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Christmas Wine

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Have a look at Cellartracker.

We have been there before. Wine reviews as with music, is of no interet to me.

I have to admit that after eighteen months of using CT I would be lost without it. I don’t look at the reviews at all - well, only when I want a good thigh-slapping laugh, e.g...

Medium light colour of delicate, faded rosehip jelly fading to strong orange pekoe tea at the rim. The funk has mostly gone, and now the nose is full of spicey, dried red fruits, freshly sawn cedar, leather with a feral, animal undertone. Over time notes of medjool dates, curry comb and rosehips emerge. Long slow legs that seem to stick to the sides of the glass...not as profound as some vintages but enthralling just the same! An intellectual wine.

...for intellectual people, no doubt. I searched for ‘curry comb’ but the best I could do was something Amazon sell for brushing your pets.
 
4 or 5 days a week we have wine for lunch, and I always do a little graft in the afternoons, so a 14.5% lunchtime bevvy may rock my boat.
Also, I find it difficult to go from a high alcohol content to a lower one when the occasion arises.

That would be as John Shuttleworth sings, 'I can't go back to savouries now.'.

Ah, I see. I wish I could work after a glass of lunchtime wine, but not a chance, at least until after I've had a 30 minute kip.
 
I have to admit that after eighteen months of using CT I would be lost without it. I don’t look at the reviews at all - well, only when I want a good thigh-slapping laugh, e.g...

Medium light colour of delicate, faded rosehip jelly fading to strong orange pekoe tea at the rim. The funk has mostly gone, and now the nose is full of spicey, dried red fruits, freshly sawn cedar, leather with a feral, animal undertone. Over time notes of medjool dates, curry comb and rosehips emerge. Long slow legs that seem to stick to the sides of the glass...not as profound as some vintages but enthralling just the same! An intellectual wine.

...for intellectual people, no doubt. I searched for ‘curry comb’ but the best I could do was something Amazon sell for brushing your pets.

Indeed the review means zilch. Suck it and see is the only way.

Sorry you are not gonna convert me to CT, do not need it.
 
A curry comb is used to comb your horse's mane. It is a very specific manifestation of the word 'animal', which is often used in wine tasting notes. I like the smell of horse, but it can get quite strong, and the manes get greasy. Not sure I would welcome it in my wine. I wish though that my palate were as good as that CT reviewer's.
 
Bottle grabbed just now to accompany tonight’s steak, chips, salad and part 2 of the Billfest.
A curry comb is used to comb your horse's mane. It is a very specific manifestation of the word 'animal', which is often used in wine tasting notes. I like the smell of horse, but it can get quite strong, and the manes get greasy. Not sure I would welcome it in my wine. I wish though that my palate were as good as that CT reviewer's.
Have you met many intellectual wines in the course of your work?

Here’s something from another CT reviewer whose style is a lot closer to mine...

Durn good. Needs air at this point.
 
I use cellar tracker for just that, tracking what’s in the cellar. The reviews are neither here nor there; it’s a useful database.

Said database indicates that my stash of 2004 Beaucastel Blanc is exiting the drinkable window, so we went with that tonight. Golden in colour, rich in flavour, concentrated flavours. Rather nice.
 
Am I still allowed to post here if not a CT user.:)

Main issue being I do not have a cellar, and I know when wines are getting near the end, all part of my notebook system. I only hold around 100 bottles,so easy to manage. Single bottles are not included.
 
Indeed the review means zilch. Suck it and see is the only way.
Sorry you are not gonna convert me to CT, do not need it.

You raise an interesting issue though: the CT 'reviews' are just amateurs like us posting what they think having drunk their wine. Of course they should be read for fun as much as guidance but some can be useful, especially the drinking 'window' indications. At least they have no axe to grind.
IIRC experiments concluded that expert tasters are slightly more likely to pick out expensive wine in a blind tasting than us amateurs. And amateurs tended to prefer the cheaper wines.
So what does that mean ?
That price means nothing ? That cheaper wines are designed to please but in the sense of an extra sugar in your tea ? That you have to learn to appreciate wine (and that raises other issues that could apply equally to hifi) ? That experts have a self-fulfilling bias ?
I would be as happy as anyone if expensive wine could be dismissed as a rip-off. But every now and then you get jolt. Like I did 2 years ago from a Roagna Barbaresco that a friend kindly bought.
 
