The Keaton

I previously said that the only things about which I am snobbish are coffee and wine, and I haven't really changed, I supposed my snobbishness around wine is to be expected. I generally stick to red wine, finding white to be too acidic, and rose to inhabit a bizarre no man's land between red and white.

For those of you who don't know my parents own a small vineyard in the Cote du Marmandais region near bordeaux, producing mainly red wine, and a little bordeaux rose. The red wine is truly fantastic, being thick and rich with a magnificent body and bouquet.

People generally follow very strict rules when drinking wine, rose and white is served chilled, while red is served at room temperature. While this isn't wrong, it's a very crude metric to use when serving wine. Red wine is best served at about 17 or 18 degrees, technically room temperature, but much colder than the average living room.

Conversely white wine is often served too cold, and it should be left to sweat a little before being served so that it can warm up and develop. Serving it too cold will result in the flavours being reduced and the acid in the wine overwhelming the palate.

This bring us to this week's recipe, which is so embarrassingly simple, it can hardly be called as such, given that it uses only 2 ingredients, one of which is ice. This drink was created by actress Diane Keaton during the 1970's who discovered the joys of ice cold red wine during a sweltering summer in New York City.

Though I wouldn't use an expensive wine for this dish, as the ice shocks the flavours into submission leaving a drink that is cool, refreshing and relaxing, perfect for a hot summer day.

Start by filling a highball glass with ice almost to the brim, fill the glass with red wine covering the ice, and serve.