[Eros Poli]

Not sure if its the same program, but I caught a bit about many of the champagne vine-yeards being littered in litter, quite litterally.  Apparently after WWII it was felt that throwing detritous from the cities would help fertilise the vines, and no one has bothered to clear the shit up.  Broken razors, watches, all sorts of shit between the vines 

It always makes me wonder when I see how close the Chateauneauf du Pape vinyards are to the A7 autoroute - some are as close as 10m. The place is a carpark in July and August and the pollution can be horrendous.

Eros

[steveo]

Slackline, yes it is that programme, i love wine but have a limited budget, it makes me wonder what i've been pouring down my neck all these years... i mean gelatine in wine , what the f**ks that all about, i wonder how many vegetarians are aware of that, i wasn't (not that i'm a vege)

[soapy]

Madiran Reserve des Tuguets on offer again at Tesco at about £5.99. Fine enough for me.

me too

[Sloper]

I do love a  good madiran and will be buying a case this evening, incidentally Soapy have you taken advantage of the 'un-named' Pauillac offered by the wine society?

My guess is that it is just shy of les forts, time will tell

[Eros Poli]

Mmmmmm this CLOS DES ECHALAS 2004 Vinsobres is nice. Cru status too. Bit pricey though at 23€

Eros

[GraemeA]

Nice troll 

[soapy]

now the leaves are dropping and smoky autumnalness is creeping in, it's time to get into the reds


warming reds drinking now:

bellingham merlot malbec 2005, on offer at tesco

peter lehmann cabernet sauvignon 'my word is my bond' 2005, hercules wines

agricola gamba valpolicella del' amarone le quare 2003, the french pantry

[Houdini]

Tried the Tesco Madiran, it was OK.  Never again shopping in Tesco's for wine if I have the option to go elsewhere, mind.  Such dull wines on offer under a tenner.

Actually I'm abstaining from the vino in an effort to lose the muffin-top, but before said decision was made most verily did I quaff eleventy bottles of Douro Tuella 04, which is about as close to port as one can get w/ out it being port.  A real heavy hitter.

As for 100% cab/sauv, yet to find one drinkable; too edge-y for me.

[Sloper]

Speaking of brooding autumnal wines I'd recommend the 2003 Le Soula, v-d-p des cotes catalanes, not your average v-d-p but a Gerard Gauby special.

[Houdini]

This, like the recipe thread, should be moved to Culture.

[Yossarian]

I tried something a little different last night...

And after I extracted myself from the toaster I opened a bottle of Ch Boucasse 2002, Vielle Vignes, Madiran. A pokey dark little number, apparently they put a lot of manure and stuff around the vines. Nice.  Tannat grape, which like the toaster experiment was a first for me.  Interesting.

I picked it up at Fortnums for about £15 (along with a lovely Puligny, mmmmmmm) so in a normal shop it might turn out to be a bit of a bargain...

[Houdini]

. . . the muffin-top . . .

I'm comfortable w/ the muffin top.

Hence, keeping it summery w/ Chateau de Pizay, Beaujolais, 2005 (dreadfully moreish).   

[Joepicalli]

Any recommendations for Cote du Rhone wines appreciated, and 100% syrahs.

Vaqueyras and Gigondas - Cotes du Rhone Grand Crus. The only thing that seperates these vinyards from Chateauneauf du Pape is the A7 Autoroute. Oh yes and about 5 quid a bottle in price.

Cheers

Eros

Vaqueyras and Gigondas are very different beasts from Chateauneauf. The Chateauneauf AOC allows up to 13 different grape types in its blend, and while Chateauneaufs  are mainly Grenache and Syrah the other grapes are seldom insignificant in their addition to the final flavour of the wine.
Oh and please loose the Cru terminology for rhone wines, its embarrassing.

[Houdini]

Excited: V12 Rob and I will sample our first Barolo tonite.   


Probably won't do it justice in the food dept., mind:  pasta, pesto, capers, parmesan, olives, lots of fresh herbs & assorted trimmings.   But fuck it - the other contractor scum who share the kitchen will almost certainly have KFC - so fuck it.   

[Yossarian]

I hope you enjoy it!

[Houdini]

That we did.

