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Christmas Wine

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A plan comes together, part two.

Back in the days before going shopping was a great and scary adventure I found a Parisian wine merchant selling Perrin Ventoux 2018 (described by our patron as ‘moreish’) for a bargain £4.20ish. (Eeek!) Exercising my usual self-restraint I ordered two dozen. They were happy to defer delivery until I was next in France a month later, but asked if I was sure I would be able to come over. Of course I will, I scoffed. Who is going to stop me? A week later, French borders and shops closed, the merchant sent out all pending orders then pulled down the shutters and I received a text message to say delivery had been attempted and failed.

I managed to find the courier and asked them to deliver to a friendly neighbour, who also helped by putting a sign on the gate. A few hours later they were in his larder and have stayed there for four months.

Today I went to see him with a thank-you gift of six bottles of Rochefort 10 (he prefers beer to wine) and the exchange took place on his doorstep, due to you-know-what.

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Answers to questions from yesterday - Manuel Jorel’s explanation of the different alcohol content between years is that the wine is made according to the ripeness and taste of the grapes and whatever ABV results, so be it. And the other 20% of his cuvée Champ is morrastel, apparently the same as graciano. He doesn’t mention it on website or label as it isn’t recognised by the AOC regs.


Some guys have all the luck.
The other night there I was buying some wine (not a drink and dial) I couldn't get the checkout
page to load eventually when I did I didn't realise the sale had expired and prices had gone up.Duh!
 
I used them for a while, the wines were okay but a bit overpriced IMO and nothing that you couldn't get in a supermarket a bit like Laithwaites/The Sunday Times wine club.

I just got the first case this afternoon but was in a margarita mood this evening. Will test some over the next week or so.
 
Quite honestly if you just want some better than average wine (some are well above average) at a good price delivered to your home with minimal effort I would join The Wine Society and take one (or two) of their 'Wine Without Fuss' plans.
They are a cooperative so are hard to beat on price, and the range is better than any supermarket IMO. The plans can be stopped at any time. I have no connection to TWS.
The only reason I'm not on their plans is because I like wine with fuss.
 
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I’ve sent [Sourdais] an e-mail to see if I can get have a delivery sent out to me when I’m in France soon. Their rosé seems to be weighed down with awards every year. I’d like to get my mitts on some of that.

A plan comes together, part three...



...a chance to try the rosé, and three different reds, including Le Chêne Vert, from the same clos as the Joguet wine. That will be an interesting comparison.

Tomorrow - a swift and merciless raid across the border into Belgium in order to liberate a few crates of Rochefort 10. Pip Pip!
 
Tomorrow - a swift and merciless raid across the border into Belgium in order to liberate a few crates of Rochefort 10. Pip Pip!
Without wishing to divert the thread unnecessarily, have you tried the gueuze style of beers? Specifically, those from Cantillon perhaps? The aged versions are extraordinary, if you fancy trying something a bit different while in Belgium.
 
This place
https://www.noblegrape.co.uk/
has some quite nice choices Kumeu River,
Ch.Fontareche vieilles vignes Corbieres
and a nice rosé cerasualo d'Abruzzo
as well as much more pricey stuff.
I just discovered it looking for the Corbieres.
Shipping free over£100.
 
Without wishing to divert the thread unnecessarily, have you tried the gueuze style of beers? Specifically, those from Cantillon perhaps? The aged versions are extraordinary, if you fancy trying something a bit different while in Belgium.
I'm not really a fan of the sour end of the Belgian spectrum. One of the guys working at the Wine Socs French outlet a few years ago saw my car was full of beer (I mean in bottles of course) and told me I should try Rodenbach Grand Cru. When I tasted it I wondered what I had done to upset him. I prefer the Trappist stuff, as befits my ascetic, silent and beatific nature I suppose.
 
Got the Wine Society box of 6 Heavyweight Champion Reds (a treat for being housebound these days) a few days ago and opened a South African Shiraz last night - very enjoyable. I've decided not to drink Mon-Thu, but that might not work if all the wines are as good as the first.
 
Got the Wine Society box of 6 Heavyweight Champion Reds (a treat for being housebound these days) a few days ago and opened a South African Shiraz last night - very enjoyable. I've decided not to drink Mon-Thu, but that might not work if all the wines are as good as the first.

