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Fine wine thread (Read 136093 times)

Houdini

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#25 Re: Fine wine thread
February 07, 2008, 07:53:22 pm
Sounds great Paul_  Extreme selection of hand-picked fruit meant that quantity was limited yet quality astounding.   They sound a fussy bunch.  That's always a great sign.

The price would seem appropriate for GB - but too much for the EU but I'll look out for it and report back should I find it - so we can compare notes.


Tonites tipple 2006



1.5L @ €5.50 from an independent wine retailer.  Not as subtle as last nights Pinot noir but certainly topping it on flavour - very in your face.



Houdini

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#26 Re: Fine wine thread
February 08, 2008, 08:50:55 pm
I'd like to learn more about buying wine when it is still in the barrel.  I'm keen to exploit possibilities of drinking fine wine w/ out paying the Earth as I just hate going over the odds.  Slopes explained this once but I'm not sure I fully understood.

Slopes, once more w/ feeling if you will.  Thanks pal.

Yossarian

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#27 Re: Fine wine thread
February 08, 2008, 09:06:15 pm
I wouldn't get too excited about it.

If you can buy by the case, especially on the continent, you'll get a better price and you won't have a load of hassle picking some mystery wine up in five years time.

There's a time and a place for en primeur, but if you're just talking a few bottles here and a few bottles there then I really wouldn't bother.



miki

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#28 Re: Fine wine thread
February 10, 2008, 12:33:08 pm
like you already know i´m not an expert but here it goes :

from Portugal i recommend Periquita, 75cl for about 4€, the best thing you can buy :)
last weak i had some  Rioja Roda ( i need to learn more about Spanish wine ) i don't know the actual price because i wasn't the one paying, but i´m sure its expensive. so be cool and drink the best quality/price wine -> Portuguese ;)


Monolith

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#29 Re: Fine wine thread
February 12, 2008, 05:21:59 pm
Due to a very very slender budget, I bought 4 bottles of this from my local shop at a price of £10.00:

http://www.thealeseller.com/category-4/Villa_Radiosa_Merlot.html

Should I be shot for saying it's actually drinkable? Maybe my taste buds have rotted to nothing I don't know..

Houdini

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#30 Re: Fine wine thread
February 12, 2008, 08:50:39 pm
This and the Food glorious FOOD threads still need to be moved to Culture.



of late:

as yet untasted - expect it to be good.  Recently sampled the Taste Vinage 05 Pinot Noir, again.  Not under the best circumstances ie - after 1.5L of heavy Italian D'Abruzzo but . . .  Over the odds @ €8.99



I'll try harder than before to make this wee bottle the last for a while, I'll try weeks instead of a few months w/ this quote . . .  Much better than Rioja for the same price, I think.  Less bitter and not quite as dry- quite spicy and berried, excellent nevertheless & extremely drinkable.  Grenache, Temperanillo & Cab Sav.  €4 half bottle.



About €8.50 and a bit of an eye-opener for whites, not too floral, ultra-drinkable - so easy to quaff.  Excellent.



Houdini

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#31 Re: Fine wine thread
February 21, 2008, 01:15:07 pm
Haven't drunk much in the way of fine wine for a while so let this thread slide for a bit.

I always knew the day would come when the Boss would put her foot down . . .    I've been ordered to moderate the boozing or I'll kick your head in!. . .  So must re-evaluate the whole drinky-poos buying policy:  drink half as much, but spend twice as much!  Sounds fabulous.

To wit:

Tonites tipple shall be



Since there's next to no tax on booze in Europe we should be able to get some ace poison in us  ;)  Never tried their sherry and have yet to see an Osbourne port (if they make anything portish).  Also decided that in future I'll only buy wine from the same country I'm in or not too far from that.  So no Oz, US, or S. African or S. American from now on as  it burns too much good oil to get it to me - and there's so much great stuff closer to hand.  (One caveat - seen a bottle of Californian ruby 'port' that must be tried just once!)
« Last Edit: February 21, 2008, 01:22:33 pm by Houdini, Reason: typo »

soapy

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#32 Re: Fine wine thread
February 21, 2008, 01:28:44 pm
i *hearted* the flagstone mary-le-bow 2003

a luvverly cab/shiraz/merlot

Quote
Smooth dark fruits here, with a sweet, subtly meaty edge. The palate is dark and savoury with sweet fruit. A very refined, elegant style with good concentration and nice structure. Very good/excellent 91/100


can't disagree with that


15.98 at tesco

Houdini

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#33 Re: Fine wine thread
February 21, 2008, 02:54:09 pm
Sounds delicious, Soaps.

