Providing a steady stream of design inspiration (read: stuff to copy), knitted crap, bike-porn and, well, porn-porn, Ffffound! and Dropular are Grogger’s preferred way of wasting time at work waiting for wine o’clock (when the big hand points to twelve and the little hand points to the gaping gulf in our soul).
This image of a man smashing a bottle of red wine over his head is pretty typical of the arty conceptual photography that you find on these invite-only cooler-than-thou sites.
After a brief thought of ‘ouch’, then ‘you dick’, our Groggery eyes spied the label. That’s a bottle of Viu Manent Secreto Syrah! Which is impressive because a) that’s a fifteen-quid bottle of wine you’ve wasted, and b) like a lot of Chilean wines it’s a fucking thick heavy bastard bottle.
The distinctive illustrated characters on the labels gave it away. Like little Picasso cartoon characters, they reflect the bright, individual wines inside and make a welcome change from pictures of the Andes.
Last night I was lucky enough to spend a delightful evening in Bedales in Borough Market where they sell a range of Secreto wines including a rich, plummy malbec for £15 which, with £8 corkage on top, was much better value then anything on the menu. With the colder nights drawing in, it was the perfect wine to bring a glow to your cheeks and smile to your purple-stained lips.