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Heaven: In Vino Veritas - the WINE thread, what you enjoy, current drinking, tastes, recommendations

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  • Cannonau = Grenache. I've only ever seen one in Ontario, Sella and Mosca. Buy it.

    Mencia is 'the' red grape in Galicia. It used to be the local work horse, and then some producers started to pay more attention to it, improving its profile and ageability. I had the good fortune of being in a tapas bar on a slow evening, and the manager shepherded me through five of them. I think that I've seen three different one in the LCBO over the last couple years, all from Bierzo.
  • Cheers from downunder also, @JuanaCruz !

    My tastes also run towards Hunter Valley semillon [we live only twenty minutes away!] and Eden Valley or Clare Valley riesling. Marsanne and Roussanne from Victoria are also very drinkable. Cold-climate Chardonnay, as the warmer regions I find overblown. Most Aussie sauvignon blanc I think is a triumph of marketing over taste. There are some luscious late-picked or botrytis rieslings from Riverina and SA in particular.

    In reds Hunter Valley Shiraz or old vine Shiraz from somewhere in Victoria like Tahbilk, then Riverina and Rutherglen durifs. I find most Australian cabernets and especially South Aussie reds too heavy on the alcohol and tannins.

    In fortifieds, Rutherglen gets my vote every time. We have an annual standing order of winter warmers from Campbells.

    The New Zealanders do much better with their sauv blanc and pinot grigio than many of the Australian wineries.

    Wow, this thread got some traction but man (and woman) cannot live by GIN alone ...

    I would add Henty region riesling which was a favourite but unobtainable in the UK now. I drank cases of Crawford River when it was 50%+ off, Seppelt Drumborg. A bit heavier than most rieslings and not low alcohol but "yummy" (official tasting note)

    The most enjoyable and memorable Australian red I ever had was a very aged Victorian number. I remember the vintage (1990) but not the maker. It had mellowed to a pinot-like complexity with a velvet texture. Ah yes ... 1990 Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz! But omg I just saw current prices ... :anguished:

    Hunter Valley Semillon used to be astonishing value here via supermarket own labels and even Mt Pleasant (Tesco, Sainsbury, M&S at least) but I can't see a single example sadly now.

  • Piglet wrote: »
    I can't believe we've got this far without anyone mentioning Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, which may be a candidate for Nicest Wine in the World.

    I have fond memories of a Christmas in Northern Ireland, when we heard that a small, independent wine shop in Co. Down had a supply of it. David hot-tailed it down to the shop, and came back with three bottles - they were limiting customers to three each, so he went back the following day and got three more.

    Our best friends were very happy when they opened their Christmas presents.*

    Having said all that, there are other NZ SBs that are also wonderful, especially the lovely, sharp grapefruity ones like Oyster Bay and Villa Maria.

    * We kept one bottle for ourselves ... :wink:

    For NZ Sauvignon Blanc lovers maybe try out "The Doctor's Sauvignon Blanc" which was one of only a couple that stood out from the crowd last time I went round the vineyards ... I just saw it's available at Waitrose these days. It's slightly riper than most, more complex and low alcohol. Jancis Robinson described it as having "sabre-toothed acidity" which may explain why I loved it though!

    The other was Cloudy Bay Te Koko SB which is bit ex-y but has a light oak treatment and is very complex and which almost everyone hates because it's so unusual. But I'm strange that way ...

  • When the Argentines got serious about carving out some of the global market for themselves they "Parkerised"* their style to make it marketable**, and their share has undoubtedly grown greatly, but that old style of which I was so fond is just gone, extinct.

    If you like documentaries; "Mondovino" is a good look at this phenomana and its effects on wine production.

    In terms of stuff I'm enjoying drinking; at the moment that's mainly Austrian Blaufrankisch and Zweigelts.

