Having nothing better to do on a fine spring Wednesday, VC and I trekked down to the local Aldi. I had never been in one before, so it was a chance to see for myself cardboard boxes replacing shelving and off-off brands of products. Happy Farms instead of Crystal Farms. They did however have German pumpernickle bread, and (here's the important part) a wine selection. Of course we got the most expensive, for $10... a 1.5 litre "Bell'Italia" red wine imported from Tuscany -- one of those pot-bellied bottles nestled in a half-basket.
Well, this wine must have had all the red grapes of Tuscany mashed into it. It was not bad but very intense, sort of what you get if you mix chianti and sangiovese and merlot. Eaten with a hearty ratatouille (which was supposed to be pasta but our pasta disappeared... hmm), it was not ideal but not terrible either. As they say... everything gets better with more wine.
