|
Home > Archive > UK gardening > November 2006 > Slightly OT
You are viewing an archived Text-only version of the thread.
To view this thread in it's original format and/or if you want to reply to
this thread please [click here]
|
|
| MikeCT 2006-11-20, 9:25 am |
| Whilst searching out a few wines for Christmas, I was advised not to
consider any bottles with plants, animals or birds on the label. Those with
would undoubtedly be naff. Don't say you haven't been warned!
MikeCT
| |
| Bioboffin 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
| MikeCT wrote:
> Whilst searching out a few wines for Christmas, I was advised not to
> consider any bottles with plants, animals or birds on the label.
> Those with would undoubtedly be naff. Don't say you haven't been
> warned!
> MikeCT
Although this may well be broadly helpful, sadly you need a bit more
knowledge (and happily a lot more practice) to be certain.
:-)
--
John
| |
| June Hughes 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
| In message <ABj8h.47140$163.5842@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net>, MikeCT
<mikect@virginsnow.net> writes
>Whilst searching out a few wines for Christmas, I was advised not to
>consider any bottles with plants, animals or birds on the label. Those with
>would undoubtedly be naff. Don't say you haven't been warned!
>
I know Famous Grouse is spirit and not wine, but it is lovely and has a
grouse on the bottle.
--
June Hughes
| |
| MikeCT 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
|
"Bioboffin" replied:
>
> Although this may well be broadly helpful, sadly you need a bit more
> knowledge (and happily a lot more practice) to be certain.
>
> :-)
---
So what do I do John? Risk buying a few bottles with plants, animals or
birds on the labels, open one or two and find too late that they are indeed
naff. Or live in hope that friends might just have bottles with natural
history subjects on the labels. Decisions, decisions!
Mike (Hic.) CT
| |
| Bioboffin 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
| MikeCT wrote:
> "Bioboffin" replied:
> ---
> So what do I do John? Risk buying a few bottles with plants, animals
> or birds on the labels, open one or two and find too late that they
> are indeed naff. Or live in hope that friends might just have bottles
> with natural history subjects on the labels. Decisions, decisions!
>
> Mike (Hic.) CT
My advice (Mary will tell you this is mostly worthless) is to buy what you
like, decide whether you like it or not, and then buy a lot of the ones you
like! You could go to a 'wine-tasting' class, obviously, but you will
probably be expected to spit it out after each taste...
| |
|
|
"MikeCT" <mikect@virginsnow.net> wrote in message
news:ABj8h.47140$163.5842@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
> Whilst searching out a few wines for Christmas, I was advised not to
> consider any bottles with plants, animals or birds on the label. Those
with
> would undoubtedly be naff. Don't say you haven't been warned!
>
What nonsense! 'Il Papavero', for example, is an excellent wine (e.g. Sunday
Times Wine Club's most re-ordered red wine for the past three years) and has
a picture of a poppy on the label.
My advice, FWIW, would be to resist being influenced by the appearance of
the label, regardless of what is or isn't depicted on it, and to try the
wine, if possible, before you buy.
| |
| La Puce 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
|
BAC wrote:
> What nonsense! 'Il Papavero', for example, is an excellent wine (e.g. Sunday
> Times Wine Club's most re-ordered red wine for the past three years) and has
> a picture of a poppy on the label.
>
> My advice, FWIW, would be to resist being influenced by the appearance of
> the label, regardless of what is or isn't depicted on it, and to try the
> wine, if possible, before you buy.
Bought the Boutinot 'Old Git' for a friend's birthday (on
recommendation). Returned and bought 5 more bottles, I liked it very
much indeed, whether or not there's a picture of err... an old git on
it :o))
| |
| June Hughes 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
| In message <4fk8h.43677$Ib.15292@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net>, MikeCT
<mikect@virginsnow.net> writes
>
>"Bioboffin" replied:
>---
>So what do I do John? Risk buying a few bottles with plants, animals or
>birds on the labels, open one or two and find too late that they are indeed
>naff. Or live in hope that friends might just have bottles with natural
>history subjects on the labels. Decisions, decisions!
>
Buy it from Waitrose. I've been shopping there over 21 years and have
never had a naff bottle of wine yet.
--
June Hughes
| |
| Bioboffin 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
| June Hughes wrote:
> In message <4fk8h.43677$Ib.15292@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net>, MikeCT
> <mikect@virginsnow.net> writes
> Buy it from Waitrose. I've been shopping there over 21 years and have
> never had a naff bottle of wine yet.
You've been lucky!
| |
| Alan Holmes 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
|
"June Hughes" <junehughes@theacct.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1LxyDVKmjcYFFwJr@theacct.demon.co.uk...
