Animal Farm – now please now

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
George Orwell

I remember the first time I read Animal Farm. It was a school text for Year 8. That would have been 1988 and I was 14 years old. I can still recall my shock when I read that the pigs walked out on two legs with the sheep bleating ‘Four legs good, two legs better’.

My English teacher was Mr Horwill. I finished Animal Farm in one sitting and I told him that a book had never shocked me before. He gave me a long look and told me he would not have guessed I was a reader. I don’t think he meant it as a compliment although it aligns well with my Physics report comment from 1991.

Physics requires above average intelligence and above average commitment. Grant dispalys neither.
Peter Went – Physics Teacher

Orwell’s novella reads today as relevant as it did at the time, and in 1988. Although I couldn’t connect the dots when Mr Horwill made comparrisons to Lenin and Stalin and Russia back in 1988, I think Orwell’s commentary on Government and society in general remains the same.

“No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?”
George Orwell

Is there a better novella than Animal Farm? Maybe Hemmingway’s Old Man and the Sea could give it a run. I can’t think of any others.

I have moved on to 1984. I will return to Eileen O’Shaughnessy when I am done.

We have a sauternes in the fridge. Shell grabbed it on sale a few weeks ago. Sauternes and blue cheese are one of those magical combinations so we headed to the Cheese Room.

Shell had not tried blue cheese before we met. I threw her in at the deep end with roquefort and she has not looked back. In hindsight, it was a costly decision, she is a blue cheese snob these days. It came as no surprise she headed straight for the roquefort.

What is better than roquefort? Three roquefort. A tasting plate of delicious mould.

From left to right – Roquefort Contrôle, Roquefort Arbas and Roquefort Papillon.

Guest appearance by a Moliterno al tartufo. The only thing better than viens of mould are viens of truffle.

My pick was the Arbas, sharp and acidic, the texture was crumbly and not as creamy as the other two. Shell declared the contrôle her favourite as she ate the mouldy middle out of the papillon.

No ragù tonight, we have a vegetarian pasta dish with aubergine, cherry tomatoes and garlic.

A long afternoon of music, cheese and wine. Shell works on her jigsaw while I read Seneca’s Letters.

A perfect Friday evening. The only negative was the Castello Banfi. When we opened thier Rosso di Montalcino, Shell declared it an offensive wine before we even read the back story.

The Marinari brothers purchased huge parts of Montalcino in the late 1970s and established Castello Banfi. Home of the famous Brunello and its little brother the Rosso, Banfi proceeded to bulldoze the majestic hills and plant moscato for cheap Italian bubbly instead of the traditional Sangiovese. The community turned on them, never forgiving the brothers. When nobody wanted their cheap bubbly, they decided to graft Sangiovese to the rootstock. Unfortunately this is against Montalcino DOCG regulation. Fortunately, due to the large volume of moscato produced, Banfi had almost half the DOCG vote, and changed the laws, further endearing them with the locals.

On hearing this back story, Shell announced a ban on all Castello Banfi wine and pointed out that she was correct in her initial assessment of the Banfi Rosso. Refusing to drink another glass, she decided it was only good for cooking.

2018 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes (Bordeaux, France)

This wine didn’t need the cheese, it was a great match, but it could have easily been finished without food. Candied fruit, almonds, honey and vanilla. Delicious.