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Christmas Wine II

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Does this remind you of anyone?

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not wearing a bow tie and waist coat so no.
 
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Intermezzo, aka 'meanwhile, in a hotel room somewhere in North Kent...'

A day's paid employment, followed by a three-and-a-half-hour drive including mixing it with the Friday evening hordes on the M25. Fortunately I took it in my stride as I am still a young man until midnight.

Equally fortunately I found a bottle of King Louis' CdR nestling between my clean underwear and my toothbrush in my overnight bag.
 

£7.95 TWS Undurraga viognier marsanne roussanne, earthy,nutty, white peach, greengage,alpine meadow grass with a hint of freshly mown qu*m.
Delicious.
 
i believe scottish and/or NE England

I just polished off the Quercabella leftovers and they were none the worse for two days in the vacuvin, maybe better. More sobremessa power. This is good wine for £15, probably overpriced for £20. Its ability to survive being opened for a few days being a clincher. I believe (but I’m not sure) that my coop has Antinori basic at £11 a shot and if so I’ll check it out soon.
 
That Chianti is class.
Meanwhile.

I doubt PN is ever going to taste the same outside
Burgundy but this is good ..you know those cool breezes blowing in from the Pacific etc.
 
After a quick stock-take I find that I have exactly 100 bottles of wine (not all of them actually on the premises). I’d best get drinking to make space for new stock.
 

Delicious gamay/pn like a ptg.
Waiting for Herbie Hancock.
A few years ago I was lucky to snag two Cunard/Blue Note cruises to /from NYC first was Glasper/Porter
second was Herbie Hancock it was a small intimate
gig with Q&A.total bargain thing was most peeps on that cruise didn't know the guy was there ,only a few knew it was a Blue Note event.Chances of seeing him at a regular gig like that were zero.
 
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A landmark birthday seemed to demand fizz, even if I know next to nothing about it. This is lovely though, as is anything Jacky Blot makes. It’s called Triple Zéro because there is no sugar added, er, at three stages. You don’t want me to have to get the remains of the bottle out of the fridge so I can translate the spiel off the label, do you? I told you I’m a fizz dullard. Anyway, although it’s 100% Chenin folk like Jancis reckons it gives good Champagne a run for its money, and that’s not bad at 22€ from Calais Vins (20€ yesterday, as they were kind enough to give an old chap a birthday discount code. I stocked up, naturally.)
 
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A landmark birthday seemed to demand fizz, even if I know next to nothing about it. This is lovely though, as is anything Jacky Blot makes. It’s called Triple Zéro because there is no sugar added, er, at three stages. You don’t want me to have to get the remains of the bottle out of the fridge so I can translate the spiel off the label, do you? I told you I’m a fizz dullard. Anyway, although it’s 100% Chenin folk like Jancis reckons it gives good Champagne a run for its money, and that’s not bad at 22€ from Calais Vins (20€ yesterday, as they were kind enough to give an old chap a birthday discount code. I stocked up, naturally.)
You stocked up on fizz?
 
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This wine splurge is teaching me the harsh realities of the levelling-off of the price/quality curve beyond a certain point. This Gran Enemigo is excellent, but I felt disappointed by it. Why? Because the Riccitelli CF I have tried previously was superb, and I expected this - at more than double the price - to roundly beat it. It didn’t. I have a horrible feeling there are similar disappointments to come unless I can learn to temper my expectations a little.

Tonight this was matched with some splendidly gooey Gorgonzola (en promo, Auchan) and Blacksticks Blue (imported from Waitrose.) And CD1 of At the Mountains of Madness, which sounds better and better every time I hear it. At the end of Abidan someone (I imagine it’s Zorn) shouts ‘great solo!’ and with respect to Jamie Saft and the Eno-lady I’m guessing it is Ribot’s he is referring to. It’s a wonderful thing - no pyrotechnics, just emotion, feel and space.
 
Are you allowed to buy gorgonzola in France ? OTOH why can't they make bread like that in Italy ?
I once went to the cheese counter in Italy and asked for feta. The guy looked at me in amazement and waved me away towards the packeted food section muttering something like "Feta is not Italian" !
 
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Are you allowed to buy gorgonzola in France ? OTOH why can't they make bread like that in Italy ?
I once went to the cheese counter in Italy and asked for feta. The guy looked at me in amazement and waved me away towards the packeted food section muttering something like "Feta is not Italian" !
The French just about recognize the existence of the following Italian cheeses: parmigiano (or grana, they don't really distinguish), gorgonzola, pecorino (sardo or romano), and mozzarella (especially since Lactalis took over Galbani). And that's about it. It's a bit of a national blind spot.
I've always wondered how a country as sophisticated about food as Italy (and with a few thousand years of bread making tradition under the belt) can put up with the bread served there. It's a complete mystery. Same with most pastries.
 
Are you allowed to buy gorgonzola in France ?
You are... I always buy a slab when it is reduced to 9.90€/kilo on the cheese counter, as it often is. But I did drop nearly 50€ on French cheese at Olivier’s, so I don’t feel bad about it.

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The cheese at the bottom that looks like a primitive alien life form is a local one, and like me it has been soused in beer as it matures. Also like me it is unexpectedly dense beneath the surface.
 
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I’m going for a Brunier double-header tonight. This is the rosé apéro - I spotted it en promo at a French online merchant a couple of weeks ago and thought it had to be worth a punt. I ordered, picked it up from a collection point on the way down and... here it is. And yes, it was worth a punt. It is delicious. It is made from - let me drag the bottle out of the ice bucket - Grenache, Cinsault and Clairette. It would be perfect to sip while watching the swallows, gazing at the sunshine hitting the top of a giant weeping willow and listening to a cool jazz combo playing their interpretation of Hanns Eisler on FMlJ. Fortunately that is exactly what I’m doing. I’ve just checked the merchant’s website. Still on offer at the equivalent of £9.50 a bottle plus delivery. Another order will be going in so that I can take some more back with me.

Great start... and more to come!
 
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Part II. Looking old - the wine too, ha ha. This is 2009 Vieux Télégraphe - possibly looking more brick-red round the edges in real life than shown in the photo. Tasting lovely though, round, rich and a touch of sweetness. Rather oddly, there is something on the nose that puts me in mind of Lea & Perrins. Take that, Jilly Goolden. A different beast to the 1998 I drank at Christmas.

This is being paired (thanks to my trusty Genelecs, shown) with the Frisell/Driscoll/Baron Live album. A terrific record - the most extraordinary bit being when Bill turns into full-on sustain-and-shred Fripp for twenty seconds then in a beat becomes Chet Atkins.
 
Looking for a wine rack, up to about 2m high and 80cm wide, probably metal. Loads online but any recommendations from the cognoscenti?
 
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Part II. Looking old - the wine too, ha ha. This is 2009 Vieux Télégraphe - possibly looking more brick-red round the edges in real life than shown in the photo. Tasting lovely though, round, rich and a touch of sweetness. Rather oddly, there is something on the nose that puts me in mind of Lea & Perrins. Take that, Jilly Goolden. A different beast to the 1998 I drank at Christmas.

This is being paired (thanks to my trusty Genelecs, shown) with the Frisell/Driscoll/Baron Live album. A terrific record - the most extraordinary bit being when Bill turns into full-on sustain-and-shred Fripp for twenty seconds then in a beat becomes Chet Atkins.

Good stuff, the pink Pallieres. I wish I could flog it at £9.50, but it might involve a sustained campaign of Chancellor of the Exchequer assassinations, and I've become rather squeamish as I've got older.

Now which album, which track. I've just had a quick listen to something random and it reminded me of Weather Report.
 
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