Overflowed

The reason behind the very few posts this months is twofold: first, I’ve had enough of wines in late December when I drank a lot not having too much else to do. Then I tried to put myself back on the old track of opening3-4 bottles a week but after 2 major disappointments I really felt like giving up on wines for a while. Then my wife and I landed in London for our annual trip there where I got myself into the usual pub tour, this time the Camden-Soho axis extended towards the south bank. On the third day not so surprisingly as now I recon I begun to thirst for wine, and white wines in particular (the latter must be a Pavlovian conditional reflex I developed over 2008). One thing I discovered in London is that not just beer, but coffee also increases the thirst for wine. Well, in my case at least. The crunch menus and promotions, which became so popular in the UK helped a lot. Although I didn’t see any decrease in pub goers in London, arguably the industry’s hit hard by the current economic downturn and they’re fighting against it by 5 pound fish and chips and 1 pound pints of ale. I didn’t see any of the latter (and believe me my efforts were enormous) but I read that this turned out to be a major success, financially too. Now back in Hungary, unlike in London I don’t see any sign of crunch or falling consumer spending, therefore retailers don’t try to please me with attractive discount as they do in Vienna, for instance. Luckily for Hungarian winemakers, Hungarian consumers will continue to buy the domestic offering instead of visiting Vienna (only 250 kms from Budapest, 60 kms from the border) and purchase some of the best wines of the world at a bargain price.

I don’t easily give up and I don’t like to withdraw. But the cold sake I had at Okonomi Yaki in London represented my mood quite literally: I’m overflowed. And not just Xmas season-like. I decided to give Hungarian winemakers and merchants another year to seduce me with good to excellent wines at a reasonable, by which I mean competitive price. I don’t know how the current pricing’s been sustainable so far (it’s almost impossible to buy a decent Hungarian red wine under 7 000 forints, or EUR 35), but if the recession can not change this than what could?