I am not sure, to be truthful, whether Mr Kipling only “bakes exceedingly good cakes” in the UK, or whether he deigns to offer his wares through the supermarkets of the world.Â
Regular readers will know I have been munching my way through a Wine Society case of 2005 claret. In the interests of fairness I purchased a similar early release case from the Sunday Times Wine Club and tonight opened the first bottle.
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.
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.
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.Â
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.
Take a red bell pepper, half it then add a dash of fresh lime juice and cook over an oak smoked barbecue. Then serve it with some fresh berry fruits. This rather specific and hyper-pretentious description of Grand-Puy-Lacoste came to me as I finished off the bottle with my brain somewhat the worse for wear.
I bought two Bordeaux wines en primeur from the 2003 vintage. I have already posted about Château du Tetre from Margaux. The other was Grand-Puy-Lacoste from Pauillac.
The wines are said to be more robust in Pauillac. Personally I love the subtlety of Margaux. However, Pauillac is one of the (if not THE) most respected wine regions in the world so I must take it seriously.
A very promising wine. Maybe just needs some more time in the bottle. I think 2003 was a good year so I may seek out some cheaper wines from this vintage. Especially now that everyone is falling over themselves to spend every penny they possess on 2005…
Louis XVI (seize – geddit?) CostCo’s last chance. A number of variable experiences with wine from CostCo have led me to wonder whether to bring down the guillotine (gee-yo-teen) on their wine department.
So tasting this 2004 Louis Jadot Cotes de Beaune-Villages at £6.79 plus VAT was it going to be the best of times or the worst of times? Was I going to be the Sydney Carton of wine, or the Charles Darnay?
CostCo is known for high quality products at rock bottom prices and this works well for consumer electronics, Red Bull, or San Pellegrino for example. But wine buyers need a bit more nous than getting the lowest possible price.
In the interests of fairness in my search for the best cheap Malbec I unearthed this little number at Tesco.
Now you might presume that Anubis comes from Egypt but in fact it is from Middle Earth (aka Argentina). I can prove this is the case because I discovered that Susana Balbo (aka Balbo Baggins) had a hand in making this wine.
When I turned 18 we did a sort of lad’s rite of passage thing. Some guys did sickly things like inhaling a whole cigar. Others did amateur self harm (but not on Iggy Pop’s scale).
The idea I most admired was the guy who ate a whole pot of jam. This doesn’t sound very rock and roll does it?! But have you ever tried it? The first spoonful is delicious but by the time you are half way through the jar, it is getting sickly to the point of making you gip. In that sense it’s a bit like drinking an Aussie Shiraz.
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