CRAP I have had to endure and tolerate throughout the bloody year.
Back to the finish – I plan the wine around the flavour of the meal. I have a good idea what the food will taste like I have been eating far too much of it for years now and a rough idea about the taste of the wine as well.
So the challenge for me is to bring them together perfectly and create a mind blowing experience, one that people will talk about and remember hopefully for years to come.
This for me all revolves around the finish and mouth feel of the wine, the food is there to bring out the best and enhance the flavour of the wine. Not the other way around.
The rest is up to you guys.
Have a Merry Christmas
Remember to drink responsibly, don’t buy cask wine!
Michael Lillis
