Vino

il_principe

Following yesterday afternoons brief foray into wine over on the Silly Commuter thread, I was wondering if we have any resident oenophiles on the Forum? If so, what are you drinking at the moment? (ok perhaps not at this exact moment, although it has just gone 12...) I’m always on the hunt for something new to try.

I don’t pretend to know an awful lot about wine but I know what I like. Getting stuck into a case of 2007 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc (thank you Avery's), and a mixed (06 & 07) case of Chapel Down's rather excellent Bacchus.

If anyone else is interested in English wine then I can also recommend Three Choirs' 2005 Siegerrebe. Hard to come by now, but utterly superb.

lost_in_thought

I am thinking of joining one of those wine club things. I really am not a fan of white wine, but do enjoy various reds.

However, I'd like to be able to make more educated choices. I generally like very heavy reds, but want to learn!

I also dislike the vampire-mouth I get from red wine...

Coriander

I did a wine tasting evening class for 4 years, then went to Italy for 3 years, drank only sagrantino and sangiovese and pretty much forgot everything I knew. Before I left I could identidy all the main grapes by smell and tell if a wine was new or old world by taste.

I'm more of a red wine girl and love big, soft Aussies - particularly old vine grenache. The ones I can highly recommend are the ones by Miranda and by Simon Hackett. Golly, am sooooooooo tempted to go and open the one downstairs...

Actually, Miranda are generally fab - their unoaked chardonnay is good and their botrysised riesling is the best stickie I've ever had.

Also I love d'Arenburg....

No, must stop now or I'll be on the phone to my wine merchant friend gettig him to put a crate together for me and I am skint..

biondino

I must start ordering again from the Sunday Times Wine Club I rashly joined a few years ago - I'm yet to be disappointed by one of their mixed cases - sure, not everything's a gem but the standard has been consistently high. Also, I am bored of the stock in Thresher!

I don't know enough about wine to have a proper knowledgeable conversation but I would like to learn more - good thread, Jash.

_Brun_

I'm quite partial to the occasional half bottle of Blue Nun.

Coriander

Jash, have just realised, the riesling that you mentioned last night was not the one I'd been disappointed with - Tim Adams was the one that had been highly rated but was really quite bland and a bit flabby.

ChrisLS

...when my cycling pals and I have our annual trip to France the first day we are arrive we go down to the local supermarche, buy loads of different bottles of wine and drink them throughout our stay(as a post ride recovery drink you understand) Sometimes we buy more of a particular favourite...I know absolutley nothing about wine, but drink a variety

Dunston_checks_in

This year Tescos are periodically selling Côtes du Ventoux at half price (e.g. about a fiver). I think this may be because the printing on the labels is a bit patchy rather than as your typical half-price scam. I really really like this wine - a mix of Grenache and Syrrah, it's spicey and complex and just delicious. Indeed, I've taken to buying up every bottle that's left on the shelf if I see it on offer (I currently have a garage full of it - yay). And with 'Ventoux' in the title it's got a cycling theme too!

Feltup

A climbing guide friend swears the antioxidants in red wine can really help you acclimatise to altitude and he should know as he soloed Everest without supplimentary oxygen. So for those who like to do alpine passes make sure your preparation includes a good amount of decent red wine.

p.s. am partial to St Emilion

Eat My Dust

Watch The Sunday Times Wine list, it's very dangerous! I ordered 18 bottles of wine for Christmas. The order arrived early December. By the time I got to Christmas day, I only had 2 bottles left!!

cjcp

Catena. Very nice, as is Cloudy Bay's Te Koko and Chardonnay and the wine generally from Camel Valley in Cornwall.

Kathy Lynskey is also favourite of mine. She has her own vineyard in the Marlborough region of NZ's South Island. Very difficult get hold of over here, so have ordered directly from her. When I last checked (some time ago), the little place in Borough Market was selling her wine.

