I get SO excited when a box of wine arrives, especially when it’s from Twelve Green Bottles and full of a whole new host of wines to try. I believe they call it Oenophilia, which sounds a bit like a contagious disease, but I have come to terms with this fatal condition.

Despite being a fairly generous person, it drags on my soul (dramatic – I know) to hand over a wine to someone else that I have not tried myself. I want to know all about it, it’s secrets, was it delicious? How did you feel? Do you think you’ll try it again? Did you remember its name in the morning? I suppose I’m somewhat needy when it comes to wines.

And so, now I have a #wineblog I can craftily ask the very lucky people I gift wine upon to write me a review that I can post on my site. Some haven’t taken me seriously, you know who you are. But others, mainly the ones who see me too frequently to deny me of my requests, have prevailed.

Here is what I’m going to call a Guest Review from no other than my delightful Dad, William Fenn.

“Hi, my name is Will Fenn alias The Porky Plowboy and Roadkill Will after my reluctance to see food or drink go to waste! Tonight I was given a bottle of 2014 red wine called Faithful Hound which as I’d opened and tasted before putting my ‘reading glasses on’ is without doubt from South Africa! MULDERBOSCH! My first impression on opening was that the natural cork although tight fitting looked reconstituted and the first couple of glugs in a glass reflected this with quite a hint of bitterness, but after being opened for ten minutes or so, the next sample began to reveal that what lay beneath was a full flavoured robust wine (14%) with deep colour. One of the first things I look for when buying, is wine that carries the flavours of leather, tobacco and a sun-dried raisin-ness that you won’t get from some other continents (who can only speak French or Australian) without spending considerably more! In all, a Saturday night comforter to heal the week’s woes!”

And there you have it! You can buy Faithful Hound here (Chunky is not for sale.)