Varied opinions on Apec winelist

By Peter Calder

No wonder the wine world is in a fizz over the selection of tipples chosen for the Apec leaders' dinner and lunch, given the opportunity it represents.

There's been a bit of sniffing and spitting this week about the wines - some of it from people who know and some from people who go quiet when I check how to spell their names.

The absence of our flagship variety, sauvignon blanc, from the top tables, the choice of a dessert cabernet (a port, really, but that word, like "champagne," is off-limits to our winemakers), and the inclusion of a riesling which (heaven forbid!) common people such as you and me might drink at a barbecue - all these decisions have caused the nostrils of some elegant and discerning noses to flare.

But there has been no shortage of contrary opinion in defence of the wine list. Everybody knows this country pours out gallons of fantastic sauvignon blanc, they say; the range of wines on show to the big wigs will showcase the industry's future and show that we are not just a one-wine country.

You would hardly expect the leaders to be swilling back half a dozen glasses, particularly at the Monday lunch before heading for a meeting on a warm spring afternoon.

But those who make a habit of studying the feeding habits of Presidents and Prime Ministers tell me that courtesy will ensure everything at least gets sipped.

And wines improve when they have friends in high places. Winston Churchill had a soft spot for Pol Roger champagne, of which he drank a bottle a day and once wrote: "It imparts a feeling of exhilaration, the nerves are braced, the imagination is agreeably stirred and the wits become more nimble."

It's not the kind of phrase you imagine tripping from the tongue of a man whose most memorable utterance is "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," but if Bill puts in a good word in the White House kitchens who knows what could show up with the entrees at the next state banquet.

*THE eruption of post-plebiscite violence this week in East Timor makes the blood run cold. Colder still is the bleak irony of the return from Dili of 10 New Zealand police for Apec duties where they will be protecting, among others, Indonesian President Jusuf Habibie.

If the UN does decide to intervene, let's hope they're not counting on our Army, which is apparently planning to ready an infantry company for dispatch at 28 days' notice. Now I'm not the military sort, but I would feel a bit more comfortable if the Army could get something up and running in, say, 28 hours. Is it worth suggesting that they make a start now? Just in case?

One day - so they keep telling us - there might be a war.