JensenHealey
pfm Member
Lotsa money for those! - but the style was never cheap - for obvious reasons - nothing to do with fashion or demand or Chinese buyers either!
Christmas Wine
- Thread starter eternumviti
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blossomchris
I feel better than James Brown
She recommends this
at Morrisons
https://groceries.morrisons.com/products/vinus-by-paul-masmalbec-287473011
I have indulged in his Languedoc rouge and Blanc, enjoyed and both excellent vfm imo
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Today’s chevauchée was a late night affair. A couple of days before their wine fair starts, Carrefour Market invite a select group of folk in at 8pm for first dibs. Happily I managed to worm my way in too, grabbed half-a-dozen Guigal Crozes-Hermitage (13.50€) and half-a-dozen old favourite Costières de Nîmes (1.92€, never got it that cheaply before). Then pausing only to cash a 10€ voucher, get 5% on my loyalty card and a couple of corkscrews and bottle stoppers as free gifts for turning up, came back to base.
It was after 9pm, so bread, cheese and a little salad was in order. I thought my crazy-expensive Philippe Olivier cheese (see above) deserved something a little special, so I opened one of the number of bottles that BTC3 had very generously given me when he came to lunch a few weeks ago and that I had re-imported to France.
Heady Gewürz aromas almost seemed to fill the kitchen as soon as the cork was pulled, and in the glass it has a really fabulous richness, almost to a VT level. I’m going to have to put the brakes on, or the whole bottle could go. Glorious, 5 on the Marchbanks scale. Thank you very much, Mr.3.
By the way, that is a Capuchin monk harvesting grapes on the label, and not a nod towards a Led Zeppelin album cover. If he were wearing a trilby he’d be a dead ringer for me.
It was after 9pm, so bread, cheese and a little salad was in order. I thought my crazy-expensive Philippe Olivier cheese (see above) deserved something a little special, so I opened one of the number of bottles that BTC3 had very generously given me when he came to lunch a few weeks ago and that I had re-imported to France.
Heady Gewürz aromas almost seemed to fill the kitchen as soon as the cork was pulled, and in the glass it has a really fabulous richness, almost to a VT level. I’m going to have to put the brakes on, or the whole bottle could go. Glorious, 5 on the Marchbanks scale. Thank you very much, Mr.3.
By the way, that is a Capuchin monk harvesting grapes on the label, and not a nod towards a Led Zeppelin album cover. If he were wearing a trilby he’d be a dead ringer for me.
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@Marchbanks Glad it was still OK! What do you mean by VT, by the way?
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Rather more than OK! I meant Vendage Tardive - it certainly has the richness I associate with late harvest wines. But of course there’s no reason the grapes shouldn’t have been harvested late anyway without going as far as being officially declared a VT - they told me at Ernest Burn that they often wonder if it is worth going through all the paperwork and repeated inspections of the wine’s alcohol and sugar levels that the Alsace wine authorities insist on just so they can slap two extra words on the label.
eternumviti
Insufficient privileges to reply.
I've got a customer who is hooching through Bruno Sorg's Sylvaner Vieilles Vignes, a wine I've never sold much of before. Like uncle Marchbanks and one or two others here, most of my currently booming numbers of Sorg customers visit the Domaine regularly, and know the family. The Domaine is tiny, but the wines are brilliant.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
My third Jeff Carrel bottle in the last couple of months and the third feeling of vague disappointment. All drinkable, but all three have been overly tannic and rather thin to my taste. At least this one (6.45€ from Calais Vins) wasn’t overoaked like the others were. Perhaps they have all been too young - I hope so, I really don’t want the whole Jeff Carrel thing to be just a marketing triumph, and he does seem to be a fine self-publicist. But IMO you can get better wines cheaper in a French supermarket. Bof.
OK, you grumpy old sod - give us an example!
My pleasure!
richardg
Admonishtrator
many thanks, i will add him to my list...
My third Jeff Carrel bottle in the last couple of months and the third feeling of vague disappointment. All drinkable, but all three have been overly tannic and rather thin to my taste. At least this one (6.45€ from Calais Vins) wasn’t overoaked like the others were. Perhaps they have all been too young - I hope so, I really don’t want the whole Jeff Carrel thing to be just a marketing triumph, and he does seem to be a fine self-publicist. But IMO you can get better wines cheaper in a French supermarket. Bof.
OK, you grumpy old sod - give us an example!
My pleasure!
I don't even know what 'the whole Jeff Carrel thing' is. A new name on several different wines, a shouty label ?
I'll take your word and avoid.
I believe wines can be upgraded by a new generation taking over (preferably with formative experience in another country); and/or investment in the winery; and/or advice from a proven expert in similar wines; or passionate new winemakers with experience starting their own vineyard but in all cases a quiet emphasis on the health of the vineyard itself.
rolleyes
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Just returned from a beer sortie into Belgium. I stopped off at Lidl Hazebrouck on the way back where this was on sale for 4€. Two of the ways you can make me buy a bottle are to reduce the price to a fraction of its real value or to give it a name that unintentionally appeals to my puerile side. Should taste OK too, I reckon.
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Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
I’ll assume that is a rhetorical question!
Found it now. Mymi Thesingingsommelier describes it as: 'brilliant ruby red color with nice thick legs.'
You will enjoy it with your famous bavette.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
I found Mymi, but couldn’t see her opinion without signing in. She looks a jolly soul, though. Perhaps I should introduce myself to her as Marchbanks Thebiliousbeardie.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Mymi may well be right - she looks lovely and I’d hate to disagree - but sadly the Biliousbeardie didn’t really get that far (he tastes first and asks questions later). Arse by name and arse by nature was his immediate and final thought. Some has gone in tonight’s pot.
Marchbanks
Hat and Beard member
Me? Twitter? I hope you are joking...
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