Knackered Mother's Wine Club: Mothers 2 Mothers

My friend Annie took this beautiful photo when she visited the project Mothers2Mothers in Kenya just a few weeks ago as part of Team Honk's work to highlight projects being supported by Comic Relief. In Kenya, more than a million children have been orphaned after losing one or both parents to HIV. Mothers2Mothers helps pregnant women living with HIV access the life-saving health services they need to prevent mother-to-child transmission. Women often discover they are HIV positive during ante-natal care and mentoring helps them to come to terms with this, to deal with the side effects on antiretroviral drugs, to eat well and to deliver babies with the best chance of being HIV negative. Women also learn to breastfeed safely, and to avoid stigma.

I say it's in the fridge. Actually, it's all gone. It was fresh, slightly creamy, with a bit of vanilla. And definitely a twist of melon, man. It's from the Yarra Valley in Australia's Victoria wine region, where Chardonnay is a bit of a star along with the red grape Pinot Noir. Made by a producer called Innocent Bystander. Just right with a plate of fish & chips.

Packs a punch, this one. When stateside, this grape goes under the name of Zinfandel. But as ever, everything sounds better in Italian. From Puglia's Salento region, this is earthy in a good way. Think baked plum and blackcurrant fruits with a liberal sprinkling of spice. Needs food - really good with tomato-y pasta.