what ya drinking

"Fuzzy Bare pinot gris piquette - cowpunk wines - from some Dan's/BWS/etc."

Feel like a spritzy white instead of a beer?

well, clearly skin-contact pinot gris, and pet-nat are all the rage. Rightly so, probably, glad the cat's piss sav blanc tidal-wave has abated. But what if you want a bottle of white at a barbie and still drive the family home after? I dug this Fuzzy Bare caper. Same alcohol as 2 beers if you slug the whole bottle.. made from grape-skins, an ancient-style drink apparently. Not sweet at all!!

Palette: Dirty rosé; Mineral water spritz; Dry-as-dry cider; Parent's wine-cork you chewed as a kid.

Alcohol: 4.0 !! (not de-alcoholised, that's just how it rolls, Roman-style)

(If you avoid Pinnacle, and Fourth Wave crap, fear not, it is 4th, but it is a real (weird) drink made by real people, Aaron Mercer)

https://www.drinkstrade.com.au/fourth-wave-wines-latest-innovation

as we all know wine is a classic for diminishing returns..  (a $50 bottle is not twice as good as a $25 bottle..)

you can spend $150 on a nebbiolo from piedmont that tastes of a leather clad italian sweating musk cologne into a rather lively prune juice, which I guess is kinda interesting..  but.. here's my dan murphy's OS wine recommends for xmas BBQs:

(these 2 wines are in-store all up the east coast and the southern states, plenny of the white, only a few of the red in each shop..  UNBELIEVABLE value):

Balliamo (Italy) Pinot Grigio  $10
Campet Ste Marie (France) Pinot Noir  $15

So odd for this Seppo to hafta remember that xmas is SummerFunTime for you lot. It is interwoven with cold, snow, and, rain, where i hail from. You guys do barbies. We sit round the fireplace. Food is prob way diff, too. Lighter fare for you guys than the beef stews and pot roasts and heavy sauces that my Season brings. Just diff.

because of the ingrained euro traditions here, we're very adept at sunday roast or 'meat and 3 veg' throughout the summer @wax, so xmas it is roast turkey, cranberry and spuds for a lot of us, BBQ for others, supplemented with seafood cocktails, fresh salads, and cold beer. Xmas day is usually sweaty, shorts and singlets, involving the beach if you're lucky.

Thanx for that, Basey.

It’s funny, to me anyhow, that, in my region, Xmas is wet, but not necessarily cold. So, I’ve been subjected to decades of fireplace Christmases with the Fam. Layered up for the drive to-from, and frantically peeling off layers to accommodate the fire. lol

Cold beers and seafood here.

haha, that's funny @wax.. the romantic trappings of xmas and of our yuletide of yore imaginings.. what's that german word for feeling nostalgia for something you've never experienced? you'll be happy to know bing croons white xmas in our supermarkets, and the kids sing frosty the snowman for end of year concerts here : /

Hey Free….. sounds nice. diff from what I know, but nice.

(and, yes, i AM happy to know that, Basey. Let those who will call me what they will…..ummm… call me what they will.)

gotta say, it doesn't feel any weirder than all the spring and rebirth pagan and christian imagery we have at our antipodean easter, just as we are bearing down for winter @wax.. a wonderful madness to it all. And yep, for me, it's having time and weather for fishing, prawns in the supermarket, cherries on the trees, leftover turkey, and 'cold cuts' ..and sandwiches, haha! merry Xmas and New Year, all.

Stinking hot here yesterday, still 34 degrees at midnight, that's 93 to you yanks.
Melbourne going for 41 today (105F). It's so hot gangs are doing drive-bys with super soakers.

You made me spit my orange juice out with that, Oldie!
Active shooters…. With super soakers…… “you own a squirt gun….”