> In message <ABj8h.47140$163.5842@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net>, MikeCT
> <mikect@virginsnow.net> writes
> I know Famous Grouse is spirit and not wine, but it is lovely and has a
> grouse on the bottle.
I spend a lot of time grousing!
Aklan
> --
> June Hughes
| |
| June Hughes 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
| In message <DFk8h.5500$d4.5091@newsfe4-win.ntli.net>, Bioboffin
<Reply_to_group@please.invalid> writes
>June Hughes wrote:
>
>You've been lucky!
>
Why? Have you?
--
June Hughes
| |
| Bioboffin 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
| June Hughes wrote:
> In message <DFk8h.5500$d4.5091@newsfe4-win.ntli.net>, Bioboffin
> <Reply_to_group@please.invalid> writes
> Why? Have you?
Any supplier can have a 'corked' bottle of wine. Not their fault, but to
suggest that a supplier is always going to be OK is disingenuous, don't you
think?
| |
| Jim Paterson 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
|
"MikeCT" <mikect@virginsnow.net> wrote in message
news:ABj8h.47140$163.5842@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
> Whilst searching out a few wines for Christmas, I was advised not to
> consider any bottles with plants, animals or birds on the label. Those
> with
> would undoubtedly be naff. Don't say you haven't been warned!
>
> MikeCT
Never had to buy wine as I get given loads of the stuff from grateful
customers. Usually Christmas time sees me getting in sufficient bottles to
las for ages, Not being a connosseur I couldn't say whether or not a
particular bottle is good or not but they get used up all the same.
Jim
| |
| La Puce 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
|
Jim Paterson wrote:
> Never had to buy wine as I get given loads of the stuff from grateful
> customers. Usually Christmas time sees me getting in sufficient bottles to
> las for ages, Not being a connosseur I couldn't say whether or not a
> particular bottle is good or not but they get used up all the same.
You can't say that!! There's good wine and there's cooking wine. If I
drink a wine which makes my ears feel as if they'd drop if I drank any
more, it ends up next to the bottle of vinegar ;o)
| |
|
| On 20/11/06 16:51, in article M2l8h.22977$Xh3.15655@newsfe6-win.ntli.net,
"Bioboffin" <Reply_to_group@please.invalid> wrote:
> June Hughes wrote:
>
> Any supplier can have a 'corked' bottle of wine. Not their fault, but to
> suggest that a supplier is always going to be OK is disingenuous, don't you
> think?
>
>
The supermarkets have huge buying power and if they have a good wine buyer,
are in a position to get some very good stuff. Of course, some chateaux
won't sell through supermarkets, either because they think it 'lowers the
tone' for them or because their output is just too small for supermarkets to
be interested in. One of our favourite Chardonnays is Montes Alpha from
Chile which sells at Majestic for 9.99 and sometimes at Morrisons for 7.99,
so it's worth keeping an eye open!
OTOH Le Troubadour from Chateau Romanin has a rather sickly (to my mind) pic
of a languid lady and gent on it but I know it's a delicious wine, as is
Cloudy Bay with a mountain scape on the label and a setting (or rising) sun
on their Pelorus and Fetzer with a tree and a vineyard. ;-)
But vineyards can go through good and bad patches. We fell in love with a
delicious white when we were in Provence and I have tried to buy it in UK
since but was told it had become too 'unreliable' as to quality and the
normal stockists weren't bringing it in. Later, I heard from another source
that there had been a divorce and a huge disruption following on from that
and thus the wine had gone downhill for a time. But given a bit of luck and
a following wind, it will pick up in the future.
The thing is to taste lots of different types of grape from different
regions and decide which type you like best and then experiment further
within that range, trying oaked, unoaked etc. Write down the names of the
ones you really like and then you'll remember them when you get to the shop
and are confronted with literally hundreds! And remember - if you don't
like a wine for drinking, cook with it so nothing's wasted! ;-)
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
| |
| judith lea 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
|
Sacha wrote:
> OTOH Le Troubadour from Chateau Romanin has a rather sickly (to my mind) =
pic
> of a languid lady and gent on it but I know it's a delicious wine, as is
> Cloudy Bay with a mountain scape on the label and a setting (or rising) =
sun
> on their Pelorus and Fetzer with a tree and a vineyard. ;-)
Oh my Goodnes, Cloudy Bay, (New Zealand, Sauvignon Blance or
Chardonnay) - Heavenly but also with a hellish price. I can't afford
to drink Cloudy Bay too often, even if I could get it, it is a small
production and difficult to get at a reasonable price. Jackson Estate
@ =A39.99 at Sainsbury's comes a very, very close second and it is the
most marvellous, gooseberry smelling nectar I have ever tasted and that
includes wines from the best vineyards and appelation controlee in
France or indeed elsewhere - of course, it is a matter of taste and my
husband would disagree awith my choice, he would poo poo this and say
that a good Burgundy by Bouchard, Pere et Fils is far superior - all it
really proves is that a wine is good only if you enjoy it and I have
enjoyed wines that cost the minimum.
