Wine.

Hawk13

Hawk13

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lifes2short said:
all kept in wine rack in the dark and no heating in summerhouse which has never been used since built some 16/17 years ago (long story), might crack one open for tonight's meal, any suggestions which one to try first
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Why not download a wine app. I use Vivino which is pretty good and useful in restaurants to check I'm not paying 50 quid for a 3 pound bottle.

Take a picture of the label and you get reviews and average prices.
 
lifes2short

lifes2short

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5,833
Hawk13 said:
Why not download a wine app. I use Vivino which is pretty good and useful in restaurants to check I'm not paying 50 quid for a 3 pound bottle.

Take a picture of the label and you get reviews and average prices.
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that's very handy :thumb3:
 
D Walker

D Walker

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Think I may start another thread....looks like next September (2021) holiday may be a 2 week cultural wine tasting trip around Le France.....
Anyone undertaken such a trip.....ideas....must visit etc etc
 
JonW

JonW

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Calvados = Le Mans for me... we always buy some from the SuperU at Arnage, and invariably drink it late at night on the Porsche Curves...
 
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CatmanV2

CatmanV2

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Two cases arriving next week. One wine society 'Wine Without Fuss' and and one from Portugal vineyards courtesy of recommendation of our own @safrane TBH I was panicking about the Wine Society one, so the Portguese one is 'bring me 12 bottles of stuff'. Should be educational :D
C
 
tokyomb

tokyomb

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265
D Walker said:
Think I may start another thread....looks like next September (2021) holiday may be a 2 week cultural wine tasting trip around Le France.....
Anyone undertaken such a trip.....ideas....must visit etc etc
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Not seen your other thread yet. A rambling set of thoughts from me below. If you decide which regions you want to hit, I'm happy to look at the travel forum on Jancis Robinson's wine website (paywall) and see what recent recommendations there have been for wineries to visit or places to eat and stay.

Difficult decision, though, do you go West, South or East?

West - some of:
The Loire - if not done before - the wines are good and the chateaux well worth seeing.
Bordeaux - Jane Anson has a new book "Inside Bordeaux" being published by Berry Bros & Rudd which should be close to the definitive wine book for the region
South-West - Monbazillac (sweet white, not quite Sauternes), Bergerac (Bordeaux blends), Cahors (French Malbec), Madiran (Tannat)
and end up in the Pyrenees, maybe.

South - some of:
Languedoc-Roussillon - Picpoul de Pinet, Limoux (sparkling)
Provence - Rose
Rhone valley - Chateauneuf du Papes, Cornas, Condrieu, Cote Rotie etc.
and maybe hit Beaujolais on the way home.

East - some of:
Champagne - Peter Liem's book Champagne from 2017 has some good info and maps.
Burgundy - Jasper Morris' book "Inside Burgundy" has some great maps and detail on how this region works - where winemakers may only own a row or two of vines
Beaujolais - good value wines from Gamay grapes (amongst the industrial 'nouveau')
Savoie - the Alps - Good guide by Wink Lorch, "Wines of the French Alps (With Local Food and Travel Tips)"
Jura - idiosyncratic wines often in an oxidative style (think Sherry but not fortified). Good guide from Wink Lorch, "Jura Wine: With Local Food and Travel Tips"
Alsace - great white wines from Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Gewurztraminer

Could easily spend two weeks doing (some part of) any one of those three. Greatly enjoyed a trip 25 years ago around the Loire (Chinon, Saumur, Anjou etc.), know the South-West quite well (Monbazillac, Bergerac, Cahors), but less high profile from a wine perspective.

Would like to do a trip up through the Rhone from South to North (the latter my preference - Cornas, Cote Rotie, Condrieu) and then into Beaujolais (where some great wines are still reasonable value).

Did a really enjoyable holiday in and around Languedoc-Roussillon a few years ago - started at Carcassone and then travelled South and then East through the wine region and ended at Marseillan - home of Noilly Prat vermouth. This region has far fewer rules than most of France, so more innovation going on with different varieties and methods of production.

Burgundy will be on our holiday list at some point, not least to visit negociant Mark Haisma's new winery - have been buying his wines 'en primeur' since 2011 - he's one of a small number of Australians making wine there - he was formerly winemaker for Yarra Yering in Australia. Others include Le Grappin and Jane Eyre.

Personally I would probably go East next, but that's because my wine interests tend to those areas (Burgundy, Beaujolais), and they include areas of France I am less familiar with (Jura, Alsace).
 
D Walker

D Walker

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Bebs said:
Really quite spooky that you should mention that Oneball as I literally ordered 2 of those Edison Fatboy lamps 30 minutes ago!! Seriously!
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New I’d seen or heard of them somewhere. We picked this up today.
only drama is swmbo has now decided the fung whatever isn’t right an we need another for the other side of the room. 73362
 
Devonboy

Devonboy

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1,291
lifes2short said:
im not really a wine boffin but do enjoy the stuff, anyways after mowing the lawn today I decided to visit our summerhouse that hasn't been used for a fair while for a clear up and had completely forgotten about some wine and a number of champagne bottles that were stored there many years ago, anyone tell me if any of this stuff is any good

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You have some cheap stuff and some great stuff there but some of it will have passed peak - so do some research on drink dates on the web for the better stuff and get drinking.
 
Bebs

Bebs

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3,353
The Ducru and Gruaud Larose 85 are great wines. Unless they have been heat cooked in the summerhouse.. the levels have dropped a little in both btls which is often a sign of poor storage.
The ports should be ok as they are a little more sturdy at 18% but could potentially have been cooked as well. The rest are ‘drinking wines’ with some unlikely to have survived the years.
 
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