Ultimate Bargain

God damn the internet. Without it's increasing accessibility, this wine has such a bizarre price, you could run sweepstakes trying to guess it.

In Asda, or Asdas as we used to call it in Wales, just now, this utterly delicious glass of springtime will set you back £4.83. Weirdly, as Jamie Goode pointed out on his blog, in the same supermarket, on the same shelf, the 'standard' Montana Sauvignon Blanc will cost you twice as much. The 'standard' is nice enough, the 'reserve' is a notch up.

So get down to Asdas before this pricing weirdness gets sorted. Because if you like New Zealand Sauvignons, you should fill the boot and spend the summer chuckling.

One in the Eye

This wine called to me, pulled me in. Strange, because the label's a bit naff, but it all made sense once I'd spun the bottle.

Last year, an encounter with a date palm nearly cost me an eye. Click here for details. Sitting endless hours in waiting rooms, waiting on specialists, a lot goes through your mind. One thing I wondered, was what to do if my eye was done for? Some sort of prosthetic number? Dark glasses? Live with the hole? Eventually I settled on a patch.

So ahead of this year's London Fashion Week, looking to play along and make a bit of impact, I decided to have a shot at making something...

In the end I didn't wear it. The Swarovski crystal was attached via a giant spike. One accidental nudge and an inch of steel would plunge straight into my retina. Of course it didn't matter, fashion being fashion, I'd have been seriously trumped...

Patches off to 'Niyi Maximus (he wears the) Crown'

The wine's pretty special for £9.99. Even if, from the back of the label, it looks like the guy who makes it is a bit 'special' too. I bought my bottle from The Cave on Great Western Road.

Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger always annoyed me. They used to show it on Saturday morning TV. It was in black and white, seemed to last forever and even a child could tell Tonto was getting a bum deal. Well, here's a Lone Ranger that didn't disappoint. From the Gimblett Gravels district of Hawkes Bay in New Zealand.

It's a Bordeauxy blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. Lot's of plum and licquorice with a deep smokey vanilla nose. It has that lovely sheen good wine gets from good oak. I think. It's a pretty sophisticated drop, far from perfect, but with £4 off, as Cilla might say, "A lorra lorra wine for five ninety-nine".

It screams out for a chargrilled steak. How the hell you char grill in most UK abodes is beyond me. But if you can, do it. Having said that, I drank it just looking at pictures of food. Worked a treat and saved a few calories.

Lone Ranger 2006

Gimblett Gravels Red

New Zealand

Marks and Spencer: just now down to £5.99: what a bargain!

Bargain New Zealand Pinot Noir

How has New Zealand managed it? People I know who normally baulk at spending over a fiver a bottle will happily drop £15 for a Kiwi pinot noir. Apparently it's because, "That's how much it costs". Great for their wine industry, not so good if you happen to like drinking the stuff.

I do, so hurrah, finally, a NZ pinot for £8.99. Crucially though, it's also delicious. Buy, buy, buy... and if you buy 12, Oddbins will give you 20% off. That takes it down to just over £7. Bargain, and believe me, you'll drink it...

(wine revealed in the video below)

Saturday was brill...

And what a magnificent specimen, weighing in at over a kilo and costing just £10. Also, the fishmonger had something I'd never seen before. He said it was called sea spinach and came from France. I get over excited when I spot new food and this had me positively shaking....

The sea spinach got washed and left on the side. Later I noticed it had what looked like a grey sludge on the leaves. God, the thought of wiping each one... then I sussed, it was salt leaching out. Phew. I tried a few.... mmm, seaside! Even more intense than samphire.

As I filleted the brill it became obvious it was stuffed full of roe. Finding it always brings on mixed emotions. All those potential new fish that won't make it......

Then I remember how good it tastes... and bonus time, because I spotted the liver too.

'An improvised lunch' as they say. Fried roe and liver with a few water biscuits, some chopped parsley, squeeze of lemon and dash of tabasco. Seriously good.

After lunch I made stock from the bones and head. The only other ingredients were an onion halved and a large piece of kombu (dried kelp). Boiled, skimmed then simmered for just 15 minutes. Strained, then reduced over a low heat for 2 hours. The result was an intense flavour with a gelatinous texture, maybe from something agar-like in the seaweed? Just before serving I whisked in a little cold butter and 2 teaspoons of mirin.

The sea spinach was steamed for 5 minutes. It was more robust than normal spinach and held it's shape quite well, but it was a strong flavour- spinachy and quite like lava bread . So I mixed it with new potatoes, a bit of parmesan and popped it under the grill. Very nice, but really a dish on it's own. Next time I'll try it with fresh pasta and parmesan.

And to drink? Well, I went for this and it worked well. 

I'm a big fan of Spy Valley's pinot noir and this is pretty good too. It reeks of papaya and passion fruit, has nice acidity and a fair wallop of residual sweetness. That worked with this dish but it may cause problems with shellfish.

They sell it at my local mildly eccentric off sales, The Cave, where it's £9.99, and you get to hear some really good music while browsing. Not a big selection, but always a couple of good bottles in stock.

The Cave

421 Great Western Road

Glasgow

G4 9JA