A Pinot Noir from Central Otago is always worth a try too.

It amazes me that some people can pick up certain flavours. My taste buds are clearly shot to sh*t, probably from wolfing down too much hot food and burning my tongue when I was a kid.

always_tyred

Feltup wrote:

A climbing guide friend swears the antioxidants in red wine can really help you acclimatise to altitude and he should know as he soloed Everest without supplimentary oxygen. So for those who like to do alpine passes make sure your preparation includes a good amount of decent red wine.

p.s. am partial to St Emilion

But that would suppose that all oxidation is related to oxygen and that all oxidation involving some oxygen containing species are somehow connected to molecular oxygen.

Amazing to climb Everest without O2, but not necessarily correct that alcohol is a performance enhancing drug (you would think that the IOC would have noticed by now if it was).

I guess that red wine could help you pass the time while you acclimatise.

Feltup

I forgot to mention he is french so he probably believes he would die without wine

biondino

Dunston_checks_in wrote:

your typical half-price scam

What is such a scam?

always_tyred

I was very unhappy when I realised that this thread had nothing to do with Kazakhstan.

always_tyred

biondino wrote:

Dunston_checks_in wrote:

your typical half-price scam

What is such a scam?

Almost doubling the price of something for long enough to legally advertise it as half price when you sell it at its normal price. Think Sofas from DFS ("Deffuffsa")

Dunston_checks_in

biondino wrote:

Dunston_checks_in wrote:

your typical half-price scam

What is such a scam?

That the bottle is produced to be discounted and so while you think you may be paying £5 for a £10 bottle of wine, you are actually paying £5 for a £5/£4/£3 bottle of wine. Supermarkets do have to sell it for the 'full price' for a certain period of time to be able to do this, but they expect it to sell primarily at the discounted rate.

@AlwaysTyred: Bizarrely perhaps I lived in Kazakhstan for a year in 1996.

il_principe

Always Tyred wrote:

I was very unhappy when I realised that this thread had nothing to do with Kazakhstan.

get thee to Race!

il_principe

Dunston_checks_in wrote:

biondino wrote:

Dunston_checks_in wrote:

your typical half-price scam

What is such a scam?

That the bottle is produced to be discounted and so while you think you may be paying £5 for a £10 bottle of wine, you are actually paying £5 for a £5/£4/£3 bottle of wine. Supermarkets do have to sell it for the 'full price' for a certain period of time to be able to do this, but they expect it to sell primarily at the discounted rate.

@AlwaysTyred: Bizarrely perhaps I lived in Kazakhstan for a year in 1996.

Like Thresher's horrible 3 for 2 offer. It's a total scam.

cjcp

Dunston_checks_in wrote:

biondino wrote:

Dunston_checks_in wrote:

your typical half-price scam

What is such a scam?

That the bottle is produced to be discounted and so while you think you may be paying £5 for a £10 bottle of wine, you are actually paying £5 for a £5/£4/£3 bottle of wine. Supermarkets do have to sell it for the 'full price' for a certain period of time to be able to do this, but they expect it to sell primarily at the discounted rate.

@AlwaysTyred: Bizarrely perhaps I lived in Kazakhstan for a year in 1996.

What in God's name were you doing there?

always_tyred

(a) gap year, some sort of development work, or;
(b) something to do with the oil industry

Am I right?

cee

is there any kazakhstani wine?

randellp

Cotes Du Ventoux, a very apt wine for a cycling forum!

Having just come back from a week in Nortthern Spain, it's Rioja all the way for me at the moment. Muga, CVNE, Palacio, Martinez Bujanda, Marques de Murrietam, Marques de Riscal and countless unnamed tintos & crianzas at the pinxto bars. Love it all.

Not too much of a white fan, but try the relatively rare Picpoul de Penet frm Languedoc which seems to be my favourite at the moment. Goes very very well with seafood.

