Confessions of a Wino

Was Lausanne really so boring?  We must have thought so, because our only full day there was spent in Evian, courtesy of the excellent and frequent ferry service across Lac Léman.  We were looking for the Riveraine Café for lunch, a place we had visited several years ago and enjoyed many a French laugh (he haw he haw he haw) with the owners.  Sadly the place had closed down.

Searching along the lake front for another resto proved fruitless.  It being October already, the saison de tourisme was already over.  Fortunately, even locals need to eat, so there were some places open on the Rue Nationale (main street).  Le Muratore took my fancy because it actually had customers – always a promising sign.

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After numerous weeks of seemingly endless rain, I was close to completing my ark.  However, still no closer to cutting the lawn which was starting to look like a very green field with very long grass on it.  Then one evening we had a breakthrough.  The sun shone and I went outside looking for pairs of worms, slugs, blackbirds, snails and magpies to take with me on my maiden voyage.  They all seemed to be absent, so in desperation I mowed the lawns.

Now, my front lawn is on an angle of about 45 degrees, so I have to mow it wearing golf spikes, but with a petrol mower, this is the gardening equivalent of climbing the north face of Everest in a t-shirt and a thong.

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Do you remember my post about Grand Cru Chablis?

I finally got round to sampling the Premier Cru from the same stable albeit a different year (2004 vs 2002).  Perhaps the most important difference is the price.  The Grand Cru at £24.99 and the Premier Cru at 13.99.  So the question is, should one pay the huge difference for the Grand Cru?

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I’ve just been watching one of my favourite TV programmes, Grand Designs.  Every episode is a tale of hope and of human triumph in the face of considerable adversity.  Best of all it shows that if you have a big plan it is always ten times more difficult to deliver than your worst possible estimate.

Kevin McCloud looks on and commentates in his laconic and smug, but laid back and highly entertaining style.  The thing about “reality” TV is that we can all sit back and smile with the expert, at how dumb the subjects are for not realising that they needed building regs approval for the step they are replacing with one that is 1.5 inches lower than the incumbent broken one.  Meanwhile we are led to believe that the whole project is in jeopardy as a result.

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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.

I’ve got Bordeaux fatigue.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love most of the 2005’s I’ve tried so far.  I’ve got a load booked en primeur to come later this year.  I’ve bought 2004, 2003 and 2000, all of which have so far impressed me.

But after so many years of exceptional, extraordinary, legendary, once in a lifetime, holy grail, once in a several millennia, best ever vintages, to hear 2006 described by most people as “patchy” is an opportunity to take a breather and give my poor wallet a rest.

So everyone who is currently sending me invitations to “invest” en primeur in 2006, please save your paper.  For a “patchy” vintage the prices are too high and the risk of disappointment too great in my opinion.

I might well buy 2006 Bordeaux once it is released but I won’t be investing in bond.

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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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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Have you ever tasted a really good bottle of claret?  I don’t mean a Château Latour or Mouton Rothschild, there are much cheaper wines that are truly excellent.

When you find one, your mouth zings and you make a strange face like you’ve just reached orgasm and everyone looks at you like you’re a nutter.

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