DEAR DOCTOR...let us solve your wine problems

Dr Hannah wine therapist
and perfect housewife

Dear Dr Hannah,

I have to visit my mother once a month and she serves me a half bottle of red wine with my dinner,which I rarely finish in one sitting.She always seems too busy to help me drink it, but  insists on keeping what is left in the bottle for my next visit. Obviously I refuse to drink a month old wine, so now she has resorted to using it in the gravy that she serves me with my rare roast beef,yorkshire pudding ,garden peas, cauliflower cheese and roast potatoes.
Do you think she is trying to kill me by poisoning me with off wine?I have always been a good daughter,aside from that time that I stole her car ,and that other time that I inadvertently forgot to collect her from the convalescent home,but that wasn`t really my fault.

                                     Please  can you help me and my mother?

                                     Petrified from Portlaoise.

Dear Petrified from Portlaoise,

My my you and your mother do seem to have a problem here .First off let me assure you that she is not trying to kill you,because if she was I am sure she could come up with a better plan than this.For example, locking you into her car that you stole and running a hose up from the exhaust.However I can see your dilemma and appreciate your concern.Wine that is kept too long after opening will lose its essential fruitiness and  become tainted after a while.You mention that you visit your mother once a month .My advice to you is perhaps to consider visiting her on a weekly basis.That way the wine she uses in the food that she prepares for you will still be in condition .Another option would be for your mother to freeze the left over wine in ice trays which she can then just pop into the gravy.Advise her from me,to purchase a really large chest freezer which could come in very handy in the near future .

I do hope that my advise has put your mind at ease.

Dr Hannah

Wine therapist and perfect housewife