Christmas Wine II

[Marchbanks]

Indian food is on the cards tonight. MB is watching so I'd better not waste another good red.
I have some Brewdog so that would be the obvious choice.
However there is a last Eroica riesling that I have been avoiding for too long.
Decisions decisions...

He’s always watching, the bastard. I had red wine with the curry last night, or rather after it. The curry was the abstemious part of the evening’s proceedings between the Rochefort and the Perrin Ventoux. It was nominally Sri Lankan rather than Indian though. A little Erotica after a sober meal could be fun. I think Beethoven wrote some suitable accompaniment.

 

[wacko]

^ got invited to a Sri Lankan dinner many years ago. Tried to be polite but I couldn't get past a tentative nibble on a single thing: ranged from bloody hot to suicidal. Small kids were walking around chewing on chillies: start young ! The coconut juice was nice.

 

[Marchbanks]

^ got invited to a Sri Lankan dinner many years ago. Tried to be polite but I couldn't get past a tentative nibble on a single thing: ranged from bloody hot to suicidal. Small kids were walking around chewing on chillies: start young ! The coconut juice was nice.

I don’t like crazy heat either - this was fine, though. The tamarind juice sourness was my favourite part. I liked Mrs Mama’s dal recipe too (no, I didn’t have any Maldive fish.)

https://www.tootingmama.com/how-to-make-a-sri-lankan-black-pork-curry/

 

[PsB]

Indian food is on the cards tonight. MB is watching so I'd better not waste another good red.
I have some Brewdog so that would be the obvious choice.
However there is a last Eroica riesling that I have been avoiding for too long.
Decisions decisions...

I like curries with beer, medium sweet whites like Al. Gewürztraminer. Hugh Johnson recommends dry sherry (Fino with fish, Amontillado or Oloroso with meat) or non-oaked whites. Rosé at a pinch.

 

[andrew d]

Rather miffed that my local Majestic has shut! I thought the new private equity owners weren't going to close shops, plus lockdown has been great for them. I used to quite enjoy the 5 minute walk across the border into Belgravia, eavesdropping on the occasional oligarch and local eccentrics before walking home with half a dozen bottles or a dozen if I felt up to it. They had much better stock than most Majestics.

 

[Marchbanks]

Rather miffed that my local Majestic has shut! I thought the new private equity owners weren't going to close shops, plus lockdown has been great for them. I used to quite enjoy the 5 minute walk across the border into Belgravia, eavesdropping on the occasional oligarch and local eccentrics before walking home with half a dozen bottles or a dozen if I felt up to it. They had much better stock than most Majestics.

I fear for Majestic’s future - not just the name, that will be disappearing anyway - but all the physical stores, at least with the quality and range they currently offer. It seems to me Gormley’s intention is to suck money out of it to expand his original (IMHO of course) crappy wine at inflated prices venture.

 

[eternumviti]

To return to the subject of tasting notes, I thought that this one was quite poetic as well as being to the point. It has also served to expand my tasting note dictionary.

 

[blossomchris]

^^^ sounds like this could have been my review

 

[Ponty]

Help! A Rick Stein Lobster Box turned up this morning for supper tonight (a present!). Scallops then lobster thermidor. I’ve narrowed it down to these. I’m thinking the Allende but opinions sought, what would be your choice?

Allende 2017 white Rioja
Bourgogne hautes cotes de beaune Chardonnay 2018, Denis Carre
Saint Veran. Merlin 2018
Bourgogne aligote 2017

 

[BTC3]

A rare choice for me, but I might go with the Aligote.

 

[Marchbanks]

Help! A Rick Stein Lobster Box turned up this morning for supper tonight (a present!). Scallops then lobster thermidor. I’ve narrowed it down to these. I’m thinking the Allende but opinions sought, what would be your choice?

Allende 2017 white Rioja
Bourgogne hautes cotes de beaune Chardonnay 2018, Denis Carre
Saint Veran. Merlin 2018
Bourgogne aligote 2017

Saint Veran for me (no surprise) but only if Onder Lemoenkop don’t do a white.

 

[BTC3]

@Ponty what did you go for in the end?

We’re having toad in the hole, and a bottle of unapologetically old-school Rioja. It has all the astringency, flavour, colour, spice, etc. you’d hope for. Very much on the “Ça va bien” part of the Bof scale. That said, I’m almost as excited by the decanter (to my eyes a thing of beauty) as I am about drinking the wine.

 

[Weekender]

Decanter from where?

 

[BTC3]

Decanter from where?

Richard Brendon/Jancis Robinson collaboration. Meant to be for “old wine”, but I find it to be a gorgeous object. Think I’d bought it within 25 seconds of seeing a picture of it and tracking it down.

 

[Weekender]

Ah yes...thought it looked expensive.

 

[blossomchris]

We’re having toad in the hole, and a bottle of unapologetically old-school Rioja. It has all the astringency, flavour, colour, spice, etc. you’d hope for. Very much on the “Ça va bien” part of the Bof scale. That said, I’m almost as excited by the decanter (to my eyes a thing of beauty) as I am about drinking the wine[/IMG]

i would find it difficult to taste in such detail. it looks gorgeous, a good Rioja is to die for.

i have a bottle of 1961 Manzandi vin tinto, bit scared by it tbh, may have to go for your decanter, mine are very heavy and traditional, yours looks cool (i do hate that word, but seems right
for design)

 

[BTC3]

Ah yes...thought it looked expensive.

Compared to a Riedel Mamba at £500ish a piece, cheap. To the £25 a piece ones from Amazon I normally use, yes, a bit spendy... but I like it. As a bonus it doesn’t leak and pours well.

 

[Marchbanks]

A late arrival at the Beaujolais ball. Interesting that a couple of CT reviewers mention banana flavours - it’s exactly that taste that put me off the stuff for many years, probably as a result of being force-fed too much N***eau in France - but I didn’t detect any such thing here, nor in the other Bojes I’ve tasted recently from Brun and Burgaud. Both reviewers suggested that is an inevitable by-product of carbonic maceration, but then it looks like they were having an online tasting - perhaps they let teacher’s tutorial influence their thoughts a little.

This wine is light and lovely, and I suspect three-quarters of the bottle will have disappeared by the end of the night. But hey, it’s only 12.5%, and my calculator tells me that compared to my normal 14.5% or so I’m allowed to drink ‘loads more’. And it’s Sunday, or maybe Friday (I admit I’m not certain) so it’s all fine.

I rather liked the notes from the French CT reviewer who said it was ‘straight, not deviant but no fun.’ I wonder how I can get invited to one of his tastings?

Best of all, it didn’t f**k up my Coq au Vin.

 

[PsB]

It used to be that one could reliably describe Beaujolais Nouveau using the words banana, violet, banana, and, erm, fruit. The taste was apparently due to artificial yeasts they used to add (maybe they still do, haven’t tasted BN in years).

 

[Ponty]

@Ponty what did you go for in the end?

We’re having toad in the hole, and a bottle of unapologetically old-school Rioja. It has all the astringency, flavour, colour, spice, etc. you’d hope for. Very much on the “Ça va bien” part of the Bof scale. That said, I’m almost as excited by the decanter (to my eyes a thing of beauty) as I am about drinking the wine.

Love toad in the hole, proper food! Went with the Allende as I wanted to try it. What a beautiful wine and perfect with the Thermidor. Not too much oak but enough to compliment the meal perfectly. Can highly recommended the Rick Stein lobster box. Excellent quality, a lovely surprise and a real treat when you can’t go out to eat.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/168498837@N06/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/168498837@N06/