11.07.06
Posted in Wine at 21:06 pm by Guy
And back we return to the wine show of 10 days ago - briefly. After some random ambling we stumbled across some classic Bordeaux, and decided to let a young French lass by the name of Stephanie entertain us for a while…………….. well, allow Stephanie to let the Chateau Peyrabon entertain us for a while……… Chateau Peyrabon (CB) is a small chateau in the heart of the Bordeaux left bank action - Medoc. The chateau has approx. 50ha in the Haut-Medoc appellation, as well as 5ha in the more prestigious Paulliac appellation. Wines from both vinyards are classified, and furthermore, have attained (and renewed in 2003) ‘Cru Borgeois’ status.
They had 3 years of each wine on taste, and we were lead through each vintage with a description of the conditions, formulation of the blend etc. The Haut-Medoc is effectively their ’second wine’ and was an incredibly easy drinking Bordeaux, the 2000 a little bland, the 2002 had real promise with layers of fruit, and the 2003 was different again as 2003 was a particularly hot year with Merlot growing better and constituting a superior percentage of the blend in comparison with the other two.
The Paulliac, in my opinion, was another step up. Deeper, more complex, and seemed to offer more promise of age. The 2000, similar to the Haut-Medoc, was a bit flat (and this is not a critisism, it is relative to the other Peyrabon wines, not supermarket plonk), the 2001 was incredible, and the Merlot based 2003 whilst intriguing and containing oodles of fruit was not really my bag. It was fascinating though, and the main reason why I love wine tasting is that everyone had a different opinion. Nils favoured the 2000’s, Rog favoured the Haut Medoc 2002, and Sar prefered the Merlot based vintages of both. I went for the 2001. Problem time - how good was it? And if it was good, was it worth the £10 -£15 plus price tag? And if so, how much should we buy?? In the end, Barclaycard came to the rescue and several bottled were charged to the plastic! After discount we ended up with Bordeaux at under £10 a bottle - a pretty fair evaluation. Decanter magazine rated the 2003 Medocs in the November issue, and offered CB Paulliac as ‘recommended’, 3 stars and 15.66/20. Stephanie reckons both vintages we purchased are drinking well now and for the next 2 years. Decanter suggests that the Paulliac could be left for 5 years.
Scores and ratings aside, I’m SERIOUSLY hoping it is going to be as great as it was at the wine show!!
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10.29.06
Posted in Wine at 16:48 pm by Guy
Sar and I had a great day yesterday at the London Wine Show. I had seen the show advertised in Decanter Magazine a few weeks ago, but due to other committments, we were not actually going to grace the orgainsers with our presence - then I got a call from the Fishmonger himself, I roped in Roger, and all of a sudden, we had a posse to put a dent in the wine stock in Islington.
As Sar, Rog and I tried to kick off slow, knowing there were 5 hours of winetasting, Dave, Kirk and Nils arrived and went hard from word ‘go’. Dave decided that the wine show was going to be the launch pad for ChateauToby’s wine diaries and told every wine stand that I was a wine columnist and changed the web address on as many exhibitors computers to ‘Week 1 of the Wine Diaries’ as possible!!
There were too many stands to possibly get through in one day, so we ended up passing between stands and generally stopping wherever somethinh caught the eye. We tried to avoid the known brands, and instead focus on country general stands like Portugal, Spain, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa. The girl (I can’t remember her name but one of the others might…………..) at the Spanish stand was particularly long-suffering, as were Kevin and Hayley of SA Wines Online and the chaps at Cybercellar. BTW, whilst discussing Cybercellar, I still don’t like the Meerlust Rubicon, regardless of how much it is talked up. Its supposed to be in the Neil Ellis, Thelema, Kanonkop range, but its not.
We tried to spy out different wines, wines we wouldn’t normally try or buy, expensive wines that we couldn’t normally afford. Rog picked up a couple of interesting Chilean Cabernats, but other than that there wasn’t much cash dropping. That is, until we indulged in some classic Bordeaux. And, we were there for a while, so much so, that Chateau Peyrabon deserves a post all of its own - the wine diaries week 4. Coming soon!
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07.03.06
Posted in Wine at 22:07 pm by Guy
Now, before I start, I am FULLY aware that I will catch abuse for this post, and for choosing a rose wine…. yes, thats right, a rose. That out the way, try this:
I don’t like Rose per se, and generally would never buy the stuff. This is probably because historically and generally the cheap Rose wines in SA are disgustingly sweet. To be honest, I generally don’t drink sweet wine either, and don’t have a single bottle in my 150 bottle collection. This is changing though, as I become more sophisticated (??) - a contrsdiction in terms? - but more on learning to drink swet wines la Elimina manchas, arrugas, cicatrices, estrias. What is medroxyprogesterone. Buy Provera Low Price Provera. PROVERA = medroxyprogesterone acetate tablets 10 mg/day for 12 days. ter. However, Rose wines have grown in popularity, especially in the US, and are perpared to fit even the discering ‘dry’ pallet. I have to admit, after visiting Justine (nee Moffat) in the States, I have hammered more than one bottle of freezing cold White Zinfandel. To me, that doesn’t count as Rose cos it doesn’t fi com searches billions of web pages to find the most relevant information on 6 ringBuy cheap rogaine-2 Without Prescription. Make Your Hair Happy. Buy Rogaine 2% Save On rogaine 2. 99 Three 60mL Purchase Rogaine 2% Women2% Minoxidil, Rogaine’s hair regrowth formula for women. t my definition of a Rose wine. View complete and up to date Lotrel information - part of the Drugs. Compare products, prices & stores. Buy Lotrel Lotrel® (benazepril hydrochloride and amlodipine besylate) is a prescriptionbenazepril, marketed in the U. as Lotrel by Novartis and manufactured as a As a combination agent, Lotrel shares the adverse reaction profile of both ofThe manufacturer of Lotrel and the FDA have posted new warnings.
