Confessions of a Wino

Although I generally disapprove of pre-selected cases, I do subscribe to the President’s Cellar from Sunday Times Wine Club which pings me 6 bottles every 6 months at about £20 per bottle.

It does force me to explore wines that I would not otherwise choose and you probably know that I am not the greatest fan of Australian wine.

This bottle of Tamar Ridge Pinot Noir 2002 came to me a few years ago from Tasmania, via the President’s Cellar and was getting to drinking up time.  So I opened it.

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Just another quick review from my Wine Society 2005 Bordeaux and this time it’s Ch. Moulin du Barrail, Bordeaux Supérieur, Cuvée Prestige.

Quick learning point – “Elevé en Fût de Chêne” – if you see this on a bottle it simply means aged in oak, and this wine was.  Although it tasted more like a piece of sandpaper on a cream cracker in the desert, it left such a dry taste in the mouth.

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My day job took me to the City and after a morning of extreme hard work, a lunchtime visit to TKs on Lovat Lane.

Paul Hacker took me so I figured we might be there all afternoon.

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Anjou, the Loire village better known for its Rosés is the latest to be laughing behind the back of the wine buyers at international warehouse shop, Costco.  Once again Costco has placed cost as a more valued criterion than quality.

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When you join a wine club, the first thing they do is try to get you to commit to a monthly/annual/quarterly case of wines “to help you explore the wine world you might not otherwise experience”, whereas you are stupid if you don’t realise that it’s just a plan to get a commitment to spend.

On this basis I was once stupid enough to subscribe to the Sunday Times Wine Club’s “Cellar Classics”, a six monthly case of 6 reds and 6 whites of about £10 a bottle.  In the end I decided I could pick the wines better myself and cancelled. 

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Congrats to Jamie Goode for winning the Glenfiddich 2007 Wine Writer of the Year.  Well deserved.  However, Jamie chose to celebrate at the Gaucho Grill and regular readers know my views on that particular establishment!

I’ve been waiting for this to happen so I can blog about it.  I opened a bottle of Clos de Marquis 2001 (after dutifully fridging it for half an hour) only to find it was corked.

Fortunately I had another bottle so opened that and joy of joys – it was perfect.  So what was the difference?

Both bottles are shown in the picture below-  which do you think was corked?

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This time, from my Wine Society 2005’s, under the microscope is Château Puy Garance…

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I have just taken the opportunity to do a little site maintenance and I have added an email feed (courtesy of Feedblitz).

Now you can subscribe and receive emailed confessions once per day (when updated) which will keep you up with the latest confessions.  Simply go back to the home page and look for the form on the right hand side of the page. Simply enter your email ID and hit “Subscribe me”!  Easy peasy….

You can still subscribe in your preferred reader of course.  If you don’t know what I am talking about, subscribe by email or go and watch this excellent video.

Recently I went to the Harrogate Flower Show at the Great Yorkshire (everything in bloody Yorkshire is bloody “great” apparently!) Showground.  Amongst the commercial stands selling everything from gardening gloves and phallic water features, to clothes and picnic hampers, there was an odd display of flowers….and the usual bit of local produce…

Now you’ve all been there.  The twee little stands where grannies used to sell their home made pickles and marmalade – well guess what?  Yep, they have been replaced by commercial organisations making a profession out of attending shows and selling mass produced jam.  Actually that’s a bit unfair – there are still some good ones to buy from, just make sure you taste first.

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