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Christmas Wine II

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I’m addition to the good Riojas mentioned above, we* have tasted Marqués de Riscal over the years, following a recommendation from a Spanish colleague in the late 90s (either Reserva or Gran Reserva). It went through a bit of a bad patch 10-15 years ago (sort of thin) but now seems to be making a comeback.

*my wife is the real Rioja aficionada

“Thin” is exactly the word to describe my experience with a Tondonia 2008. I’d assumed they needed more time so I shoved them into a dark corner in the cellar to be forgotten about for another 10 years. But maybe 2008 was just a bad vintage. The experience put me off riojas a bit actually.
 
^^ Alion is probably the best Spanish wine I have had.
Waitrose have a good Muga.
I have Bosconia 2008 not Tondonia. Not sure I would describe it as thin, although 2008 is known as a 'cool' vintage. Did you give it enough air ?
 
^^ Alion is probably the best Spanish wine I have had.
Waitrose have a good Muga.
I have Bosconia 2008 not Tondonia. Not sure I would describe it as thin, although 2008 is known as a 'cool' vintage. Did you give it enough air ?

I guess so, it was open for two days. It was perfectly drinkable and very characterful, for all I know it's supposed to taste like that!
 
At the start of lockdown I was introduced to a wine from Madrid. I was born and brought up there, and at the time the wine was rough, not to say rubbish. However, this stuff, from Bodegas Licinia was eye opening. I sent @Marchbanks a bottle to try, and he might remember whether it was worth chasing down?

It is. My deliberately terse CT review says ‘excellent’ but I posted a full ramble
here should anyone wish to see it.
 
^^ Alion is probably the best Spanish wine I have had.
Waitrose have a good Muga.
I have Bosconia 2008 not Tondonia. Not sure I would describe it as thin, although 2008 is known as a 'cool' vintage. Did you give it enough air ?
I’m a big fan of Alión. I have various vintages up to 2011 or 12, and so confidently ordered a bottle of it at one of the Hawksmoor places, with a customer, a ‘15 was brought to the table. It was thin and insipid, so we called over the sommelier for an opinion on whether it was dodgy or we were just not tasting it properly. Som agreed it didn’t taste right, so brought another one, and another one, one more for luck, and a bottle of Ygay. I forget what year it was, but he gave us the bottle at the price of Alión, and we split the difference on the second bottle. I seem to recall Ygay being in the £40isb range in the ‘90s, not the £100+ they seem to be now, but they are great.
On ageing, the oldest wine I’ve tasted was ‘25 Ygay. I can only describe it as brown wine, it it was delicious. As was the bottle of ‘66 CVNE Imperial we opened in ‘95; also brown, but perfectly quaffable. So they can age!
 
^ Not sure of the vintage as I drank the Alion about 8 years ago before I was even on CT. I suspect they were 2002-05. I got them direct from Spain and remember waiting with some trepidation...Ygay too expensive at £140 retail so I'll swerve on that.
Off to Italy this week for a while so using it as an excuse to open a Roc de Cambes today.
edit: second bottle of Roc didn't impress as much as the first. Definitely prefer my Musar 1998 (or 2003) which costs less.
Since MB and Dogberry always have impeccable music with their wine I will go sentimental with thinking of a place. Need a clue ? White falcon. No it is not jazz.
 
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Burgaud’s Vignes de Lantignié 2019. Not bad. Less fruity but a little more complex than Ronsay (which is cheaper) but not as good as l’Ancien (which is the same price.) That’s all you need to know really - and I didn’t mention silky tannins, crunchy fruit or any kind of number. Eat your heart out, Jeb.

This was paired with Slapp Happy’s Desperate Straights, thanks to the Hat thread and the album’s opening track.
 
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Been on hols in Croatia and wasn't sure what to expect. Plenty of Plavac Mali in the supermarket and restaurants, very moreish! The £5-£10 range was very acceptable and pushing the boat out at £15 this was a veritable bargain!
 
Scorchio here.
Good value ,full of flavour.

I like Marcarini, I keep the wines sometimes. I had a beautiful bottle of their Dolcetto in a brilliant backstreet restaurant in Alba just before the pandemic. Family run, no menu, shared tables, as good as it gets.
 
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I like Marcarini, I keep the wines sometimes. I had a beautiful bottle of their Dolcetto in a brilliant backstreet restaurant in Alba just before the pandemic. Family run, no menu, shared tables, as good as it gets.

From my "extensive " wine library I can tell you that MB(the other MB) had a bottle of Dolcetto d'Alba Fontannaza Marcarini 1998 with Angelo Gaga
at their favourite restaurant di Cesari in Piedmont.Deep,velvety,good fruit,attractive despite its youthfulness.Nov.1999.
 
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I had been expecting a Burn night, but I was overruled. “Chemise rose, vin rosé” Gaston explained. “And the chauve-souris are flying tonight.” I was a little taken aback. Was this some kind of biodynamic thing? He wasn’t saying. I think my new sommelier may be somewhere in a triangle bounded by David Lynch, Brian Eno and Captain Beefheart.

Anyway, the Joguet Rosé 2019 is excellent. Nicely forceful and acidic with a good taste of pear drop fruitiness. Only one left, which is sad.

This was paired earlier with Mingus’ In Europe Vol II. I discovered it on my HDD tonight and don’t know how it got there (officer.) But it is fantastic, and now I want to hear Vol I, which I don't seem to have, er, well - have.
 
I want to get a delivery from Morrisons but I can’t get the order up to their £40 minimum. Has anyone had any good experiences with their wine?
 
I want to get a delivery from Morrisons but I can’t get the order up to their £40 minimum. Has anyone had any good experiences with their wine?

Their Gewürztraminer stands out for around a tenner, especially with their buy three get 25% off offer (so buy six) but I do acknowledge it’s a bit niche for food pairing.
 
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