| |
| David Rance 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
| On Mon, 20 Nov 2006 La Puce wrote:
>
>Bought the Boutinot 'Old Git' for a friend's birthday (on
>recommendation). Returned and bought 5 more bottles, I liked it very
>much indeed, whether or not there's a picture of err... an old git on
>it :o))
>
I bought some with the label "Pisse-dru" and it was fine.
David
--
David Rance david.rance@rance.org.uk http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk
Fido Address: 2:252/110 writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
| |
| La Puce 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
|
David Rance wrote:
[color=darkred]
> I bought some with the label "Pisse-dru" and it was fine.
LOL!!
| |
| Bob Hobden 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
|
"judith lea" wrote ...
Sacha wrote:
> OTOH Le Troubadour from Chateau Romanin has a rather sickly (to my mind)
> pic
> of a languid lady and gent on it but I know it's a delicious wine, as is
> Cloudy Bay with a mountain scape on the label and a setting (or rising)
> sun
> on their Pelorus and Fetzer with a tree and a vineyard. ;-)
Oh my Goodnes, Cloudy Bay, (New Zealand, Sauvignon Blance or
Chardonnay) - Heavenly but also with a hellish price. I can't afford
to drink Cloudy Bay too often, even if I could get it, it is a small
production and difficult to get at a reasonable price. Jackson Estate
@ £9.99 at Sainsbury's comes a very, very close second and it is the
most marvellous, gooseberry smelling nectar I have ever tasted and that
includes wines from the best vineyards and appelation controlee in
France or indeed elsewhere - of course, it is a matter of taste and my
husband would disagree awith my choice, he would poo poo this and say
that a good Burgundy by Bouchard, Pere et Fils is far superior - all it
really proves is that a wine is good only if you enjoy it and I have
enjoyed wines that cost the minimum.
Sue and I don't like heavily oaked wines (do people really like their wine
tasting of sawdust?) so a lot of the new world wines which tend to be
heavily oaked (they use oak chippings in their stainless steel vats!) are
horrid to our taste. We also don't like the Chardonnay grape, makes an
"oily" wine.
We tend to go for French reds, Cotes de Rhone (Cellier de Dauphine is cheap
and very drinkable), Boujoulais Village (Negocient - Louis Jadot, is
excellent value), Fleurie, Margaux, Volney and St.Emilion (the last two are
overpriced and over hyped these days IMO).
Whites and Rose we buy from New Hall Vineyard in Essex (biggest acreage of
vines in the UK), has that superb and distinctive English wine taste
(because the vines are under stress in our climate?) that no other white
wine seems to be able to match. He makes Dry, Medium Dry and Sparkling as
well as Light Red (Rose) and Red.
--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK
| |
| Martin 2006-11-20, 1:25 pm |
| On Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:56:16 GMT, "Bioboffin" =
<Reply_to_group@please.invalid>
wrote:
>MikeCT wrote:
>
>My advice (Mary will tell you this is mostly worthless) is to buy what =
you=20
>like, decide whether you like it or not, and then buy a lot of the ones =
you=20
>like! You could go to a 'wine-tasting' class, obviously, but you will=20
>probably be expected to spit it out after each taste...
You could have done a lot worse than buying up your local Lidl's stock of=
2004
Haut Medoc Bordeaux 2 bottles for GBP5 in the Netherlands.
--=20
Martin
| |
|
|
"David Rance" <david.rance@SPAMOFFrance.org.uk> wrote in message
news:2J3rpIGaReYFFwpi@david.rance.org.uk...
> On Mon, 20 Nov 2006 La Puce wrote:
>
> I bought some with the label "Pisse-dru" and it was fine.
>
I used to drink an excellent Aussie shiraz called 'willy-willy'. Can't
remember what was on the label ...
| |
| judith lea 2006-11-20, 5:25 pm |
| Bob Hobden wrote:
>
> Sue and I don't like heavily oaked wines (do people really like their wine
> tasting of sawdust?)
Nor me Bob that's why I like a Sauvignon Blanc rather than a
Chardonnay.
Fleurie, Margaux, Volney and St.Emilion (the last two are
> overpriced
Now you're talikng, but I find Margaux quite expensive and more
expensive than St. Emilion.