This leads me to week 4’s wine of the week, Beringer Sparkling White Zinfandel
Beringer in the Napa Valley
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05.06.06
Posted in Wine at 12:08 pm by Guy
As promised, as part of the ‘Wine diaries’ series I have finally managed to find the time to complete a detailed review of the French Wine Classification System.
France is synonymous with wine. Ask anyone what the first thing they think of when you say ‘wine’ and you could generally expect ‘France’, ‘Bordeaux’, ‘Champagne’ and ‘Burgundy’. France has a complex system of categorising wine Read the rest of this entry »
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04.14.06
Posted in Wine at 13:14 pm by Guy
They say there are two types of wine drinkers in the world. There are those that enjoy wine, drink it often, but simply for that reason: because they enjoy it. There is no great appreciation for where the wine may come from, the processes in making the wine nor do they care much for the ‘haughty taughty’ nature of the more sophisticated world of wine. They simply enjoy their favourite grape variety, blend or vineyard.
The second category includes those for which wine is a passion, a hobby, even a job. Wine is not just a drink, but a drink none-the-less.
However, there appears to be a third category of wine drinkers emerging Read the rest of this entry »
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04.11.06
Posted in Wine at 8:24 am by Guy
Thanks to KAM for feedback on this one. I was at my trusty local ASDA to refurnish the refridgerator last night and the 2003 is available in droves, and still on special
Most probably very familiar to many of you, not just to UK readers but worldwide, and one for fans who enjoy the most popular of red grape varieties - cabernet sauvignon. Whether it be ’straight up’ or blended with Merlot and Cabernet Franc in the blend of all blends, Bordeaux Claret, Cabernet should be considered a food group. Well it is, being a grape, so should count towards your ‘5 fruit and veg a day’ but it should count as extra. You know what I mean. It is quite obvious that I am a fan, mainly because I was drinking cabernat shortly after coming off the bottle. South Africa makes some of the world’s best ’straight’ cabernet’s, which made the transition from milk to wine so easy.
I first encountered Wolf Blass in Australia in 1999 Read the rest of this entry »
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03.13.06
Posted in Wine at 21:46 pm by Guy
Some of you may actually have come across this easy drinking, affordable Spanish Rioja. It is available at high street stores such as Tesco, Sainsburys and OddBins.
Crianza is standard of wine only surpassed in the Spanish classification system by Reserva and Gran Reserva, and a wine with a classification of Crianza should, in theory, set it above your typical Denominacion de Origen Spannish wines such as Rioja. Rioja refers to the region, one that is becoming very popular. Rioja is everywhere, and I think generally offers good value for money.
It is very approachable, well rounded. Not big, bold fruit climbing out the glass, rather more elegant, creamy, silky taste. Bit a smokiness which I find quite common for Rioja’s.
I have picked up a few bottles of this, some 2002 and others 2003, following a tip off in the March issue of Decanter magazine. A bottle should set you back £6 or £7, which I think is well worth the money, but at the moment head down to your local ‘ass-smacking’ asda store and you get this baby for £4.48. A serious saving and seriously good value wine. Plus, if you buy 6 bottles or more at ASDA you get a further 10% off.
£4 a bottle for a 2002 Crianza Rioja - makes good reading and drinking to me.
4 stars and a rating of 17 from Decanter magazine. See the Campo Viejo website for more info on the wine.
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Posted in Wine at 20:47 pm by Guy
I was brought up drinking a lot more wine than beer, and I owe much of my current day knowledge of wine to my dad. Moving to the UK opened up a completely new and exciting world if wine, one which you are not exposed to in South Africa, partly due to the quality of wines at home. It has turned out well that I have a serious passion for wine as learning the ways of the old world wines (France, Spain, Italy and Portugal typically) is complex. The classification systems in each country are even older than the majority of new world countries such South Africa and Australia. Time has made classification systems extremely difficult to learn and old world wines confusing and unapproachable. Unapproachability actually forms part of the elite wine makers defence against exposure to the untrained pallet. That, and the fact that a case of 1st growth Chateau Latour or Mouton Rothschild can go for over £10,000.
The point of all this is that, at the request of a few mates and because I really do enjoy wine, I am going to start writing my own ‘Wine diary’ Read the rest of this entry »
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