Our girl knows what she likes, including a few surprises…

Posted on 11/02/10

I could tick off a gin masterclass with Martin Miller and a rum tasting session in Jamaica, but until very recently I hadn’t been to a wine tasting event. As much as I like to think of myself as a city girl, I know what I like and don’t like. I’ve never liked the strong taste of tannin in red wine and I’ve never liked a sweet German reisling. But I had an invite to The Winery and Clifton Nurseries pre-Valentine’s tasting (we spotted only one couple, although apparently a – presumably alcohol-induced – spat has broken out between two lovers at a previous event) and thought I’d go along with a friend who has completely different taste to me. That way we could try each other’s samples. Of course our taste hasn’t changed, but David Motion from The Winery did teach us a thing or two, including the fact that Germans are big fans of dry, minerally reislings (my friend found the two on offer too dry). I left with a rather pricy, but delicious, Californian chardonnay (which my friend didn’t like).

There’s always a lot of anticipation when Cirque du Soleil comes to the Royal Albert Hall. This year I was convinced I’d already seen the show, but of course its themes are consistent throughout its different productions. Perhaps you can get too much of a good thing. It doesn’t fail to impress, but I think I’ll give it a miss next year. The productions at the Finborough Theatre are always good and Generous, a witty political play by award-winning Canadian playwright Michael Healey, was no exception.

There definitely weren’t great expectations for Sadie Frost and former Libertines singer Carl Barât in Sam Shephard’s 1983 play, Fool for Love, at Riverside Studios. Apparently Sadie Frost’s agent wanted the press preview night to be extended over several dates to take the pressure off her. As we were exiting, we overheard a girl say, ‘Well it was much better than I thought it would be.’ When a journalist asked my friend what she thought of it, she admitted that even she, despite being Russian, wasn’t convinced by the American accents, which made us all laugh. We all agreed there was a lack of chemistry between the leads.

One event I do have high hopes for is an anti-Valentine’s dinner party, which I’m helping to organise. We can't go wrong with fine food, lots of wine and a good mix of couples and singles. I can’t help hoping that two singletons will hit it off…