    Some years ago we visited the Hahndorf Hill Winery in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, which specialises in Austrian varieties. At that time they were producing a Blaufrankisch/Trollinger Rosé style blend, which was delightful. I presume the vintage currently on offer online is a similar blend, but we haven't had the opportunity to visit or taste lately. One of our sons is based quite close, but we haven't been able to travel to see him for two years.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    We had Posada del Ray - Vino Tinto

    “The origins of Real Compañia lie in the 19th century when Bénédictine monks used the building as a distillery. In 1959 it was converted into a winery. Posaada del Ray has an intense, glowing re cherry colour, aromas of dark berry fruits and a long velvety finish.”

    It was actually a bit light for me - I like full bodied, but not too full bodied.

    We have a decent (ish) red wine each Saturday evening - I’ll report back next week.
  • When the Argentines got serious about carving out some of the global market for themselves they "Parkerised"* their style to make it marketable**, and their share has undoubtedly grown greatly, but that old style of which I was so fond is just gone, extinct.

    If you like documentaries; "Mondovino" is a good look at this phenomana and its effects on wine production.

    In terms of stuff I'm enjoying drinking; at the moment that's mainly Austrian Blaufrankisch and Zweigelts.

    Some years ago we visited the Hahndorf Hill Winery in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, which specialises in Austrian varieties. At that time they were producing a Blaufrankisch/Trollinger Rosé style blend, which was delightful. I presume the vintage currently on offer online is a similar blend, but we haven't had the opportunity to visit or taste lately. One of our sons is based quite close, but we haven't been able to travel to see him for two years.

    ... which reminded me that the Barossa Valley was originally settled by Germans, especially refugee Lutherans, in the 1830-40s. You can see it in a lot of the winemaking family names (Kaesler, Kalleske, Schubert, Glaetzer, Henschke etc), wine names (Johann, Steingarten, Heysen, Heinrich etc)all with germanic origins.

    I thought there would be more germanic place names like Gnadenfrei ... but I didn't realise until today that many (most?) of them were renamed in the 1917-1918 period.

    The South Australian Government Gazette, Jan 10th 1918
    http://www8.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1918/2/37.pdf

    I also found about 15 Lutheran churches still active in the Barossa from Lyndoch (South) to Moppa (North) according to a brief and unscientific search on Google maps ...

    Sorry, I get easily distracted by totally useless but fascinating information like this :joy:



  • Cannonau = Grenache. I've only ever seen one in Ontario, Sella and Mosca. Buy it.

    Mencia is 'the' red grape in Galicia. It used to be the local work horse, and then some producers started to pay more attention to it, improving its profile and ageability. I had the good fortune of being in a tapas bar on a slow evening, and the manager shepherded me through five of them. I think that I've seen three different one in the LCBO over the last couple years, all from Bierzo.

    Sorry, I was a little unclear - I meant these particular wines - I like both Cannonau and Mencia and it would be good to see them getting a wider audience. Hopefully Waitrose can bring in a good product at the price point they want. Last time I encountered UK supermarket wines was something like 25 years ago but as I recall people generally thought they were pretty good.

    Like you though I've only ever encountered one Cannonau - the one the LCBO keeps bringing in. I know it's really Grenache speaking with an Italian accent, so to speak, but I have to admit I would never have recognized it based on the French/Spanish/Aussie wines I'm familiar with. (Incidentally apparently next Friday is International Grenache Day, if anyone is looking for an excuse to imbibe.)

    Tasting through five Mencias plus tapas sounds like a great wine evening.

    I don't think I've ever had Pais. Apparently it was one of the original grapes the Europeans brought with them to the New World and was a mainstay of Chilean wine production before the Bordeaux varieties moved in.

  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Tonight's bottle announced baldly on the front label 'Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio: handpicked in 2019' - burying the lede (on the back label) that this was from eastern Slovenia.

    Having been to Maribor I know there are some fantastic whites (remember Lutomer Riesling?) but as so often eastern European wines have struggled to establish an identity.
  • @Pangolin Guerre thanks for the info re Gamay and Beaujolais.

