First rant

[Thraz]

This is not a section of the board I usually visit, but tonight seems right for it - at least the "rant" part.

Invited to dinner by people we know reasonably well, but not very well. They ended up getting home too late from work to cook, so we had to order in. Instead of the great menu we had been promised, we get pizza and salad (there were kids there). Then my wife, ever the social perfectionist, insists on paying for our half. While I almost spill my wine at the sound of that (not necessarily a waste, more on that later), the hosts graciously... accept. I guess they did not really know what to do when she offered and just said yes. Fortunately, the food did not do the wine any injustice. Faustino Rioja 2000: warm, and cooked. At least the host realizes it and replaces it, so I feel maybe the evening is looking up. Something called Chateau Paillet Quancart or something shows up on the table. Warm too but not cooked, just plain bad. 2001 I think. Silver medal of some sort, so much for those wine fairs and the resulting little laurels on wine labels. But there was a white wine that seemed like it might save part of the evening (the part that might go with the anchovies on the pizza - at least, that one lone anchovy hidden underneath too much cheese) (I happen to like anchovies): a pouilly-fuisse. It was by Georges Duboeuf - I did not know GD made burgundy wines, but it couldn't be all bad. Well, it was corked. At that point I would have been very conspicuous, pouring my third glass down the drain, so I stopped trying different wines and drank water.

Then we left. They promised to make up for it by inviting us again, but I'm not sure we can afford it.

Aaah, that felt good. Now I understand the purpose of this section.