Nonsense: go to vfm red IMO. Can't remember the '15 but I'm sure it was OK. The '16 is really good and I should have bought more. The '17 slightly below that.
Christmas Wine II
- Thread starter Dogberry
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Nonsense: go to vfm red IMO. Can't remember the '15 but I'm sure it was OK. The '16 is really good and I should have bought more. The '17 slightly below that.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Careful. Walls have ears. You don’t want to find a horse’s head in your bed, do you?
Dogberry
pfm Member
Testa di cavallo is that a regional variation,?
Any head would be a bonus these days.
Dogberry
pfm Member
What's happening here?
I know Lord @Marchbanks is busy at the Yule joust
when he gets to decapitate a few of the serfs.
I know Lord @Marchbanks is busy at the Yule joust
when he gets to decapitate a few of the serfs.
andrew d
pfm Member
Bought a few cases via the Majestic Fayne Wayne offer. Unfortunately my local store could only offer up 2 of these..Catena Zapata 'Catena Alta' Malbec 2018, Mendoza
Sorry to see that the French don't want le Rosbif darkening their doors for the foreseeable. Had hoped to pop over but that'll have to wait.
Sorry to see that the French don't want le Rosbif darkening their doors for the foreseeable. Had hoped to pop over but that'll have to wait.
The Rt Hon Lord @Marchbanks stopped by on his way home from ransacking French wine retailers. He kindly brought food and drink from civilisation so these two (the Blot was fresh off the boat, the Milamore was from home stock) accompanied “polpette al sugo” served simply with bread that was also fresh off the boat.
The Blot is very interesting: champagne with next to none of the acidity and bite, but all the smooth butteriness that goes with a good Chenin. The Milamore is a Malbec/Cab blend, made in the Amarone style. Lighter and sweeter than you’d expect from the blend, but tasty, and it goes with tomato sauce, meatballs, Parmesan, and baguette.
guey
pfm Member
Delicious PN in a non Burgundy kind of way.
Got a couple of those in the rack.
The Parcel series Sonoma PN was excellent too (sadly, not seen it on the last few visits though)
Opened Heredia Bosconia 2008 yesterday. Never had it before IIRC: seems quite light and a little hard going for a rioja. 13.5% is a relief. Despite the age not sure if it has reached its best yet... will try again today.
Interval......
Much more enjoyable on the second day so yet another wine to keep a year or two. Old school Rioja lasts but still slightly surprising as already 13 years...
Don't have many Spanish wines so happy to buy this one again.
Interval......
Much more enjoyable on the second day so yet another wine to keep a year or two. Old school Rioja lasts but still slightly surprising as already 13 years...
Don't have many Spanish wines so happy to buy this one again.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
I have some myself, not tried as yet. But as it was only released fairly recently I guess it is theoretically right at the beginning of its drinking window.
I believe - @eternumviti might be able to help here - that Riojas can keep quite well. I think the Tondonia 2005/7/8 is drinking well around now; some of the Murrietas, Mugas, and certainly Ygays that are older than that are superb. A poor reference, but one that has stuck in my mind, was a bottle of ‘66 CVNE Imperial that was laid down for me to be drunk in 1995. Kept in a pantry in our flat in Madrid for the duration, it was delicious when we drank it in 1995 - rather piqued my interest in older wines…
Sometime last year wasn't it ? But I have noted to do the full MB Vigorous Decant next time.
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Dogberry
pfm Member
Wine books ,is it a dead art?Had a few Ray,Roswell gave them away.I guess the internet is the most up to date.Or maybe wine in literature.
"I swallowed the stuff. For a moment I felt as if somebody had touched off a bomb inside the old bean and was strolling down my throat with a lighted torch, and then everything seemed suddenly to get all right." Jeeves.
"I swallowed the stuff. For a moment I felt as if somebody had touched off a bomb inside the old bean and was strolling down my throat with a lighted torch, and then everything seemed suddenly to get all right." Jeeves.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
A morning sorting out the week’s booty. A successful and enjoyable trip. Reclamation of VAT on the border went well - I wandered into the customs office and gave the douanier my forms. ‘Please bring the goods in, I need to see them’ he said. ‘But last time the douanier came out to my car’ I pleaded, and followed it up with my best ‘surely you can see I’m a decrepit old man who can barely put one foot in front of the other, let alone carry fifteen bottles of wine a hundred metres’ expression. He got every nuance (learning to express yourself from behind a mask by just raising and lowering your eyebrows correctly is very worthwhile), sighed, stamped my forms, handed them back and dismissed me. Border control customs were absent yet again, so I still don’t know if the absolute limit is 24 or 36 bottles of wine. I know it isn’t 41 though, which is the number I had on board.
Then a slow meander back via a sort of relay of pfm members. First a cup of tea with @foxwelljsly, then a collection of a eBay-purchased hifi rack in Tunbridge Wells, on to pick up some speakers from @Whaleblue in a Majestic car park (naturally), then to a PCR test appointment at Heathrow, a small detour for an imprecation near Hatfield (my Great Aunt Hilda taught me some of the black arts many years ago. I’m a bit rusty but still quite effective) before collapsing chez @BTC3 and being revived with fine food and drink (see above.) Many thanks to all of the above.
The VAT rebates came through today - the Penfolds Bin 389 finally cost me £29.90/bottle, various Jacky Blot Montlouis £15-£16 and JPB’s Morgon Cote de Py just over £12. Not bad, not bad at all.
Last night I discovered I still had a dozen bottles of Guigal CdR 2015. I remember opening the bottle around 8.30pm and enjoying the first sip. The next thing I knew it was bedtime and nearly three-quarters of the bottle had gone. I guess this means my thoughts on the stuff are more in line with those of @wacko rather than the Italian CT reviewer I quoted above.
Then a slow meander back via a sort of relay of pfm members. First a cup of tea with @foxwelljsly, then a collection of a eBay-purchased hifi rack in Tunbridge Wells, on to pick up some speakers from @Whaleblue in a Majestic car park (naturally), then to a PCR test appointment at Heathrow, a small detour for an imprecation near Hatfield (my Great Aunt Hilda taught me some of the black arts many years ago. I’m a bit rusty but still quite effective) before collapsing chez @BTC3 and being revived with fine food and drink (see above.) Many thanks to all of the above.
The VAT rebates came through today - the Penfolds Bin 389 finally cost me £29.90/bottle, various Jacky Blot Montlouis £15-£16 and JPB’s Morgon Cote de Py just over £12. Not bad, not bad at all.
Last night I discovered I still had a dozen bottles of Guigal CdR 2015. I remember opening the bottle around 8.30pm and enjoying the first sip. The next thing I knew it was bedtime and nearly three-quarters of the bottle had gone. I guess this means my thoughts on the stuff are more in line with those of @wacko rather than the Italian CT reviewer I quoted above.
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Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
I think it’s worse than that. If you do declare, they charge you on the entire purchase. If you don’t declare, presumably confiscation and a fine. But as far as I can see, at the tunnel at least, there is not red/green channel system so any declaration can only be made if you are hauled in for an inspection.
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