Long stretch Mon-Thur, not managed that one in a couple of yonks. Mon-Wed lunch /eve can just about cope but takes huge will power, I wonder why
 
Long stretch Mon-Thur, not managed that one in a couple of yonks. Mon-Wed lunch /eve can just about cope but takes huge will power, I wonder why

That's me I have to say. Done it once in a blue moon and then making out like it is just a run of the mill event :D
 
Zuccardi’s Emma for us tonight, washed down with baked gnocchi, fennel sausage, peppers and onions. A great example - to my taste - of Bonarda, which I find slightly fruitier and less astringent than Malbec, and prefer with the fennel sausage.
 
I'm not really a fan of the sour end of the Belgian spectrum. One of the guys working at the Wine Socs French outlet a few years ago saw my car was full of beer (I mean in bottles of course) and told me I should try Rodenbach Grand Cru. When I tasted it I wondered what I had done to upset him. I prefer the Trappist stuff, as befits my ascetic, silent and beatific nature I suppose.
Well at least you tried it. I have found, though, that an apparent dislike for sour beers may in some cases be rooted in a mismatch between expectation and reality. Your brain thinks ‘beer’ and that carries certain expectations, few of which are met in sour beers. Beer is yeasty, hoppy, bitter rather than sour, and often with an underlying sweetness. Sour beer is somewhat different. You do need to change mental gears to enjoy it, I suspect.

Out with friends one evening, we turned to a sour beer later on, as we often do, and one new member of the group made a face. He wasn’t familiar with the style. I suggested he approach it as he would do a cider (he drinks cider) and he ‘got’ it pretty much immediately. The barrel aged stuff has lots of complexity and can compare, in my experience, with decent dry wines in that regard, albeit the flavours are different.
 
It’s great when things work out - three of each of these arrived this afternoon.

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Left to right, single vineyard Grenache, 80% Mourvèdre and 20% TBC, single vineyard Carignan and well, you guessed the last one. This Pétaillat is a mere 15%, down from the 2015 at a mighty 16%. I’ve asked Manuel if that was a personal choice or one forced on him by the grapes and weather.

This evening I received an email from him checking everything was OK and including some drinking dates I had asked for. ‘It’s a personal thing, but I think the peak is when the wine hits a balance between finesse and jeunesse’ he said. Sounds good to me! I told you he was a nice guy. I also cherish the parcel tracking notes - ‘dropped off at Carrefour Market collection point.’ I bet you don’t get that from Chateau Figeac.

Manuel most definitely doesn’t make enough from making wine to drive round in a Ferrari or even a Porsche, but he loves doing it and the results are great. In my opinion this is what wine should be, not an investment commodity to be bought from a bankable château with the sole intention of selling on at a profit. The arrival of this wine and the prospect of drinking it has made me feel very happy.

I forgot to say, I love this post.
 
Well at least you tried it. I have found, though, that an apparent dislike for sour beers may in some cases be rooted in a mismatch between expectation and reality. Your brain thinks ‘beer’ and that carries certain expectations, few of which are met in sour beers.
In my case, it is probable that at the first hint of extreme sourness my brain tries to warn me off. Very sour or acid beers, or very very dry wines have unpleasant effects on my stomach.
 
Here’s another VRY ANNOYING note frm CT rgdng a wine I HAVE jst bought w/rndm sprnkls of ABBREVS and upr cse. 89/91.3 (Mchbnks, astringent pucker, 7/’20)

P: Med, poss MF, body; RNDISH entry with NICE, almost swtish frt met by a bit of astringent pucker which pretty much holds into & through the LONG, BITTER/swt (60:40) finish with ULT a balanced pleasantness starting to show. An intense Rosé that NEEDS 6-12 mos (& food), then drinking into '24? My VG+ (88,89/100 using that metric) currently, but I suspect more down the line. 91 pts ea Vinous (Raynolds, 6/’20) & i-winereview.com, and 90 ea Dunnuck (3/’20) & WE (9/1/20). [This vendor's $17.95 puts it in the TOP 1/3 of wine-searcher's fairly limited entries.]
 
Marchbanks old fellow, I agree you may be a tad irascible when the occasion warrants it, but I'd never describe you as an astringent pucker.
 
Marchbanks I'm fairly sure you do not have room in your car for anymore bottles. Throw the rosé overboard first.
 
My last delivery from BBR had a faked-up postcard inside, attempting to convince me that a 'staycation' could be made enjoyable with some (more) of their fine wines.
 
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