Are you a wine magpie? I can’t resist a tempting offer and, bearing in mind the stellar reputation of 2005 Bordeaux, a Wine Society mixed case from the Côtes was a no-brainer. My theory that a rising tide lifts all boats (i.e. in a good year even crap winemakers are going to have to work hard to produce awful wine) leads me to try almost any CHEAP 2005.
Italian wines are often accused of being over-tannic. I guess that is a matter of opinion but I woke up with a headache this morning.
Last night I had the pleasure of attending my first Wine Society event, an informal tasting within the impressive architecture of the Freemason’s Hall on Bridge Street. Such things clearly need a theme and this one was “Italy from top to toe”. Given the country in question one might equally have dreamt up “heel to sole” or “thirst to last”. But that’s enough cobblers.
Exploring the South of France is a profitable pastime right now and it is hard not to fancy it at least a little. The art of seduction has not passed le Med by. In fact every online wine merchant seems to have stocked up with credit crunch specials from this erstwhile unfashionable zone.
But there are uncomfortable price points too amongst the care free lovers. For example, this Pic St Loup from the Wine Society was part of a price driven marketing drop, yet cost me a not insubstantial £12.95.
British MPs are being forced to cut back in anticipation of being voted out at the next election. In the meantime, they are biding time on expense accounts barely adequate for a FTSE executive board member, never mind a potential world leader. Even fresh pilchards for the white Persian cat have been disallowed. Whence does one plot world domination, when one can’t even afford a clean moat?
I think the solution for most bright Members is to reduce the wine Average Bottle Value (ABV).
Château Ricaud Premières Côtes de Blaye 2005 was only £7.50 from the Wine Society and, therefore, well suited to the brave new budget.
When I bought a cheeky mystery case of red Burgundy “to drink now” from the Wine Society they probably didn’t realise how literally I would take the title of the case.
In barely the time it takes a Tory MP to repay his moat cleaning expenses, I am already deep into my third bottle.
Tonight I am drinking Terrazas de los Andes Reserva Malbec 2006. A very nice wine and worth every penny of the £8.50 I paid Costco for it.
This is one of the staples of the Gaucho Grill wine list, but when average wine markups in the UK are between 100 and 200% (i.e. double to three times the wholesale price) how come Gaucho thinks it can charge £37.50, a 341% uplift, and that is against the RETAIL price. Is this a new British and Commonwealth record?
Just one day after the final match of the season, the 2008/9 FA Premiership is already a distant memory. We now enter the silly summer season where silly sums will be spent on sop soccer stars with scant regard for common sense or the common fan.
If there is one maxim in life that everyone understands it is that money does not guarantee success. I mean, look at Mark Hughes’ under-achievers. Being a long suffering Man City fan, it is no surprise to me that we scraped in mid table a whopping 5 points clear of footballing paupers, Stoke City, even though one of our players cost more than Stoke’s entire squad.
I have to congratulate Stoke on an over-achieving season. Based on the resources available to them and being newly promoted to the division, they were odds on to get relegated. But Tony Pulis had a well thought out strategy and it worked.
Strange game football eh? But the same can apply to wine. This bottle came from a Wine Society Mystery Burgundy Case (average implied bottle price £20 but actually was on sale for £56.75 on the WS website). Ouch! It better be good!
And so Eurovision has come and gone and, for once, the UK didn’t come last. In fact we made a creditable 5th place, although we had to recruit the noble Lord Webber of Musicals to write us a tune and, predictably, the singer had to come from a reality TV show.
Some have criticised Eurovision in recent years alleging tactical voting as being the cause of the UK’s fall from grace. I say our entries were just pap and wouldn’t have troubled the scorer in a hitting a barn door with a banjo competition.
Highly variable results is something you get used to when you drink Burgundy. Was Jean Grivot Nuits-St-Georges Les Lavières 2004 a “Waterloo” or did it score null points?
I think I may be a wine magpie. I keep buying so much more wine than I could possibly drink. It’s the explorer in me – I just want to keep trying new things.
But enough is enough, so I made time to do a little sorting through my wine rack (I didn’t dare unpack the combine harvester – that’s a week’s work). I was surprised to realise how much French wine I have in store – about 70% of my entire collection is French. Quelle horreur! Why oh why when it is so expensive?
Three reasons:
I’ve said in the past that if a rising tide floats all boats, then in good years like 2005, it must be worth rowing across to Analogy Island in one of the lesser bateaux of the Bordelais flotilla.
So I popped a few quid in the post to the Wine Society for a case of Côtes de Bordeaux 2005 and they sent me, amongst other bottles, some Château Martinat Côtes de Bourg.
It justified my argument. There is some real shite sent down La Gironde in the name of fine claret but I think the enormous majority of wines are born of genuine fathers (and mothers….) who really care.
This is certainly the case with Martinat. Whilst I do not know the winemaker (Stéphane Donze, since you ask), you only have to sip the wine to taste the parental devotion.
This kid is spicy, fruity, intelligent and rich – almost destined to grow up to be Stephen Fry’s replacement on QI. The taste is peppery, plummy and with firmish tannins I found it a nice match for spicy pizza.
Mine was £9.95 from the Wine Society but unsurprisingly now sold out. Shame because it is one of the best ten quid bottles I’ve tasted in a long while.
Stumble It!