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Christmas Wine II

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I can see that. It’s starting to get expensive even with 25% discount. Still a good wine. I treat myself to a couple of cases of Amarone from Waitrose. Blockbuster of a wine. Bought 12 masi conteserra amarone and 12 Tommasi amarone.

I’ve a few cases of penfolds St Henri and RWT that I must try.

Lovely wine St Henri. Or it was when the price was £25, instead of the £75 it is today.
 
Penfolds prices have gone mad. Good wines, some great wines but no longer value for money. 35 for Bin 28. No thanks.
 
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The first of a projected 15 bottles designed to celebrate my passing into old age in a fortnight. This is the first of five from the Mitjavile clan and as this is the entry level offering it bodes well for the others. 85% Merlot and 15% CF by all accounts, it’s lovely. Intensely fragrant, even as the chill of the night sets in. Definitely not an ‘austere’ claret, if that’s your bag. If it isn’t, try one. Around £16 from Vinatis if memory serves.

I also rather like the font on the label, which looks like an approximation to Gill Sans. Makes me think Le Versant might be a station on the Northern Line*.

*memory playing tricks again. I thought Johnston was replaced by Gill Sans on the Underground - in fact the font used now is New Johnston. In my defence, they are all quite similar. But I thought I’d better correct myself before I’m pulled in by the Font Police.
 
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Another Vinatis purchase and very enjoyable with a roast chicken and Lyonnaise potatoes. My Mrs said it had some aroma of the Gewürztraminer we had yesterday and she’s right, a floral nose to complement the flavour.

 


Went a bit mental yesterday finished a rosé then
had the above,excuse is stuck at home with ill cat.
Les vins de Vienne (vinatis)
 
Jeex is the party over at Vinatis ,hike in all their prices.Glad I snagged a couple of the Pradeaux Bandol rosé.Some stuff up over £3+ bottle.
Ba*tards.
 
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2001 Lafaurie-Peyraguey. Robert Parker gives it 96 (which I think these days means ‘pretty good’) but Neal Martin (who he?) only gives it 92 (I think that translates as ‘barely worth getting your corkscrew out’.)

RP says ‘full-bodied, opulent, enormously endowed’ and NM reckons ‘medium-bodied with a viscous opening.’ Blimey, Freud would have a field day with these sexually-repressed wine critics.

Neal also believes there is ‘great tension here’ so I spoke to it softly in an attempt to relax it before pulling the cork. It seemed to work, because it’s rather fine. Basically liquid Seville marmalade with a bit of honey and grapefruit. That may not sound like the sort of wine you want to drink, and indeed I wouldn’t want to every night. But suitably chilled it’s a beautiful thing to sip with and after some Blacksticks Blue and runny Brie, sitting outside on a warm night listening to Dr John singing lasciviously about Brain Salad. (I’m sure Robert and Neal would get excited by that.)
 
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No. 3 - Saint Cosme Saint-Joseph 2015. The necessary reference to three in the picture is provided by a trio of photographs by @Lefty that I admired at his exhibition. He was kind enough to print copies for me despite their not being officially available, and they arrived today. They look fantastic and I hope they will be hanging in the Great Hall once the funding for the new roof has come through.

The 2015 vintage marked my return to serious wine-buying after a decade or more away. My first EP purchases were this and Beaucastel (not yet tried) so it has a certain sentimental value. It’s a négociant wine, SC being Gigondas-based, but still rather good. This was the second bottle I have opened of six and it definitely improved after being open for a couple of hours. I don’t think there’s any rush to drink the remainder. It’s a shame it is impossible to buy this stuff when it’s mature - not everyone is willing or able to buy on release and store/arrange storage.

Tonight’s entertainment is provided by Vivian Stanshall. Programme two of his Radio Flashes, dating from 1971. It’s a tradition at the Towers to listen to them all at least once on warm evenings outside every summer. I know huge chunks by heart now, but it makes no difference, it’s still glorious. Tonight we had the Scottish art teacher. “Last week we talked about perspective. That seems a long way off. A wee joke of mine. We had a great response to last week’s competition ‘Paint Mummy’. Mostly from Mummies asking “how do I get it off?” Well, you can try rubbers. I always carry a pack in me sporran. Or turps. That’s the answer to most things... (slurping noises) ...aye, it’s no bad...”

I hope Lefty doesn’t feel too worried about sharing the table with two blokes of questionable sanity. At least there’s a very fine bottle of wine too.
 
@Marchbanks - not worried at all, pleased to he invited to the table :) Although I feel I'm out of my depth here when it comes to wine knowledge and appreciation! (I am taking notes).

Thanks for the mention and I now have this thread bookmarked ;)

Amar (aka Lefty)
 
Well that prompted me to open a bottle of my 4 year old Catena today. We got through it OK, there's something really likeable about it, it won't be a problem to finish off the other half dozen. But it is mineral, sharp, gooseberries, with very little buttery-ness to counteract, and in my opinion it has zero sobremesa capability, as BTC3 would probably say. That being said, as I say, I am looking forward to the rest, a slightly masochist tendency maybe, which also impels me to Rieslings. Marchbanks should keep off this wine I think.

Yesterday we had another, I opened the bottle at 7 in the morning and decanted it, and then had it with lunch at about 2. It made such a dramatic positive improvement to the wine that I’m quite inclined to believe that Catena Chardonnay is just not consistent! Anyway, I now know what to do.
 
I’ve decided to terminate my birthday bottle sub-thread early. No-one else seems particularly interested, and that’s fair enough - it was rather presumptuous of me to assume that others would care about my self-indulgence. In addition, I’ll probably enjoy the wine more if I don’t have to make up some rubbish to write!

So here’s a group shot of eight of the remaining twelve. The other four are TBC, but probably a Huet, a Burn VT, a Montus La Tyre and a l’Aurage. Cheers!

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I’ve decided to terminate my birthday bottle sub-thread early. No-one else seems particularly interested, and that’s fair enough - it was rather presumptuous of me to assume that others would care about my self-indulgence. In addition, I’ll probably enjoy the wine more if I don’t have to make up some rubbish to write!

So here’s a group shot of eight of the remaining twelve. The other four are TBC, but probably a Huet, a Burn VT, a Montus La Tyre and a l’Aurage. Cheers!

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And cheers to you too!
 
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