    Bad wine? Open a tin of tomatoes, add 50% of that quantity of wine and simmer very slowly with a pinch of dried hot pepper flakes. Cheap and simple pasta sauce. Leftover barbequed hamburgers chopped into wee square meatballs, a few herbs and some bits of cheese made a very satisfying supper yesterday.
  • We're winding our way through the offerings from Okanogan VQA establishments. British Columbia, Canada. Gamay is a grape we'd not heard of nor tasted before. Wonderful. We have to have them shipped. It's >1400 km / 900 miles from here.

    There are a lot of good wineries in the Okanagan. Perhaps not so well-known is that Vancouver Island has a growing number of good wineries, as well. Different climate so different grapes. I don't think that they leave the Island much, so it is unlikely you will ever come across them unless you come to visit.

    When we were on Vancouver Island last year we picked up a number of local wines at Blue Grouse and Unsworth, both in the Duncan/Cowichan Valley area. I was surprised at the number of grapes they were growing that I'd never heard of - the climate is mild of course but apparently dampness is a big issue. We bought a Cabernet Libre and a Sauvaginette (if memory serves that's the name) from Unsworth, and even after the warm glow of being on vacation wore off and we were tasting them at home we were pretty impressed with what they had done. We also bought a Pinot Noir at Blue Grouse and a delicious port-like dessert wine made with black Muscat.


    Gee D wrote: »
    Marsupial wrote: »
    Generally speaking the Ontario selection from Australia and NZ is much better than it used to be. They used to bring in only the big obvious wines and there is now a great deal more variety. (We had a very nice Tahbilk Shiraz not too long ago @Barnabas_Aus .)

    Tahbilk Marsanne is also excellent; if you're giving dinner to a group, you can plan a meal around the Marsanne when people arrive and continue it through the first course, then move to the Shiraz for the main (it goes very well with a leg of lamb roasted over coals) and the cheese. The vineyards and winery are well worth a visit. Very attractive buildings in great country. The Purbricks have done well to keep their standards for so many years.

    I managed to get my hands on the Marsanne this afternoon and we opened it with dinner. Very nice - thanks for the recommendation.

    Out of curiosity, has anyone experimented with aging Australian Marsanne or Semillon? I've heard from various sources that they age well, but I've never actually encountered a bottle that's been aged longer than about 48 hours after purchase...


  • I think that the oldest 100% Marsanne that I've had was in fact Tahbilk. It wasn't ancient - perhaps six years old - but it was definitely changing, maturing, a slightly more mellowed tone - honeyed without sweetness, if that's not too oxymoronic. It still had a future ahead of it. We had it with lobster tails with (this may sound a bit odd, but trust me on this, it was quite delicious) a mild curried orange cream sauce.

    Marsanne's used in Cote de Rhône white blends, and they can have considerable longevity.
  • Marsupial wrote: »

    Out of curiosity, has anyone experimented with aging Australian Marsanne or Semillon? I've heard from various sources that they age well, but I've never actually encountered a bottle that's been aged longer than about 48 hours after purchase...

    Hunter Valley semillon in particular is famous for aging. McWilliams Mt Pleasant is a relatively cheap and good one. Quite pleasant when "new" , ie. about 2-3 years after harvest but after 10 years or so in the cellar it goes all honied - a completely different taste.

    As I live in the "cool climate" wine-growing Canberra district, I do my best to keep the local producers in business. All of them are pretty small but run nice cellar doors. Reisling and Shiraz are the main varieties grown here, but many others are on offer. The reislings are definitely table wines, but not so dry as to be undrinkable. The Shiraz are softer and lower alcohol than those from sunnier South Australia. The most famous and often winning medals in international wine shows (deservedly but it's expensive) is Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier. A couple of local vineyards which are big enough to allow at least some exports are Mount Majura and Shaws: both make excellent riesling and shiraz, and also several other varieties but only in lower quantities.
  • A Semillon or Marsanne for a decent vintner will easily do 10 years, getting a deeper colour and more intense palate as time goes on. Honied is the usual term, but should not be understood as meaning sweetness. The oldest Hunter Semillon we've drunk was 25 years, a 4 number Lindemans but I can't remember which 4. Deep gold, the very essence of the grape, mind-blasting palate of a variety of flavours, and bone dry. The sort of wine you'd like to be drinking every day.
  • I've drunk Tahbilk Marsanne up to 14 years old and still delightful. The one bottle of the Wrattonbully region [we're on the road and I can't remember the label] is nudging ten years, and I reckon it will still be good drinking. The Elizabeth Semillon from McWilliams really doesn't hit its straps until ten years old.
  • Fourteen years old?!? Outstanding fortitude - both the wine and the owner! My mind reels.
  • It helps when you're in the wine club and get access to cellar reserve offers!
  • It helps when you're in the wine club and get access to cellar reserve offers!

