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Christmas Wine

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I don't know. I get foxed by some of the supermarket wines, particularly Aldi/Lidl, who put heart and sould into their selections at this time of year. When you consider that in a £5 bottle of wine such an enormous lump of it is tax, I don't know how they sell it at such low prices. Most of these parcels come from some of the better co-operatives, and negociants with stock to sell. Standards can be pretty good by all accounts.

This year I've had 2010 grand cru white pessac and 2010 clos du Marquis from lidl at £15 a pop which is just ludicrous value. Didn't last until Christmas, but we have to hide the good wine from the other side of the family anyway...
 
I always like something a bit special with the festive rich flavoured food so I opened a bottle of my Chateau Soutard 2000 St Emillion Grand Cru AOC. Went well with my stuffed partridge.

I bought this and other year 2000 wines En Primeur 18 years ago! Just one more case left.

Cheers,

DV
 
Billecart-Salmon brut sous bois with pre-meal snacks; Hirsch San Andreas Cab Sauv, Yarra Yerring dry red no2 with the meal (porchetta style turkey); some rather old PX sherry for dessert/cheese and biscuits later.
It's been a fun day!
 
Marsala sipped from a plastic Disney beaker whilst cooking and a nice glass of something red that my Dad brought (probably a Daily Telegraph recommendation)
 
The result from a group of friends on a well refreshed birthday weekend in Levernois.

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Rion's good, a Nuits- based grower. Handled over here by a subsidiary of BBR. I should imagine that 2010 was fabulous. Did you actually go to the Hospices sale?

This year I've had 2010 grand cru white pessac and 2010 clos du Marquis from lidl at £15 a pop which is just ludicrous value. Didn't last until Christmas, but we have to hide the good wine from the other side of the family anyway...

Clos du Marquis 2010 would normally be about £40 a pop!
 
Rion's good, a Nuits- based grower. Handled over here by a subsidiary of BBR. I should imagine that 2010 was fabulous. Did you actually go to the Hospices sale?

Sadly not, but many of our group did. The results have been very enjoyable.
 
This year I've had 2010 grand cru white pessac and 2010 clos du Marquis from lidl at £15 a pop which is just ludicrous value. Didn't last until Christmas, but we have to hide the good wine from the other side of the family anyway...
Do Lidl sell premium quality wines? The dearest I could find on their site was a box of Chateau Chunder

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...and even dearer up here.
 
They do in the Peckham store, which sounds unlikely until you consider that half of Peckham is basically Dulwich.
 
We don't do Christmas Traditions at all here, so with the roast lamb last night there was a bottle of Haut-Marbuzet 2000. Very nice too. Tonight, with roast lamb phase II there will be (maybe upping the ante slightly) Lagrange 2000.

I've already decided which wines should help us celebrate the end of 2018 (I think that's a better way of putting it than the start of 2019)

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I last tried these about five years ago. They were stupendous. Of course, it's possible they are now past their best, but then that goes for me too. I've still got a few bottles of 1995 Dioterie left as well - by all accounts they still have a little life left in them.

I remember buying these at the vineyard in the 90s. I always looked forward to visiting, the tastings being supervised by M. Joguet's manager with a bottle in one hand and a cheroot in the other. On this occasion he gave me a sample of the Dioterie 1990 virtually straight out of the cask and told me it was going to be a very, very special wine indeed. I seem to remember it tasted like industrial strength black tea that had banana peel dipped in it. I made a mental note to leave the tasting of young wine to others in future but bought six bottles anyway. Good decision.

I met M. Joguet once at a wine fair. He was great fun, nearly as wobbly as I was. A few years ago I revisited the same fair and asked after him. I was pleased to hear he was living in happy retirement near the vineyard and still indulging his passions for sculpting and writing poetry.

BTW if you ever stumble across any Joguet Chinon Rosé, grab it. It is wonderful.
 
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Our tipple was some South African chocolate block red wine, & some Whitley Neil rhubarb & ginger gin with Fevertree along the way.
Still got a couple of the chocolate blocks left, along with a couple of Marques de Riscal Rioja for the next few days before the inevitably short lived drying out sensible period kicks in.
 
Wow, that's old for Chinon. Even when I lived around the corner it seldom came along over about 8 or 10 years old. The 95 and 96 years were spectacular for Loire reds.
 
Wow, that's old for Chinon. Even when I lived around the corner it seldom came along over about 8 or 10 years old. The 95 and 96 years were spectacular for Loire reds.

1989 and 1990 were spectacular for red and white. I’m sure I’ve already droned on about my Gaston Huet Vouvrays from those years - if you search for his name you’ll find it if I have. Those and the Joguets are on the list for drinking soon, not least because they are reaching ‘how much?!!’ prices and if I am ever tempted to sell wine I hate myself for it.
 