http://www.osbornesolaz.com/  If the Temp/C-Sauv is fine then I'd like to seek out their Shiraz/Temp.

Speaking of which, I seek shiraz recommendations (preferably 100% but as you'd guess from above blends are welcome too).

Houdini

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#34 Re: Fine wine thread
February 21, 2008, 03:14:22 pm
Does anyone here prefer to transfer their wine to a flat, wide-bottomed decanter?

I can't stand wine that hasn't seen a little air before it's poured, and can rarely taste much.  I've never been in a restaurant where a waiter has opened a bottle in front of me, poured a snifter and expected me to taste it and go Thank you that's excellent, Carruthers.  Leave the bottle.  How can people judge a wine that quickly after it's been opened?

A local supermarket has recently started offering wine samples that you dispense yourself from a machine.  I was quite surprised by the quality too - a range of 8 (€10/bottle) to sample.    Naturally, I did the optics, so to speak.  Muddle puddle anyone?

 :alky:

Yossarian

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#35 Re: Fine wine thread
February 21, 2008, 03:21:32 pm
poured a snifter and expected me to taste it and go Thank you that's excellent, Carruthers.  Leave the bottle.  How can people judge a wine that quickly after it's been opened?

because you're not tasting it to decide whether you like it or not. you're tasting it to make sure it isn't corked. or otherwise off...

Houdini

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#36 Re: Fine wine thread
February 21, 2008, 06:22:48 pm
That Osbourne wine is so yummy I'm considering being super sneaky and getting another bottle in that I can open when she's gone to bed!   It's too drinkable.

Fatleg

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#37 Re: Fine wine thread
February 21, 2008, 08:21:30 pm
Anybody purchased from Virgin wines? Got an offer for buy a case get one free, wandered if it would be any good.

Sloper

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#38 Re: Fine wine thread
February 21, 2008, 09:24:29 pm
Over priced, over hyped and not worth the money even at a 50% discount.

I'm not sure but I think both the Times and Virgin are really just Laythwaites in disguise.

The only 'wine club'  worth joining is 'the wine society' There's a few members on here who will nominate you if required.

Percy B

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#39 Re: Fine wine thread
February 22, 2008, 02:41:46 pm
The only 'wine club'  worth joining is 'the wine society' There's a few members on here who will nominate you if required.

For a price of course!

Percy B

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#40 Re: Fine wine thread
February 22, 2008, 02:44:16 pm
The only 'wine club'  worth joining is 'the wine society' There's a few members on here who will nominate you if required.

For a price of course!

Graeme on Percy's login - no way would the Wine Society accept Bishton as a member  ;)

Fatleg

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#41 Re: Fine wine thread
February 22, 2008, 07:38:32 pm
Checked the wine society website, you don't need a nominator to join.

Houdini

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#42 Re: Fine wine thread
February 22, 2008, 07:49:28 pm
I've checked their prices too.  They may make some sense to you UK Lubbers but they're well expensive by German standards.  Forget it! 

Bourgoise mores . . .

Houdini

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#43 Re: Fine wine thread
February 22, 2008, 09:26:33 pm
Fraudini's bogged-off on a girls' night out!

*punches air*

And I'm back on my stash of Osbourne!  Shhh!  Don't say a word!  I've got 2 or 3 clubs to grace, then it's onward w/ my Guru's running plan in the morning!

Death or Glory ~ Whatever comes first . . .    8)

Houdini

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#44 Re: Fine wine thread
February 24, 2008, 07:05:51 pm
Pencil shavings ~ or ~ corked/spoilt wine?