    I thought Pangolin Guerre meant in resisting earlier drinking
  • I did, indeed. And the wine for holding up so well for so long.

    I follow the dictum that more great wine goes undrunk than drunk, i.e., past its prime before we give in to temptation.
  • Do people really drink wine every day? God bless your liver and wallet.
  • Do people really drink wine every day? God bless your liver and wallet.

    We drink a half bottle with dinner when home. When we're at a licensed restaurant, we try to buy by the glass - 2 for me, 1 for Madame. That way, we're both well under the limit for driving.

    If you buy home supplies by the dozen, the cost is not very high for decent quality. As for the liver, the quantities we drink are well within most recommended limits. Indeed, if you choose your experts well, this sort of drinking can not only be ok, but recommended.
  • 2 glasses is under the limit? Where is this, Krasnoyarsk Krai?
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    Do people really drink wine every day? God bless your liver and wallet.
    Yes.

    When I was 23, I was borderline anemic. My internist at the time said, “I hate to put you on iron pills at your age. Do you like red wine?” Yes, I replied. “Do you think you could have a glass of red wine every night with dinner?” I think I could do that.

    And so I have ever since, except when I knew I was pregnant, or was on medications that made it unwise. I have never been anemic since, until the present, what with chemo and the like. I have graduated from jug wines to better things, but there are some surprising bargains to be found at Trader Joe’s and, for a really nice selection with discounts on offer, Wine.com.

    As long as it continues to taste good to me, I’ll continue to enjoy my wine!

  • Many years ago we lived in Portugal. One of the country's "signature dishes" is Bacalhau a Braz, made with dried salted cod. My wife learned how to make it and it has become a tradition to eat it on Christmas Eve.

    Last weekend our son and family came down and specially asked for it. This meant a trip to the Portuguese shop in town, where (among other delights) we bought a bottle of the dry sparkling Vinho Verde or "green wine" (picked befoe the grape is fully ripe). Not many Brits like it in its unadulterated form as it is quite sour, however drunk very cold it complements the Bacalhau perfectly.
  • A glass of sherry before I get out of bed in the morning is my plan this winter on cold days. I might pour it on my porridge too, you never know.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    edited September 2020
    2 glasses is under the limit? Where is this, Krasnoyarsk Krai?

    Depends on the size of the glass, of course, but 125ml (small UK pub glass) of 13% is 16ml of ethanol, or 1.6 units. Two glasses - 3.2 units - a UK pint of strong ale - don't think I'd want to risk it.
  • 2 glasses is under the limit? Where is this, Krasnoyarsk Krai?

    The Department of Health guidelines
  • The Australian health recommendations are 2 standard drinks per male and 1 per female, generally based on body mass, with at least 2 alcohol-free days per week. 2 standard drinks for males keeps them under the .05 drink-driving limit.

    Last night we dined with our friend the Bishop of Riverina and his wife as we are visiting. A glass of excellent local durif for each of the men, and local pinot grigio for the ladies. The region has a very high Italian migrant population, so Mediterranean varieties are strongly represented in the irrigated vineyards.

    I suspect that there may be several tastings over the next few days. I will keep you posted.
  • Gee DGee D Shipmate
    edited September 2020
    And an attractive town, with the hill rising behind it and the irrigation channel. You'll never run out of vineyards to visit.
  • Moderation in for monks. To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Everything to excess. (Robert Heinlein)
  • Do people really drink wine every day? God bless your liver and wallet.