Did you know that the Margaux grape is the only French "real" grape
left. All the others were lost some years ago to some disease and
America and Australia had to send back to France cuttings of their
original vines? Margaux only survived because it was an enclosed
vineyard.
I have a friend who owns a share in a British vineyard, they make an
excellent "Champagne" also it can't be called that because it is not
made in the Champagne region of France. It won an award during blind
tastings, in France!! It's called Nytimber and was served to the Queen
at a dinner last year.
| |
| Gill Matthews 2006-11-20, 5:25 pm |
|
"BAC" <casswalk@NOSPAMdircon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1164038215.14223.0@proxy00.news.clara.net...
>
> "MikeCT" <mikect@virginsnow.net> wrote in message
> news:ABj8h.47140$163.5842@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
> with
>
> What nonsense! 'Il Papavero', for example, is an excellent wine (e.g.
> Sunday
> Times Wine Club's most re-ordered red wine for the past three years) and
> has
> a picture of a poppy on the label.
>
> My advice, FWIW, would be to resist being influenced by the appearance of
> the label, regardless of what is or isn't depicted on it, and to try the
> wine, if possible, before you buy.
>
If you are not just looking for the odd bottle places like Majestic wine
warehouse and oddbinns do regular tastings. I certainly enjoyed a cote du
rhone with a picture of a donkey on the label, although that might have been
symptomatic.
Gill M
| |
|
| On 20/11/06 20:53, in article 4seiobFs9a5aU1@mid.individual.net, "Gill
Matthews" <gill@termagant.co.ukwhich account I no longer have> wrote:
>
> "BAC" <casswalk@NOSPAMdircon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:1164038215.14223.0@proxy00.news.clara.net...
> If you are not just looking for the odd bottle places like Majestic wine
> warehouse and oddbinns do regular tastings. I certainly enjoyed a cote du
> rhone with a picture of a donkey on the label, although that might have been
> symptomatic.
>
Love Cote du Rhone wines and love donkeys, too. Please name the wine!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
| |
| La Puce 2006-11-21, 9:25 am |
|
BAC wrote:
> I used to drink an excellent Aussie shiraz called 'willy-willy'. Can't
> remember what was on the label ...
Surely not. Years ago we found a wine with our family name on it. My
uncle searched the area (Dordogne/Aquitaine) and found that the chap
was a cousin of his dad (my grand dad) and had a Medoc appellation. We
all got really excited and bought lots of bottles - we're a very very
big family, so we made that long lost cousin a small fortune. I don't
really know what happened, but the wine was terrible - as thick as
cough mixture and so heavy and bitter, it would induce a red nose just
by sniffing it. I still have a bottle, which I show to friends proudly,
and just say it's got to mature another year, at least ... ;o)
| |
| Bob Hobden 2006-11-21, 1:25 pm |
|
"judith lea" wrote >>
> I have a friend who owns a share in a British vineyard, they make an
> excellent "Champagne" also it can't be called that because it is not
> made in the Champagne region of France. It won an award during blind
> tastings, in France!! It's called Nytimber and was served to the Queen
> at a dinner last year.
>
Sssh. Don't let everyone know how good most English wines are, they are
expensive enough already. :-)
It's our climate, I understand the French are now buying up English
vineyards because theirs are getting too hot in summer.
http://www.newhallwines.co.uk/ is where we get our whites.
--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK
| |
|
|
"Bob Hobden" <bobh@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:4sgto1Fv8pm8U1@mid.individual.net...
>
> "judith lea" wrote >>
> Sssh. Don't let everyone know how good most English wines are, they are
> expensive enough already. :-)
>
> It's our climate, I understand the French are now buying up English
> vineyards because theirs are getting too hot in summer.
>
> http://www.newhallwines.co.uk/ is where we get our whites.
Halfpenny Green vineyard
http://www.halfpenny-green-vineyards.co.uk/
has some good wines, and the only English white wine vinegar, which is
excellent.
| |
| June Hughes 2006-11-21, 5:25 pm |
| In message <1164134024.7843.0@proxy02.news.clara.net>, BAC
<casswalk@NOSPAMdircon.co.uk> writes
>
>"Bob Hobden" <bobh@invalid.com> wrote in message
>news:4sgto1Fv8pm8U1@mid.individual.net...
>
>Halfpenny Green vineyard
>
>http://www.halfpenny-green-vineyards.co.uk/
>
>has some good wines, and the only English white wine vinegar, which is
>excellent.
>
>
Carr & Bury used to do lovely wines but that is twenty years ago! We
don't drink much of the white but that was lovely.
--
June Hughes
|
|
|
|
|