This year I've had 2010 grand cru white pessac and 2010 clos du Marquis from lidl at £15 a pop which is just ludicrous value. Didn't last until Christmas, but we have to hide the good wine from the other side of the family anyway...

15 squids for CdM!!! That’s beyond cheap. 2010 too!
,
 
1989 and 1990 were spectacular for red and white. I’m sure I’ve already droned on about my Gaston Huet Vouvrays from those years - if you search for his name you’ll find it if I have. Those and the Joguets are on the list for drinking soon, not least because they are reaching ‘how much?!!’ prices and if I am ever tempted to sell wine I hate myself for it.

Those Huet wines are just phenomenal... Some of the best drinks I've ever had - happy memories...
 
We don't do Christmas Traditions at all here, so with the roast lamb last night there was a bottle of Haut-Marbuzet 2000. Very nice too. Tonight, with roast lamb phase II there will be (maybe upping the ante slightly) Lagrange 2000.

I've already decided which wines should help us celebrate the end of 2018 (I think that's a better way of putting it than the start of 2019)

45748837924_a124d57b13_b.jpg


I last tried these about five years ago. They were stupendous. Of course, it's possible they are now past their best, but then that goes for me too. I've still got a few bottles of 1995 Dioterie left as well - by all accounts they still have a little life left in them.

I remember buying these at the vineyard in the 90s. I always looked forward to visiting, the tastings being supervised by M. Joguet's manager with a bottle in one hand and a cheroot in the other. On this occasion he gave me a sample of the Dioterie 1990 virtually straight out of the cask and told me it was going to be a very, very special wine indeed. I seem to remember it tasted like industrial strength black tea that had banana peel dipped in it. I made a mental note to leave the tasting of young wine to others in future but bought six bottles anyway. Good decision.

I met M. Joguet once at a wine fair. He was great fun, nearly as wobbly as I was. A few years ago I revisited the same fair and asked after him. I was pleased to hear he was living in happy retirement near the vineyard and still indulging his passions for sculpting and writing poetry.

Impressive and the cellar is very nice too ! Which Guigal is in the box ? Where do you usually buy from in the UK ?
 
Young Chateau du Tertre here and i'm tempted to leave the rest another five years.

Started with a magnum of Roederer, light and not too acid for a breakfast wine.

We seem to be in a gin mode at the moment so substantial quantities went down before lunch.

Delicious bottle of Doisy Daene with pud then a couple of rounds of Espresso martinis to sharpen things up.

I drank the port on Sunday night so Monday was a slow one.
 
Impressive and the cellar is very nice too ! Which Guigal is in the box ? Where do you usually buy from in the UK ?

The Guigal box holds a dozen CdR 2015 bought during the Carrefour Sept wine fair for 6€95/bottle. I generally only buy en primeur wine in the UK, except for the occasional splurge in a supermarket if there is a 25% off Cloudy Bay type offer. And after reading this thread I will be keeping an eye open in Lidl next year. Everything else comes from France in the back of my car. For en primeur last year I used the Wine Society, Tanners and House of Townend (Hull.)
 
The Guigal box holds a dozen CdR 2015 bought during the Carrefour Sept wine fair for 6€95/bottle. I generally only buy en primeur wine in the UK, except for the occasional splurge in a supermarket if there is a 25% off Cloudy Bay type offer. And after reading this thread I will be keeping an eye open in Lidl next year. Everything else comes from France in the back of my car. For en primeur last year I used the Wine Society, Tanners and House of Townend (Hull.)

Very sensible and very organised ! You may need a new modus operandi after 29th March... But I suspect you have a large stock already.
 
You may need a new modus operandi after 29th March...

Absolutely not! Non illegitimi Brexiteeri carborundum and all that. I fully intend to continue, even if it means presenting my cheque book at the red channel on every return. (I haven’t mentioned this to my bank manager yet.) In fact, the 15% drop in sterling since referendum day has proved as costly for me as the possible £2.50/bottle hike after March, so I’ve had half the shock already. And sometimes I might get waved through, which will be a little bonus.

Having said all that I’m driving to Alsace at the end of January and fully intend to give the car’s suspension a thorough testing. That’s a trip that wouldn’t have been happening were it not for you-know-what.
 
If they've still got any in stock in a Lidl near where you live, their Canadian ice wine is well worth a go.
We had a bottle with dessert on Christmas day, and have another one sitting in the rack to go with blue cheese later.
Not exactly cheap at 14 quid a half bottle; but still cheaper than my friends in Canada can bring it over for.
 
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