    Most of the time, yes, though I have been cutting back a little. I have given it up in past for Lent, or an a couple occasions because of contra-indication with medication. I find it relatively easy to go without, except for about the first 10 -14 days, when I can be a bit grumpy at dinner. After that, I'm fine.
  • Do people really drink wine every day? God bless your liver and wallet.

    Of course not, I only drink wine every other day.

    On my non-wine days I enjoy a nice glass or two of champagne, as I'm sure a dear old friend of mine would recommend... "Pleasure without Champagne is purely artificial.” – Oscar Wilde
    😉
  • Which reminds me of Lili Bollinger. "“I drink Champagne when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it -- unless I'm thirsty.”
  • Beer anyone? All I need is a pint a day.
  • Do people really drink wine every day? God bless your liver and wallet.

    One bottle a week normally. Shared (sometimes) with the wife.

    When on holiday, as at the moment, it is usually a bottle a night (similarly shared, and with son and partner). Followed by whisky. And liqueurs.

    When I am on holiday, my liver has to work.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Do people really drink wine every day? God bless your liver and wallet.

    No.

    We share a bottle (cheap ordinary) on Fridays and a bottle (nice from the wine club) on Saturdays.

    I do care about my liver or I would certainly have wine every day - blow the budget!

    🍷

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Are any of the Brits here in The Wine Society? David joined it when we lived in Belfast; at that time joining cost £20, and bought you a share in the company, which you kept for life (and can pass on to your heirs, so I've presumably inherited it since his death).

    They have a splendid Christmas gift catalogue, and you can send things to multiple UK addresses post-free. Their wines are very carefully picked, and they have tastings at various places throughout the year; they usually had one a year in Belfast when we were there, and it was a very jolly event.

    I'm now going to make a confession: David and I had a "wine-buying guide" of our own, which possibly reflected our bank balance more than our taste. A wine that we'd buy regularly (in the mid-1990s) needed to fulfil three criteria:
    • Pretty label
    • Originating from a politically-incorrect country*
    • Under £5 a bottle
    The taste was important; if we didn't like something, we wouldn't have it again, but you could get some perfectly palatable, everyday wines for really not too much money if you weren't snobby about it (and we couldn't afford to be).

    * At the time, wines from places like South Africa, Chile and Argentina were (rightly) becoming very popular.
  • I used to buy a lot of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon in my earlier wine buying days - it was something my parents liked too, and it reminded me of the basic Bordeaux (Mouton Cadet and the like) that originally got me into wine (a friend in undergrad used to buy it). I remember there were some decent SA Cabernets as well that became available in Canada after apartheid ended. For some I reason I can't figure out (I've been trying to), I drifted away from that style of wine after a while and started to buy basically everything except Cabernet Sauvignon. I've only recently come back to it (though now to slightly more expensive bottles). Lots of good stuff from Chile, South Africa, and increasingly now also reasonably priced wines from Bordeaux. (I'm not as familiar with Australian Cabernet.)

    I think South Africa is still very good value for wine - I mentioned the Avondale Jonty's Ducks (both red and white) way upthread and I've run into a number of other good wines from that part of the world as well. (The ducks eat the snails that would otherwise eat the vines - there's a video on their website.) There are also a number of inexpensive wines from Portugal and southern Italy that I like. When we were in the UK (and flying on BA) we noticed they seem to like Portuguese red blends and SA white blends as their house wines. Very sensible, if you ask me.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    @Piglet , if you want to continue the economical wine-buying, I'd recommend Lidl and Aldi. The latter's Citie de Carcassonne has been our most recent house red.
  • Our tasting round in the Riverina wineries has finished for now and we will head home in the morning with a carload of various varieties, including some real specials, quality wines for between one-third and one-half their usual price. The great majority of what we have bought will average out at between $5 and $10 a bottle, symptomatic of the damage to the industry from freight disruption and lockdowns.
  • Not sure about driving anywhere at the moment. You had somewhere safe to stay, we're concerned about motels, cafés and restaurants we don't know and so forth.
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    All the wonderful things written about Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc made me curious to see if it was available here. After some Googling, I found it can be found at the local Big Wine Store that's a good 30-40 minute drive from me. As I was grocery shopping today for me and my APs, I walked down the wine aisle thinking just for kicks I'd see if they had the Cloudy Bay. (Our supermarket is smaller than most, with a similarly smaller wine aisle.) Well, don't you know, there it was! And only a dollar more than the BWS!

