Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
At the same time those five or six years were useful for learning to spot good value. In a French supermarket I will still clear the shelves of certain 4-5€ bottles in when I see them.
Cheers to you too!
Christmas Wine
- Thread starter eternumviti
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Cheers to you too!
blossomchris
I feel better than James Brown
Always the best day of the year - the arrival of the Rhône EPs from the Wine Society.
These are the 2017s of course. About three months late this year, but worth the wait. I thought I’d take a few minutes to work out if buying these wines EP had been worthwhile, so here is my final price per bottle delivered (in brackets) followed by the current cheapest UK price on Wine Searcher (delivery not included.)
Robin Crozes-Hermitage Albéric Bouvet (£18.07) £23.33
Dom de Mourchon Séguret CdRV Grande Reserve (£15.67) £19.99
Piedlong CdP (£33.67) seemingly unavailable now but last seen for £41.00
Voge Cornas Vieilles Vignes (£43.67) £49.80
...which means the first three have all increased in price by around 25% and the Cornas by 14%. I didn’t like this lack of consistency so decided to bend the facts to fit my wishes. The Cornas was being sold by an exchange rather than a merchant, so I decided that didn’t count. The cheapest merchant price was £53.06, which gives us an increase of... around 23%! Perfectly in line!
I don’t think I would have found any sensible investment that would have given me a 25% return in seventeen months (especially as only three-quarters of the total was paid up-front) so EP has been a good thing. QED!
At this rate your stocks must be rivalling TWS itself.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Looked like the last alfresco dinner for a while, and I had high hopes for this, a Monoprix reduction picked up for 12.50€ last year.
I was a little underwhelmed to start with, but it seemed to open out after an hour. At first I thought I vastly preferred the Saint Cosme Syrah CdR I had last week - now I think it's a closer run thing. This certainly beats any Jaboulet Crozes I have had in the last fifteen years though. It's going nicely with Neil Young rocking out on 'Weld'. I've got one more bottle - I think I can safely give that a couple of years.
SJP was also on top form tonight - he was visiting his nemesis Groucho Marx on a film set -
'The picture was finished, and he was at last free to resume his passionate avocation, the collecting and cross-fertilisation of various kinds of money.'
I was a little underwhelmed to start with, but it seemed to open out after an hour. At first I thought I vastly preferred the Saint Cosme Syrah CdR I had last week - now I think it's a closer run thing. This certainly beats any Jaboulet Crozes I have had in the last fifteen years though. It's going nicely with Neil Young rocking out on 'Weld'. I've got one more bottle - I think I can safely give that a couple of years.
SJP was also on top form tonight - he was visiting his nemesis Groucho Marx on a film set -
'The picture was finished, and he was at last free to resume his passionate avocation, the collecting and cross-fertilisation of various kinds of money.'
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
I’ve been telling myself to stop buying for a few months, but now it’s being forced on me - the ancestral cellars are full. Fifty rack spaces left and fifty-nine bottles arriving in the next few weeks. Looks like they have a nominal 750 capacity. But if I could get rid of those two crates of Westvleteren empties...
SJP was accompanied by France Musique La Jazz earlier. Neil wouldn’t play until the lights had come on.
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Dogberry
pfm Member
Today
Trinity Hill Chardonnay 2016
https://www.waitrosecellar.com/exclusive-white-wines/trinity-hill-hawkes-bay-chardonnay-725637
Another great NZ wine bought in sale.
Trinity Hill Chardonnay 2016
https://www.waitrosecellar.com/exclusive-white-wines/trinity-hill-hawkes-bay-chardonnay-725637
Another great NZ wine bought in sale.
Today’s effort: Matías Riccitelli Malbec. Brought a case of this back from Argentina a few years ago, and have managed to park it until now. It hits all the right buttons for me: deep flavours, dark, pretty well opaque in colour, velvety mouthfeel, none of the sharp acidity that it had two years ago. Went as well with steak and tomato as it did with some Cabrales cheese. I’m rather pleased with this!
Had a glass of the wine before the food, the acidity didn’t really change with the incorporation of the tomatoes.
You can bring (or you could last year) up to five bottles of wine into the UK from Argentina, and if you’re on a direct flight it’s not too onerous an experience. I bring 5 bottles back with me each time (as checked luggage or hand carried when bought in Duty Free) and don’t go through the red channel. I’ve also had wine shipped over by DHL and UPS, but each time they were dozens and duty was paid, calculated at the time of buying and preparing the paperwork. I confess I didn’t pay much attention and just paid the amount I was told to pay.
