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Christmas Wine

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For those who want to try a Musar there is a cheaper option at Waitrose: the Musar Aana reduced to £13.49 with the 25% discount.
It is a 2016, perhaps (knowing Waitrose plays fast and loose with vintage); so obviously designed to be drunk younger than big brother. I imagine the cork will hold together too :)
 
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Had a Rippon pinot noir in a restaurant this evening. The food and ambience hit the spot so it is difficult to separate the wine from that.
But in summary the wine was good but pretty expensive so not sure if I would buy it again.
Seems to be a common theme developing with NZ wine: not much is bad but not much hits it out the park either, but it is all fully priced as supply is limited apart from Sauv. Blanc.
 
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Tried a Naudé Chenin Blanc and didn't like it as much as the vague memory of Vouvray. In fact I found it a bit watery. But my last Vouvray was a demi-sec so maybe I'm comparing apples with oranges. France 1 SA 0 but OTOH I remember loving The FMC before it got expensive. And it depends on the food or whether there is food at all.
And then there is German riesling which is so well priced (at least kabinett and spatlese)...can you compare a riesling to a chenin blanc ?
 
2014 Massolino Barolo for us last night. Well structured, great flavour. Went well with re-runs of Frost on TV (and bread, cheese, cold meat, and pâté).
 
2014 Massolino Barolo for us last night. Well structured, great flavour. Went well with re-runs of Frost on TV (and bread, cheese, cold meat, and pâté).
I furrowed my brow for a while at that before realizing you meant Sir David Jason and not Sir David Frost. At least, I think so.

Cheapo (<5€) rosé for me tonight. Drinkable, but no more. I opened it to try with smoked salmon at lunchtime. It seemed a suitable fate to have to battle with the chilli tonight.
 
What do folks think of Naked Wines? I have a voucher and was wondering about it.
I tried them once when I was given a voucher the best part of a decade ago, I would guess. I thought the wines were worth roughly half the best list price, so if you can get that reduction with the voucher I’d say take a punt. I think others here hold them in higher esteem, so you might want to wait to hear from them!
 
I tried them once when I was given a voucher the best part of a decade ago, I would guess. I thought the wines were worth roughly half the best list price, so if you can get that reduction with the voucher I’d say take a punt. I think others here hold them in higher esteem, so you might want to wait to hear from them!

The voucher is for £75 and the deal they are pushing me to is a mixed case for £47 of my cost. Tempted to give it a go.
 
^ there is a lot about Naked on the web. They have split from Lay & Wheeler and Majestic. Naked for online, Majestic for the shops and L&W for fyne wine as MB would say.
I don't like the idea of a mixed case or not choosing my own wine as they inevitably have to shift some stuff which is not selling well.
IMO supporting a good local independent wine merchant is always the best option as, if you are lucky, you build a rapport and they know your tastes and can advise.
With the occasional splurge on supermarket wine if they have interesting offers. But it is not easy to sort the wheat from the chaff: many wines are marketed to be discounted...
 
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Yes, ‘down’ if you are holding the map the right way up. ‘Up’ in the sense of it being a chore as the road is the A9. About as much fun to drive on as the M6 through the Black Country, but with added heat and dust.

I really think it might have been Jancis that alerted me to Domaine Jorel, perhaps here...
https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/grenache-ripe-for-re-evaluation
...although my memory may be playing tricks re Wetherspoons. That could have been Victoria Moore. And Henri Wintermans. And Heineken of course, Victoria isn’t a big Stella fan.

I think I’ll drop Manuel a line, I’d like to try a few more bottles of his wine.

It’s great when things work out - three of each of these arrived this afternoon.

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Left to right, single vineyard Grenache, 80% Mourvèdre and 20% TBC, single vineyard Carignan and well, you guessed the last one. This Pétaillat is a mere 15%, down from the 2015 at a mighty 16%. I’ve asked Manuel if that was a personal choice or one forced on him by the grapes and weather.

This evening I received an email from him checking everything was OK and including some drinking dates I had asked for. ‘It’s a personal thing, but I think the peak is when the wine hits a balance between finesse and jeunesse’ he said. Sounds good to me! I told you he was a nice guy. I also cherish the parcel tracking notes - ‘dropped off at Carrefour Market collection point.’ I bet you don’t get that from Chateau Figeac.

Manuel most definitely doesn’t make enough from making wine to drive round in a Ferrari or even a Porsche, but he loves doing it and the results are great. In my opinion this is what wine should be, not an investment commodity to be bought from a bankable château with the sole intention of selling on at a profit. The arrival of this wine and the prospect of drinking it has made me feel very happy.
 
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A plan comes together, part two.

Back in the days before going shopping was a great and scary adventure I found a Parisian wine merchant selling Perrin Ventoux 2018 (described by our patron as ‘moreish’) for a bargain £4.20ish. (Eeek!) Exercising my usual self-restraint I ordered two dozen. They were happy to defer delivery until I was next in France a month later, but asked if I was sure I would be able to come over. Of course I will, I scoffed. Who is going to stop me? A week later, French borders and shops closed, the merchant sent out all pending orders then pulled down the shutters and I received a text message to say delivery had been attempted and failed.

I managed to find the courier and asked them to deliver to a friendly neighbour, who also helped by putting a sign on the gate. A few hours later they were in his larder and have stayed there for four months.

Today I went to see him with a thank-you gift of six bottles of Rochefort 10 (he prefers beer to wine) and the exchange took place on his doorstep, due to you-know-what.

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Answers to questions left unanswered from yesterday - Manuel Jorel’s explanation of the different alcohol content between years is that the wine is made according to the ripeness and taste of the grapes and whatever ABV results, so be it. And the other 20% of his cuvée Champ is morrastel, apparently the same as graciano. He doesn’t mention it on website or label as it isn’t recognised by the AOC regs.
 
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