The cheesy barber of Barbaresco
I wanted Bresse Bleu but I just can’t find it in the UK, so I settled for second best, Cambozola, which is a German Cheese available at any supermarket.
For me, eating a German Blue “Brie” is just plain wrong. It must be like eating a Dr Oetkers Pizza (you really are having a laugh – An Italian product, made in Germany and sold in England – ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha). I’ve never tried it but surely nobody buys that marketing line? Have you seen the TV ad? A loving couple on a first date sat on a suspension bridge in the open air at a fully set table, eating a pizza made in Germany, approximately 1.3 miles from the nearest oven. I haven’t laughed so much since I found www.hugeurl.com – waging the war against brevity.
But sometimes we can’t always get what we want, so we have to settle for second best. In my case I can’t afford a decent Barolo so I sampled a bottle of Langhe Nebbiolo de Forville Barbaresco 2005 as my second best. After tasting the wine I guessed it was from a supermarket at about £4.99. In fact, online, I found this wine at Majestic at a whopping £7.99.
 
Much too overpowering for me. I guessed at 14.5% alcohol (was 13.5%). Strong plum and cherry flavours and much too jammy. To me it tasted like a blockbuster new World wine which is a shame because I always think of Italy as Old World. I tried chilling it down a bit and actually it tasted much better. Would I try another bottle, though? On this experience, maybe not.
Perhaps it’s time I stopped eating German “French” cheese and German “Italian” Pizzas? Perhaps it’s time I stopped experimenting?
No way! Variety is the spice of life and I am Bob, the cultural sponge of squarepantshire. I will never stop sampling interesting wines. Just because they don’t suit my personal taste, doesn’t mean that other people shouldn’t try them.
That is the problem with wine ratings. They are too personal. Everyone should try their own range of wines and re-order the ones that suit their personal tastes. Robert E Parker take note…
By the way, if you are wondering about HUGEURL, it is the hilarious antintheses of tinyurl. Here is the URL it computed for my software blog (proper URL = www.workforceinabox.com):
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