Christmas Wine II
- Thread starter Dogberry
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Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
From L&W...
‘Here’s one of the best Italian reds that £13.50 a bottle in bond will buy you: the 2018 Morellino di Scansano Riserva from Fattoria Le Pupille.
‘Monica Larner gives this 93 points, noting, “This is a solid, mid-weight red that boasts a very pretty and vibrant bouquet. There are floral notes and wild cherry capped by graphite or pencil shavings. The wine reveals a lovely, dark garnet color in the glass, and some of that oak spice comes out as well.”
‘And James Suckling gives 94 points, writing, “A beautiful Morellino with sweet berry and cherry character and hints of chocolate and walnuts.”
‘Elisabetta Geppetti inherited her family estate in 1985 with an ambition to produce world class wines. By 1992 she was elected the first female president of the local winemakers’ consortium, so great was her success.
‘She’s best known for Saffredi: a Super-Tuscan that should be seen as one of the region’s greatest wines. Monica Larner has awarded the 2018 Saffredi 96 points.’
Dear L&W
I see you also stock the Saffredi, at £60/bottle. As, unlike me, you obviously believe in this silly points nonsense, please can you tell me why I should be interested in paying four times as much for something that is only 2-3 points better?
Yours,
Uncle Marchbanks (a cynic when it comes to marketing exercises.)
PS It’s obviously no good because you haven’t used the word ‘stunning’ once. And why doesn’t it have any crunchy fruit or silky tannins?
‘Here’s one of the best Italian reds that £13.50 a bottle in bond will buy you: the 2018 Morellino di Scansano Riserva from Fattoria Le Pupille.
‘Monica Larner gives this 93 points, noting, “This is a solid, mid-weight red that boasts a very pretty and vibrant bouquet. There are floral notes and wild cherry capped by graphite or pencil shavings. The wine reveals a lovely, dark garnet color in the glass, and some of that oak spice comes out as well.”
‘And James Suckling gives 94 points, writing, “A beautiful Morellino with sweet berry and cherry character and hints of chocolate and walnuts.”
‘Elisabetta Geppetti inherited her family estate in 1985 with an ambition to produce world class wines. By 1992 she was elected the first female president of the local winemakers’ consortium, so great was her success.
‘She’s best known for Saffredi: a Super-Tuscan that should be seen as one of the region’s greatest wines. Monica Larner has awarded the 2018 Saffredi 96 points.’
Dear L&W
I see you also stock the Saffredi, at £60/bottle. As, unlike me, you obviously believe in this silly points nonsense, please can you tell me why I should be interested in paying four times as much for something that is only 2-3 points better?
Yours,
Uncle Marchbanks (a cynic when it comes to marketing exercises.)
PS It’s obviously no good because you haven’t used the word ‘stunning’ once. And why doesn’t it have any crunchy fruit or silky tannins?
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^ apparently it is a 50 point scale. Sort of:
50-69 Flawed
70-79 Below average
80-84 Average
85-89 Above average
90-95 Outstanding
96-100 Finest wines in peer group
Plenty of gradations for flawed or just plain rubbish !
In practice the majority of points I've seen quoted are between 88-93. Another example of grade creep.
Some people have become rich from reviewing...I reckon Uncle MB could have a new career.
I imagine there is at least one full time job in L&W whose sole purpose is to unearth quotes or write something/anything to encourage us to buy.
50-69 Flawed
70-79 Below average
80-84 Average
85-89 Above average
90-95 Outstanding
96-100 Finest wines in peer group
Plenty of gradations for flawed or just plain rubbish !
In practice the majority of points I've seen quoted are between 88-93. Another example of grade creep.
Some people have become rich from reviewing...I reckon Uncle MB could have a new career.
I imagine there is at least one full time job in L&W whose sole purpose is to unearth quotes or write something/anything to encourage us to buy.
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mandryka
pfm Member
Just bought a pile of stuff from this company
The General Wine Company Shipper Merchant West Sussex Hampshire Surrey
Basically I know the owner's wife, and one thing lead to another, I sent them a list of wines I've been enjoying recently and asked them if they've got anything they think I may like, I think I said max £30 a bottle, and they came up with a list of eight wines for less than £120. These
Anyway I'll post if there's anything interesting in the batch.
Villa Wolf, Riesling 2020, says dry on the bottle but tastes a bit sweet to me - and not totally naturally sweet either. Drinkable without a lot of pleasure, without a lot of pain either, but probably not a bad price at £12, for those who like it. Put it like this, I don’t feel tempted to polish off the bit that’s left in the bottle, but a glass or two was OK with lunch.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
I think it might be the last day of 25% off at Waitrose Cellar, and there are some wines there that you can’t buy in store. If I wasn’t already overspent I’d be getting some of these. I haven’t tasted Jacky Blot’s whites myself, but his reds from Bourgeuil are excellent and his reputation in Montlouis is even better. The blessed Jancis called him a magician...
https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/magician-montlouis
(of course, you aren’t allowed to read what she thinks unless you pay her lots of money, but you get the idea.)
So if you fancy lashing out £20 go on, prove me wrong.
https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/magician-montlouis
(of course, you aren’t allowed to read what she thinks unless you pay her lots of money, but you get the idea.)
So if you fancy lashing out £20 go on, prove me wrong.
Dogberry
pfm Member
Is it well knit?
Bob McC
Living the life of Riley
Too late for the Waitrose online deals unless you can get delivery today.
They price goods at time of packing, not when ordered, so if not delivered today the offer will have ended.
I piled in twice with this deal because I also had codes each time for a further £10 off an £80 spend.
Dogberry
pfm Member
https://www.waitrosecellar.com/
Order here till9/11
Order here till9/11
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
At Waitrose Cellar? None of my vouchers have ever been valid there. Although I did have some £8 off £40 to use in store or at Waitrose.com.
The Waitrose Cellar website let me pretend to place an order just now with 25% off, delivery on Thursday to my local store. I think it’s worth going for it if you want some - they can only say no. I don’t think they will though.
mandryka
pfm Member
The good news is that I've just proved you wrong about that in the cellar!
(Oh, I can see we're all piling in to prove you wrong, sorry.)
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
I wasn’t trying to prove anybody wrong, I simply didn’t want folk to miss out on an offer that was still valid when they were told it wasn’t. Especially if it meant their not getting some Jacky Blot Montlouis (only four bottles left in stock when I pretended to buy some just now.)
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mandryka
pfm Member
I just can't win. Whatever I say today upsets someone. As usual . . . I’m going to get pissed now.
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Bob McC
Living the life of Riley
You infantile twat.
mandryka
pfm Member
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Not upset in the slightest! Although if you want to use me as an excuse, that’s fine by me.
Dogberry
pfm Member
Not on that Riesling I hope.
mandryka
pfm Member
The Riesling is going in the squid and tomato stew tomorrow.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
But did you buy any Montlouis?
Dogberry
pfm Member
Why would you?
A chenin blanc from the Loire that "could easily be mistaken for a great dry Burgundy." That seems a bizarre description.
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