Dunston_checks_in

Always Tyred wrote:

(a) gap year, some sort of development work, or;
(b) something to do with the oil industry

Am I right?

Close! PhD fieldwork. I am - or at least was - a 'Central Asianist' of sorts.

No Kazakhstani wine to speak of (at least not when I was last there). Vodka is the drink of choice, though beer has made an entrance in the past decade or so (litre for litre more expensive than most vodka though so it tends to be the choice of the garmaund/connisseur).

You do see some Georgian wines around (which can be very good), but often they will have spent a long time sat in the desert sun on a pallet on a railway truck so the quality tends to be a bit hit and miss. The other option is 'portvein' which is widely available (imagine very very very cheap, rough and sweet port) or domestic champagne (tastes like cheap cider, looks like fizzy brown p*ss).

Don't get me started on the horse's arse sausage..

Wrath Rob

Back on track, I'm sampling vairous Argentinian Malbecs at the moment, having been introduced to a couple last year.

If anyone is interested in learning a little more about wine, my company host an annual wine tasing event for charity that's open to one and all, this year on the 5th November. Its normally along the line of £20 for entry and then free wine all night. There is normally a tasting class on red and one on white and approximately 30 importers or vintners have stands where you can sample the produce. If you ask they will normally explain where the wine is made and how 2 different wines from the same producer and the same grape taste so different. Its all very educational for about an hour and then the evening get a bit hazy. You can buy the wine too (its delivered later so you don't take it with you), just in time for Christmas. This year I think there are some other stands selling Christmas related produce. Last year someone was doing organic puddings (toffee, christmas, fruit etc) that went down a storm.

If you're interested PM me and I'll send you the details once they've been published.

the_hundredth_idiot

randellp wrote:

Cotes Du Ventoux, a very apt wine for a cycling forum!

Having just come back from a week in Nortthern Spain, it's Rioja all the way for me at the moment. Muga, CVNE, Palacio, Martinez Bujanda, Marqués de Murrietam Marques, de Riscal and countless unnamed tintos & crianzas at the pinxto bars. Love it all.

Not too much of a white fan, but try the relatively rare Picpoul de Penet frm Languedoc which seems to be my favourite at the moment. Goes very very well with seafood.

Priorat/Priorato (the region rather than a particular vineyard) from Spain is fantastic but difficult to get hold of in the UK. I asked in Selfridges one time and they showed me some on the shelf at £70 a bottle. :shock:

But, luckily, my mother found a shop in Lincoln near where they live that sells if for a much more reasonable price. They're coming down at the weekend with supplies. :P

biondino

Like Thresher's horrible 3 for 2 offer. It's a total scam.

It's fine if you actually want to buy 3 or 6 bottles of wine at a time! Which I always do

N0bodyOfTheGoat

If you like your red merlots, I can definitely recommend Los Robles Carmeneres, a Chilean fairtrade one.

It can be found in both bottle and bang-for-buck winebox in Sainsburys

Clever Pun

Has anyone tried the Oyster Bay (Another NZ winery) Merlot or Pinot Noir... stunning stuff with the former on special at ocado certainly worth a punt.

I go on wine tasting days a fair bit as it's cracking fun and you get to try ridiculously nice wines

I'm also going to this on the Saturday (and the thursday)
http://www.wineshow.co.uk/?gclid=CJTkkcPxhpYCFQsZQgoddwTmEA

I'm always partial to Kanonkop wines as well... and the ravenswood Zinfandel is always a winner

Denbies in Surrey have some nice wine (especially sparkling) and it's not a bad cycle out there...

Clever Pun

randellp wrote:

Cotes Du Ventoux, a very apt wine for a cycling forum!

true the nice label made me try it on saturday... disappointing even after quite a fair whack of wine

no-mates

Just polished of a bottle of Le Coq D'Oc 2006, I kid you not, was sent in a case I get delivered every few months from JN Wines. Very, very nice and I'm not a francophile, more an Italian fan myself.