But the food was inappropriate.  As was the rudeness of an itinerant Portugese worker at our table who dared to question the  quality of the port we had for dessert... Fucker had KFC twice in a row too! 

Nevertheless, what a great grape and what a fine wine.  I could see how some might not enjoy its oaky punch.

[Sloper]

For a good 100% cab sauv try cassa weinert with about 7 years on it. 

PS are you back in the country, if so let me know when you're over the peak way for a session.

[Houdini]

Back in Wales.  But who knows for how long?


Cheers for the Cab/Sauv tip, I recall it from your OP.  I missed out on meeting Ms Weinert at a recent tasting at Connolley's in Birmingham.  I did manage to find a nice 100% CS, ah, Corsican I recall; surprisingly smooth.  A Decanter bronze medalist.

Oddbins.  They've changed management recently and are currently flogging off plenty of old stock at keen prices.

[Houdini]

Had a bottle of M & S Ripassa Valpolicella last night.  I thought is was one of the nicest wines I've ever drunk.

Ah ... 'Bout a week back I was wandering through a rough Birmingham estate and happened upon a proper shithole booze shop; called Sanjit's Wines or something like that.  I go in and it's stacked w/ quality:  ports from the early 60's etc.. ([proudly] We've been here 47 years! ~ Sanjit.)

Place was a real treasure trove of wines; mostly around the £6 mark to satisfy the local poverty-striken chav/scum, but they had many a wine over £40.  Odd place.  Down in a dusty corner there was a stack of fairly old half bottles.  I picked up a 1974 half bottle of Ch.N du Pape: it looked like shit.  Or at least vinegar. The lead was intact, tight; it had obviously been stored on it's end/side and at one time, maybe even upside down... Plenty of crusty bits in the bottom.

Sold as seen:  £9.  Sanjit looked made up for me ...   

The corkscrew rips out first pull, so I decant the entire bottle (after poking the mushy plug through the neck) through an improvised funnel made from a a styrofoam bowl and an andrex filter.

V12 Rob and I tasted it gingerly.  It was all right!  The colour was a weird, muted horse-chestnut, and it tasted rather strong.  Not much fruit but still, really tasty.

And that was my first taste of old wine.  How we laughed.

[shark]

The Valpolicella Ripassa I had from M&S last year tasted of Cherry water - yuck. Glad your's was a good one.

On the subject of supermarket Italians my 'fine enough' recommendation is Morrisons 'Trezanti Salento' reduced to £3.99 - featuring Negroamaro. Good without food. Fruity to the point of being sweet but not jammy. 

[Sloper]

Back from a session on industrial lager, ho hum, anyway half bottles age far faster than larger bottles so be careful out there esp. with the 2000 vintage there's some dross being pushed at the moment at what seems like bargain prices: you have been warned.

On a slight tangent I head a very enjoyable week sampling arjento reds in Portugal, more sloshed ramblings will follow in the same vein. 

[Houdini]

Nice.

Portugese wine is fantastically under-rated.

[Houdini]

Made the mistake of entering a fine wine shop today w/ only €20 in my pocket . . .  Came out w/ a Chilean (shut it!) C/Sauv called Equus 15.1% that tastes surprisingly OK considering it's rocket fuel.

I found some nice looking Swiss (!) pinot t'other day that looked great.  Anyone have any knowledge about Swiss wine?  I figure it'd be similar to Austrian (which I like) apparently it has one of the sternest quality control regimes in the winemaking world (probably changes made after its industry suffered a certain anti-freeze incident some years ago).  Austrian wine seems to be held in quite high regard in Germany. 

[Joepicalli]

Heads up on Tesco off-loading some not bad Saturnes at Half -price (£11.19 a half bottle down from £24.99). Its a 2002 Chateau Suduiraut, and its drinking now. Its only in some of the larger tescos now and is a sticky to impress.

[Sloper]

A bottling by Suduitatt is available at Berry Bros for £9.95 for the 2004 http://www.bbr.com/producer-47-chateau-suduiraut  but thanks for the tip rather short on the stickies and off to get some, is it available in sheffield?

One good tip deserves another: ch des tours, sainte croix du mont is a fine bargain sticky