Vinous bit of business

“WOULD anyone want to buy five bottles of Riesling for twenty pounds?” asks Big Robert, the manager/chef at the Pub.

Five bottles for twenty pounds? Sounds tempting. Depending what sort of Riesling it is, of course.

“What sort is it?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” says Robert. “I found it at the back of our wine store. I’ve had it on special offer for ages, but no one is buying. So, for today only, five bottles, twenty quid. I’m losing money, but what the hell!”

I tell him I’m interested, but I need to know what it is. “I’m not buying some Austrian tractor fuel,” I say.

Rob waddles off – he waddles rather than walks, so big a man is he – and comes back with two different labels, both German. One of them he opens, and pops it into an ice bucket.

“Birthday present for PD!” he announces, dropping it on our table, along with three glasses. “Cheers!” he says, waddling off.

We sup the wine – and it’s excellent. We can’t decipher the label, unfortunately – our knowledge of German wines is somewhat limited – but our interest is definitely awakened.

I glance at My Good Lady and she gives me the nod.

“Okay, I’ll buy!” I say.

And so, we bring home our spoils. We open a bottle this evening – a Valckenberg Riesling 2005. Well-chilled, it quite sup-able, although we find it’s a little tired as white wines go.

Still for the price we’ve paid… As I say to Rob: “Nice doing business with you!”