You can bring (or you could last year) up to five bottles of wine into the UK from Argentina, and if you’re on a direct flight it’s not too onerous an experience. I bring 5 bottles back with me each time (as checked luggage or hand carried when bought in Duty Free) and don’t go through the red channel. I’ve also had wine shipped over by DHL and UPS, but each time they were dozens and duty was paid, calculated at the time of buying and preparing the paperwork. I confess I didn’t pay much attention and just paid the amount I was told to pay.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
All together now - ‘you don’t have to put on the red light...’ might have got a better picture if it had been on, though.
But I digress.
I really enjoyed this, which surprised me as I’m sure I bought two, drank the other a couple of years ago and didn’t think much of it. It must have been quite young then - perhaps too young. Or maybe it was in the difficult middle phase that Roussanne wines are supposed to have.
This was a pre-CT purchase, so I don’t have details apart from ‘bought from Sainsbury’. I’m guessing it was about a tenner. Although it has been a long time since I drank white Beaucastel (Roussanne plays a large to major part therein) this reminded me of it immediately - although this one is South African. Good stuff, will buy more if and when I see it at the right price.
Edit: hmmm, currently reduced to £9 at Sainsbury, and I have to drive past later...
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
Interesting. I’ve drunk a bottle or two of that and also been mildly underwhelmed. Might grab a couple and hide them away for a bit. The same label does a really rather fine Syrah, also available in Sainsbury’s at around £14 - I used to snaffle them when they occasionally went on promo at around a tenner. One of the best new world Syrahs at the price, in my experience. Rich and complex, for a young wine, and with a lovely long oaky, vanilla finish, without that dominating the experience.
All together now - ‘you don’t have to put on the red light...’ might have got a better picture if it had been on, though.
But I digress.
I really enjoyed this, which surprised me as I’m sure I bought two, drank the other a couple of years ago and didn’t think much of it. It must have been quite young then - perhaps too young. Or maybe it was in the difficult middle phase that Roussanne wines are supposed to have.
This was a pre-CT purchase, so I don’t have details apart from ‘bought from Sainsbury’. I’m guessing it was about a tenner. Although it has been a long time since I drank white Beaucastel (Roussanne plays a large to major part therein) this reminded me of it immediately - although this one is South African. Good stuff, will buy more if and when I see it at the right price.
In other news, had an extraordinary Cretan white at the weekend: ARMI, Thrapsathiri (which I believe is the variety). Rich, almost unctuous, with flavours and aromas somewhat reminiscent of good Chardonnay or Viognier, without copying their style at all. Distinctive and different, went to bed late, and drunk, so have no notes, but will update when we’ve had the second bottle, if I can add anything.
eternumviti
Insufficient privileges to reply.
There are a number of operations on Crete working with a diverse range of indigenous varieties, usually using organic viticulture, and some brilliant wines coming through.
Dogberry
pfm Member
Excellent wine shop in Chania
https://www.midenagan.com/#
https://www.midenagan.com/#
blossomchris
I feel better than James Brown
The wine is here but in quarantine. Received a few fliers from English wines, they all seem rather expensive, very few under GDP15
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Dogberry
pfm Member
I looked at English rosé all over £15.
I got six Tavel 2019 five Chapoutier rosé
and no3 Castelmaure(£20) from
Vinatis with promos and discounts
the average price per bottle was £12.33
delivered.
And they're not cheap the euro prices look
good but as soon as you switch to UK
delivery the prices jump considerably.
I got six Tavel 2019 five Chapoutier rosé
and no3 Castelmaure(£20) from
Vinatis with promos and discounts
the average price per bottle was £12.33
delivered.
And they're not cheap the euro prices look
good but as soon as you switch to UK
delivery the prices jump considerably.
chartz
If it’s broke fix it!
I love Crozes, a poor man’s St Joseph or Côte Rôtie.Looked like the last alfresco dinner for a while, and I had high hopes for this, a Monoprix reduction picked up for 12.50€ last year.
I was a little underwhelmed to start with, but it seemed to open out after an hour. At first I thought I vastly preferred the Saint Cosme Syrah CdR I had last week - now I think it's a closer run thing. This certainly beats any Jaboulet Crozes I have had in the last fifteen years though. It's going nicely with Neil Young rocking out on 'Weld'. I've got one more bottle - I think I can safely give that a couple of years.
SJP was also on top form tonight - he was visiting his nemesis Groucho Marx on a film set -
'The picture was finished, and he was at last free to resume his passionate avocation, the collecting and cross-fertilisation of various kinds of money.'
All those wines are produced in the same area, which I know well – this is where my other half is from!
Have you tried the Guigals?
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