At my local sandwich shop I have been lunching on fruit, sandwiches, and crisps (hey if you’re American I mean chips, ok?). I am not particularly loyal to any brand of crisps so I was tempted by an offer from Seabrooks which suggested that by collecting 8 packets I could send off to claim a pint sized mug.
As I write this, I am listening to BBC6 Music. It’s a digital radio station that I am tuned in to through my TV. My TV is a Sony Bravia 26″ LCD. I’ve never seen worse software on a digital TV. It is so poor I am thinking of buying a Sky box just to get usable software (but I am not thinking of buying a new TV by the way, or subscribing to Sky for that matter).
Ah! Well a day! What evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.
If you are a regular reader you will recall my previous disappointments with wines from Costco. The Costco philosophy is to stack it really high and sell it really cheap, but, and here’s the thing, they stick to one brand per similar item (to maximise buying power) and generally make it an upmarket quality product. When you translate that to wine you typically get good name wines in bad years.
 
I read an interesting piece in the Times this week about the super high price of Bordeaux 2006. Leave it alone. It’s all been purchased by far eastern investors who are going to lose their money anyway.
Stick to 2005 and (as I keep saying) the cheaper marques. For example Château Reignac de Tizac, Bordeaux Superieur.
The initial aroma was of iron rust. A mineral, earthy and “muddy” wine. Flavours of root vegatable perhaps beetroot, carrot, swede (turnip). Some spicy peppery notes of watercress?
Not a particularly delicate wine and not one I would drink on its own, but went very well with chargrilled lamb. You know that meat and veg go together well!
OK so not the most glowing review and not the best 2005 Bordeaux I have yet tasted, but I would still recommend that you try it. This one came from the  Wine Society at a paltry £5.25.
Above all I urge you to try any cheap 2005 Bordeaux you can find from wherever you buy your wine and leave 2006 to the “investors”.
Raymond Burr was considered by some to be a TV genius. Robert T. Ironside was super-attorney, Perry Mason’s succesor (in his acting career). Personally I much preferred cigar slugging Columbo.
Talking of American trash, I’ve had to add a new category for this post which shows how much wine I drink from the world’s only remaining super-power. I have had bad experiences of US wine in the past, perhaps based on the cheap end of the Gallo range, so I didn’t have high hopes from this one:
Ironstone Vineyards 2004 Chardonnay/Viognier from California retails at about £7 a bottle. Surely £6 of that must be shipping costs and £1 duty (or is that vice versa) so exactly how much is spent on the wine?
I was astounded by the quality. Uncle Sam, I apologise, even if you are bald (and especially if you are listening in via spyware or remote listening device). A gorgeous smell of gooseberries led to flavours of pear slices in yoghurt. Fresh fruit salad and natural yoghurt is such a great breakfast starter (as long as it’s followed by bacon and poached eggs). Much superior to taking a cyanide pill.
Where is the sense of individual responsibility in society these days? My parents and grand-parents all lived through at least one world war, enduring hardship and shortage. When something went wrong in their lives, their first reaction was to set about putting it right using their own endeavours. I am not saying that governments and corporations should be absolved of negligence, nor that they should not take sensible precautions to increase safety for us all, but the balance of responsibility has shifted too far. Matt Rudd writing in The Sunday Times agrees. In a simple day out with his wife and toddler he counted a whopping 289 warnings/instructions.
If parents can’t be trusted to educate their kids to the point that they understand that coffee “may be hot”, or that smooth floors “may be slippery when wet” then the world has lost something. In today’s litigious society (it starts in America, quickly migrates to Ireland, and lands in the UK shortly afterwards) the first thought when we have an accident is “who can I sue? How much money can I make?” So the inevitable result is a world full of nannying warning signs that guide us, cajole us, restrict us, instruct us but rarely inform us.
The warning on my bottle of Bacchus 2006, however, was clear and stark, “Made in England”.
OK so I’ve slagged off New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. Well actually, far from having slagged them off, I’ve merely suggested that French Sauvignons, and in particular, those from the Loire Valley should be given a 2nd chance. But I’ve always expressed my admiration for NZ Sauvignons, and Cloudy Bay is my favourite so far.
So when I was offered the chance to buy a mixed case of Kiwi SBs from 2006, including a bottle of Cloudy Bay for only £109, I jumped at the chance to make a few comparisons. An opportunity to retest my theory that the French are moving ahead again in quality and VFM.
The first bottle I tried was Dog Point 2006. But this was no dog!
Just a very quick one tonight on a nice Médoc. This is yet another very impressive effort from the Wine Society’s own brand.
At first it was slightly thin but opened up quickly to a smooth Crème brûlée flavour. Haven’t I tasted this somewhere before?
If you haven’t yet sampled the Wine Society‘s own brand wines I commend you to do so. If you are not a member or you don’t know anyone who is, then look out for one of the joining offers they occasionally put out.
I have been on a bit of a mission to persuade anyone who will listen to try French Sauvignon Blanc and in particular the Loire appellations of Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre.
In the 1990’s the Loire wines lost focus and, some say, attention to detail. The rise of the New Zealand SB with its bright zingy flavours stole the limelight. I am still a big fan of Cloudy Bay and many of its Kiwi imitators. However, the French have fought back admirably in my opinion and the price difference (at least for us Brits) is no longer an issue.
This 2005 Pouilly Fumé (pwee foo-may) from Domaine Cailbourdin at less than a tenner is a good example of why the French should be given a second chance.
On pouring is was pale straw coloured, like one’s urine should be (but mine never is). At 12.5% it is probably the average strength of my urine though. It smelt peachy like a bellini (the wine I mean) but tasted of gooseberries. For me it had the zinginess of Cloudy Bay but with less fruit and somehow more subtlety.
I’ll be drinking more of this one over the summer.
So I hear that Sven is in the running for my beleaguered team Manchester City. As if crisis following crisis following crisis is not enough, we are trying to tempt the heel enhanced weather girl lover to manage our sorry club.
It’s not that I dislike Eriksson for footballing reasons, it’s just that the reasons he would want to join would only be financial. He is a clever man and despite all the moanings, he was one of the most successful England managers and that followed a highly successful club career.
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