You raise an interesting issue though: the CT 'reviews' are just amateurs like us posting what they think having drunk their wine. Of course they should be read for fun as much as guidance but some can be useful, especially the drinking 'window' indications. At least they have no axe to grind.
IIRC experiments concluded that expert tasters are slightly more likely to pick out expensive wine in a blind tasting than us amateurs. And amateurs tended to prefer the cheaper wines.
So what does that mean ?
That price means nothing ? That cheaper wines are designed to please but in the sense of an extra sugar in your tea ? That you have to learn to appreciate wine (and that raises other issues that could apply equally to hifi) ? That experts have a self-fulfilling bias ?
I would be as happy as anyone if expensive wine could be dismissed as a rip-off. But every now and then you get jolt. Like I did 2 years ago from a Roagna Barbaresco that a friend kindly bought.

I wrote a long, rambling reply to this, but when I read it back it felt like it came from a grumpy old bore with an inferiority complex so I scrubbed it. I’ll try a less-is-more version.

I think a lot of CT reviews come from wannabe wine writers, or folk who want to be seen as - let's say - golden throats, who ape the style and content of the subscription sites.

I react against this and eschew the flowery style. I can think of several possible reasons - (1) I think people already know what a (say) Riesling should taste like, so 90% is repetition anyway (2) I lack the palette and/or writing skills to entice each individual nuance out of the wine and make it sound like a bad accident in a grocery market and (3) when I read such reviews the cynicism and orneriness that occur to some degree in my nature get turned up a notch, primarily because I am aware that wine is big business. I noted most of the emails I received from L&W recently mentioned the ‘2019 Bordeaux campaign’ - no different from a push to shift more units by a pop music flavour of the month.

Or most likely, all three reasons. Plus I still read like a grumpy old bore with an inferiority complex. So, four.
 
^ I'm not sure what my point was but I rather revel in being a grumpy old bore.
I don't think I would buy any wine (or anything else) being pushed at me.
Some people like to share their pleasure in a wine and get a bit carried away. Remember most of CT are verbose Yanks, not reticent Brits.
 
I use cellar tracker for just that, tracking what’s in the cellar. The reviews are neither here nor there; it’s a useful database.

Said database indicates that my stash of 2004 Beaucastel Blanc is exiting the drinkable window, so we went with that tonight. Golden in colour, rich in flavour, concentrated flavours. Rather nice.

It’s been a long time since I had one of those - 25 years I would guess. I remember buying two or three in Tanners’ shop in Shrewsbury.

I also find the CT end-of-window warnings useful. It gives a little peace of mind to know that I currently have 32 bottles it thinks I should drink before the end of the year. I’m getting there, it was 87 in January! CT seems like the obvious next stage of my cellar management journey following ledger and pen then flat file database. Being able to access it on my iPad rather than have to turn on a PC is great. Pour a glass, then select something to play on the Squeezebox, answer emails, see who is berating me on pfm and remove bottle from the database all on the same screen.

Sometimes I feel I could be at home in the 21st century with just a little more effort.

^ I'm not sure what my point was but I rather revel in being a grumpy old bore.
Truth be told, so do I.
Some people like to share their pleasure in a wine and get a bit carried away. Remember most of CT are verbose Yanks, not reticent Brits.
Fair enough - I did say some of it was down to my innate cynicism - but I still think some folk desperately want to out-taste each other.
 
@Marchbanks 25 years since trying a 2004...?
Just kidding.

I have tried for a long time to keep my reviews to “I like it” or “I didn’t like it”. I fail miserably, because the reviews, which are written with my own use in mind, are better served with why I liked it, which might include what food it went with, for when I go to drink it again, etc. I have, however, instructed my wife to make sure she shoots me if I start spouting utter bollocks about flavours, etc. when discussing wine.
 
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