I'm curious, what does corked mean.  I assume it means a wine that has been tainted by the cork and had become woody.  Is that accurate?

Reason is I'm quaffing a Spanish Tinto now, yet I'm not sure if I'm tasting a corked wine or one redolent of pencil shavings.

Please advise.


Sloper

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#45 Re: Fine wine thread
February 25, 2008, 10:02:53 am
Corked wine is as a result of a chemical produced by I think a bacterial infection in the cork (this is from memory) you'll know a corked wine when you taste one it will be flat with a smell commonly described as wet dog / newspapers etc.

In recent years I've actually come across very few bottles that have been corked.

Jaspersharpe

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#46 Re: Fine wine thread
February 25, 2008, 10:05:39 am
You certainly know about it when a wine is corked. *puke smiley*

Yossarian

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#47 Re: Fine wine thread
February 25, 2008, 10:52:14 am
A 'Corked' wine is a wine that has been bottled with a cork that is contaminated with TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole). TCA contamination usually comes from corks but can also come from barrels, other cooperage or even, apparently, from wood within the cellar including walls or beams. The term 'corked wine' is applied to all wines with TCA contamination because corks are the souce of most of the problems. The wine industry estimates that as many as 3% to 7% of all wines have TCA contamination at levels that can be detected by consumers. Because most people are not trained to recognize the smell and taste of TCA, only a very small fraction of these bad bottles are ever returned to stores or sent back at a restaurant.
Even a very tiny amount of TCA in a wine can ruin it. Most people become aware of TCA in quatities as small as 5 parts per trillion and some individuals are even more sensitive. When TCA is present in quantities high enough to be evident to a person, it comes across as 'musty' aromas and flavors. Even when TCA is not evident in the smell or taste of a wine, very small quantities can subdue the aromas and flavors of fruit that the wine would ordinarily exhibit.
TCA does not pose a health risk (at least in the levels found in wines). It just imparts the aromas and flavors that are objectionable when found in sufficient quantity. Many wines have levels of TCA that are below the threshold of perception. Wine is not the only place you can find TCA. It is also found in some municipal water supplies as well as in some teas.
A great deal of work continues in the cork industry as well as at wineries to develop methods to eliminate corked wine. So far, no completely reliable method has been found.
There are other causes of bad bottles of wine, but TCA contamination is the primary fault you will find in otherwise well-stored bottles. Other faults can include wines that are oxidized, lightstruck or have undergone unplanned secondary fermentation.


There was a great deal of embarrassment at the Louis Latour tasting I went to the other week, when one bottle of the Savigny-les-Beaune they put out with lunch turned out to be corked. None of the LL boys had tasted it first, and I poured out a glass each for the whole of our table. There was a great cry of, "urgh" and a very red faced man then had to rush around replacing glasses and apologising. 

On another occasion, my dad took a merchant out to lunch, and let him choose the wine. He picked an expensive claret of some kind, tasted it, and then informed the sommelier that it was a delicious wine, but it was unfortunately corked. The sommelier took it away, and then brought it back a while later and explained that, "it was only slightly corked".  This was not met with a great deal of sympathy...

Falling Down

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#48 Re: Fine wine thread
February 25, 2008, 11:07:48 am
The Times wine club is Laithwaites in disguise. I was a member last year and thought the mixed case was pretty good value for money, particularly as the selection often lay outside of the varieties that I would normally choose in a resturaunt or buy.

If anyone is passing through the the High Peak I can highly recomend Goyt Wines in Whaley Bridge http://goytwines.com/ for a nice selection of affordable fine wines in the £10 to £25 range. Terry, the owner does tastings once a month upstairs and will have a few new bottles open on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons  Support your local wine dealer!

Houdini

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#49 Re: Fine wine thread
February 25, 2008, 06:00:09 pm
What's the consensus on plastic corks?

I think they're sometimes hard to open (but then they don't break; though I've broken corkscrews in them); they're plastic & plastics are shit); & they must be harming the cork grower's livelihoods.  I love screwtops, but then I'm not interested in vintage wine (only port, which you're daft to drink young & it seems unlikely we'll ever see it screwtopped).

 

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