    I put it in my fridge with the plan of having a glass with supper, just to see if it's the nicest wine in the world, but after a long day was just too tired to give it the consideration it deserves. Tomorrow!
  • Gee D wrote: »
    Not sure about driving anywhere at the moment. You had somewhere safe to stay, we're concerned about motels, cafés and restaurants we don't know and so forth.

    We carefully planned our itinerary. Our town has had no active cases since April, and our stops were scheduled for country towns similarly blessed. Even when visiting cellar doors our group of 4 were with one exception the only customers. We found contact registration and sanitisation to be meticulous.
  • edited September 2020
    Cannonau = Grenache. I've only ever seen one in Ontario, Sella and Mosca. Buy it.

    Mencia is 'the' red grape in Galicia. It used to be the local work horse, and then some producers started to pay more attention to it, improving its profile and ageability. I had the good fortune of being in a tapas bar on a slow evening, and the manager shepherded me through five of them. I think that I've seen three different one in the LCBO over the last couple years, all from Bierzo.

    I first ran into mencia on my first pilgrimage to Santiago, a mere 18 years ago. I was sweating through a field on the way to Astorga and saw workers in the vineyard bringing in the grapes. Foolishly pleased with what I thought was passable Spanish, I asked them what sort of grape that was, and they told me Mencia, and handed me a bunch of grapes to address my thirst. Ever since then, I have enjoyed bottles whenever it's been available-- in Ontario, only fitfully. On the same trip, as Spanish businessman advised me to try the albariño grape, which he described as the white wine red-wine drinkers like. Heading more into Galicia, I found it a very agreeable accompaniment to a plate of octopus or indeed anything at all aquatic.

    A now-expired cleric, well-travelled in his day, advised me to try and make careful note of the wine in areas through which I was passing as, in days to come, bottles on the table would be as useful reminders of past experiences. I have tried to do this, with general success and have much annoyed guests by serving them some Moncayo and rambling on about the gorge to Agreda and its impact in the Civil War. I have long felt compelled to buy wines of Borja in tribute to the bunches of grapes which kept me hydrated on a very very long hot day out of Gallur.

    Spanish wines are still a minority taste in Ontario as the LCBO’s buyers are more expert in Italy and Portugal for some reason. Crossing the river to Québec, the SAQ’s work in France is evident– a bit of sitting at one’s computer comparing prices can save the vinophiliac a dollar or two a bottle.

    Because of this, I’m not as expert in Ontario wines as I should be, although I know Prince Edward County a bit from visits to my brother when he was in Picton, and the Huff vineyards have produced a decent bottle or two in its time. It is a great place for a cycling holiday as one wobbles from one tasting room the next (although a lawyer friend points out that one can be nobbled for cycling over the limit). I’ve enjoyed Salt Spring Island’s wines, and recommend Garry Oaks for the Gulf Island traveller– Mistaken Identity vineyard seems to be under new ownership– their bubbly was extremely good quality for the $25 I paid for it when they were in operation.

    During the plague, I have not been able to exercise as much so have reduced my consumption greatly-- to about a bottle a week. I remember how my recycling bin was well-stocked with empties after a dinner I held last year and when I took them out to the curb, one of the absolute-minimum-pension people who take them away for the deposit reviewed my stash and said that I had perhaps the best palate on the block. I treasure the compliment.
  • We discovered Albariño in Barcelona a few years ago (it was from a Torres-owned winery, so it had at least some indirect connection to Catalonia). The Paco e Lola Albariño now has guaranteed availability in Ontario by the way - it just got added to the Vintages Essentials list. It's been a while since I bought it but it always seemed to be pretty reliable. We've also enjoyed the Portuguese version (Alvarinho) which often somehow tastes different (less citrus, more floral) despite growing just across the border.

