We would have the occasional lunch out, as a treat (probably not regarded as such by our boys James and john, who would rather have stayed by the pool), and chose to visit a rather swish looking place near one of the villages. How we chose it, heaven knows, there was no Trip Advisor, but there was an additional and unexpected ‘attraction’ in the form of a traveling bullring. We must have stumbled upon ‘Una Fiesta Brava’ because the village had a distinctly festive ambience, with many women and girls dressed in alluring flamenco-style polka-dot dresses.

The idea of the bullfight did not appeal, but we did get caught up in the ambiance. As a consequence, whist there is no way we would have wanted to see the bullfight in close-up, we did get to sneak a view from the nearby hillside, where we could hear the pasadobles and the roar of the crowd, without the gore.

What we had for lunch escapes me entirely; we knew we had to have a white wine for refreshment, but were doubtful whether it would be pleasurable – this was not so many years after you could buy a bottle of sparkling white wine for half a crown, and still wines often had a brownish tinge through oxidation which rendered them distinctly unpleasant. I probably sought advice, and accepted the recommended bottle of Viña Sol.

What a revelation! Very pale and limpid in the glass, clean and fresh on the nose: on the palate, a fresh mouthfeel with a suggestion of green apple, dry, but without stinging acidity. Oh my, on that hot, dry day, how we enjoyed it! It was only later that we came to realise we should not have been surprised by this ‘cool climate’ delight. It was from Familia Torres, a Spanish producer we have learned to respect for appealing wines at reasonable prices. Red, white and rosé, I doubt there is a dud among them and their ‘quality wines’ are worth the premium.

Viña Sol is made from Parellada, an indigenous Spanish variety widely used in Cava, there must be other still white wines in which it is used, but I’m not aware of them. In 2012, Viña Sol celebrated 50 years of production and whilst the label may have been spruced up (and long-since lost the side-line ‘Spanish Chablis’) it continues to be an excellent refresher for a hot summer’s day.

In the UK, Viña Sol is very widely available in supermarkets. It is priced between £6.00 (Morrisons offer price) and £7.70 (Waitrose). Sadly, there is no Viña Sol in my cellar… I must look out for an offer price a bit closer to home than Morrisons.

Anyway, as you will have seen, the committee has decided to keep WSFWS going through the medium of communication via our website. And a reminder – we are inviting members to send in anecdotes relating to their wine, food, holiday, travel, experiences, in fact anything to do with leisure and likely to lift the Covid gloom!

I am one of the ‘fall guys’ who’s been asked to set the ball rolling!

Being of a certain age, I am aware that I am at ‘high risk’ from Covid and should avoid interaction with others as much as possible. This can be pretty stifling if you are cooped up at home, and a trip to Waitrose is not all that exciting or risk-free. But, for the present at least, we can still travel further afield, and social distancing can be virtually guaranteed. My experiences are reasonably current, and take that into account.

A few weeks ago, Mary and I decided to go to Orford, I am sure you know it, we all do, but it is such a quiet and unassuming little seaside town, that, quite fortunately, it gets forgotten. It wasn’t a bad day, weatherwise, and despite its being early August, parking was easy. We could have had a pleasant, breezy few hours walking the quiet old streets and the Quay, but this is where we sinned. We had actually booked to have lunch at the Butley Orford Oysterage, a renowned, but unassuming restaurant dealing primarily with the sort of fish that come from that part of the North Sea. They used to have a smokehouse too, just out the back, and that had to be seen to be believed, completely covered in tarry deposits, and that was on the outside! I suppose EU regulations must have put an end to it! Of course, oysters had to be the starting order, and Mary had smoked salmon. To follow, we pushed the boat out a bit and had lobster. You know, I can’t remember the wine in the glass I had, it wasn’t Chablis, it may even have been Albariño, but it went very well with the meal.

After lunch, we actually drove down to the Quay, where the heavens opened, but it really didn’t matter at all.

PS. If those who agreed, were to invest in a particular bottle of wine, we could actually have a Zoom tasting. Now that could be fun!