LENTIL SOUP AND COONAWARRA CABERNET

"Lentil soup for dinner tonight my love" called Her Indoors. I mumbled something inaudible thinking that of all the things we might have on a Saturday night, lentils was not on the list. Whenever I hear of lentils I think of Neil from The Young Ones



As it turned out the lentil soup was delicious. It was so delicious that I asked Her Indoors to give it another name so that next time she makes it I might be a bit more enthusiastic. Her lentil soup consists of a base of lentils obviously, soaked overnight with canned tomato, home-made chicken stock, fresh ginger, garlic and red chillies. It was served with crusty oven baked bread rolls and lashings of butter (well, Logicol).

We opened a wine from the cellar. Looking for a good red I found a bottle of Rosemount Show Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 1994 that I thought had been long gone. I was not expecting a lot from the wine given that it was 17 years old and Coonawarra wines are not renowned for long ageing but I was pleasantly surprised. On opening the nose was all chocolate and coffee but with a bit of breathing the fruit developed into a nice cassis nose and the initial greenness while not totally disappearing ( a Coonawarra trait) the palate rounded out to reveal rich sweet fruit. This wine was good when I first bought it but I never expected it to last so long. What a treat.