    Speaking of Spanish wines, we opened a bottle of a Garnacha blend from sun-baked Calatayud last week which I bought on a recommendation without checking the alcohol content. It was 15% and it showed. Yikes.
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    jedijudy wrote: »
    Tomorrow!
    Tomorrow has happened! The Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc is as good as you wine experts have led me to believe!

    I think this is the first wine I've had since at least 2018. I love reds, but they give me terrible sinus problems and migraine. Whites give me a lesser version of those problems, so I decided wine was off my menu. There are several unopened bottles in the wine rack, and a bottle of prosecco that my dad gave me has been in the fridge for at least a year. I expect that I'll have excellent vinegar eventually.
  • RE: Albariño. I first had it in Toronto, at a long gone restaurant called Segovia. This was long enough ago that my cousin, my mother and I were relegated to the back room dining room because that's where smokinsg was allowed. Given the time, it was a consignment wine. I love it.

    Fun Factoid: It might be a Riesling clone, brought by German monks on the Camino. I don't know whether the DNA regarding Riesling, but I do know that Petit Menseng and Savignin have been ruled out.

    @Marsupial When you say that the 15%ABV showed with the Garnacha, do you mean that it was 'hot' in the glass, or that you felt the effects?

    The difference in the Spanish and the Portuguese iterations of the Albariño/Alvarinho could be soil, aging, technique, vessel, phase of the moon, manure-filled bull horn improperly aligned...
  • Gee D wrote: »
    Not sure about driving anywhere at the moment. You had somewhere safe to stay, we're concerned about motels, cafés and restaurants we don't know and so forth.

    We carefully planned our itinerary. Our town has had no active cases since April, and our stops were scheduled for country towns similarly blessed. Even when visiting cellar doors our group of 4 were with one exception the only customers. We found contact registration and sanitisation to be meticulous.

    Thanks - perhaps we're being over-cautious. Certainly contact registration around here is rigourous, and even I am now able to register via my phone.
  • The description that comes to mind for the Garnacha is ultraripe and boozy more than hot per se. It wasn’t disjointed; it was just really over the top.

    For what it’s worth, Robinson et al (Wine Grapes 2012) cite DNA profiling that make them think Albarino may be related to Loureiro.





  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    We had Spier A Million Trees Cabernet Sauvignon with the steak last night, and very nice too. And only 13.5%. I dislike this prevalent jacking up of the alcohol in reds to 14 and beyond, it adds nothing imo.

    I have a fondness for Spier wines, having stayed on the estate on a couple of occasions. It's near Stellenbosch, and the countryside is beautiful.
  • RE: Albariño. I first had it in Toronto, at a long gone restaurant called Segovia. This was long enough ago that my cousin, my mother and I were relegated to the back room dining room because that's where smokinsg was allowed. Given the time, it was a consignment wine. I love it.

    Fun Factoid: It might be a Riesling clone, brought by German monks on the Camino. I don't know whether the DNA regarding Riesling, but I do know that Petit Menseng and Savignin have been ruled out.

    @Marsupial When you say that the 15%ABV showed with the Garnacha, do you mean that it was 'hot' in the glass, or that you felt the effects?

    The difference in the Spanish and the Portuguese iterations of the Albariño/Alvarinho could be soil, aging, technique, vessel, phase of the moon, manure-filled bull horn improperly aligned...

    I was told in Spain that the Albariño grape was a cousin of riesling (but much better, I was told), brought there by Alsatian and Rhenish monks during the Cluniac incursion into Spanish monasticism-- while still resented (hey! it's only been 7 centuries) their regularization of the chaotic monastic situation in northern Spain had a lasting impact. These monasteries also provided hospitality and refuge to pilgrims to Santiago and were among the first hospitals in western Europe. Doubtless they regularized the vineyards as well, and one hopes that the pilgrims were given a mug or even two to restore themselves.
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