Imagine my surprise when my friend promised to fetch me a bottle of Cuvée Dom Pérignon 1976 for drinking on Christmas day. This wine had been given to him by a family member decades ago and he had carefully kept it in the cool and dark. When I opened the bottle there was very little partial pressure of carbon dioxide waiting to push the cork out. The shrunken cork had to be twisted and pulled but it came out with little difficulty, which is not always the case with an older champagne. There was none of the hissing our popping sound when a younger vintage is opened. The wine had been chilled to the perfect temperature and the bottle had not been shaken during transport but I was expecting some gas to come out of the bottle; there was nothing that I could hear or feel. We poured the champagne normally and the gas really started to fizz in the glass. All of the carbon di-oxide had dissolved within the wine over its long period of cellaring. The wine produced very fine bubbles. During its maturation the champagne had turned almost golden in colour. It had the typical yeast and bread scent on the nose. It tasted fantastic; it was youthful and fresh with a medium to full body and with well integrated acidity to keep it as fresh as when it was first bottled. The flavours were complex and concentrated; more concentrated than any other vintage champagne I have tasted. For me it had a creamy and nutty flavour. This champagne was a real honour and treat to open and drink. 1976 was a very hot year but the grapes obviously were able to maintain sufficient levels of acidity to keep this wine fresh 35 years later.
Drinking this made the wine tasting year for me and I shall remember the flavour for a very long time.
Later, for dessert, we drank a bottle of Benoît Lahaye Brut Essential Non -Vintage Champagne as a comparison. This up and coming champagne is much finer tasting and although it will not age as gracefully as the Dom Pérignon it still shows all the typical attributes of a Montagne de Reims appellation.
To buy a bottle of Cuvée Dom Pérignon, now, it will cost you around four hundred pounds. So this wine has appreciated considerably in value over 35 years; but is it worth it ? I think so. It could be kept as an investment. But, surely, wine was made to be drunk and eventually all wine becomes either past its best or ruined from a drinking point of view? There are many thousands of cases hidden away as investments which will never be appreciated by drinkers whilst the wines are at their peak. The 1976 Cuvée Dom Pérignon is now at its peak and we should be able to enjoy it.
Please consider this: expensive personal computers do not improve with age they only deteriorate and quickly become obsolete: they are destined to be thrown away. This is not so with a good bottle of wine.
A good bottle of Montagne de Reims vintage champagne can be bought from a maker such as Benoît Lahaye for much less than one hundred pounds and if it is kept in a cool dark place for twenty years or so it will improve in both flavour and complexity. That is where the true value for money lies. A good wine can also be appreciated across the generations. Patience truly is a virtue as far as some wines are concerned and it could save you a lot of money. Patience will enable you to appreciate the finest wines at a fraction of their cost as a long term monetary investment. So select wisely and keep your wine carefully.
The current retail price for Cuvée Dom Pérignon is around 95 pounds. What will it be worth in in 2037? It will certainly be worth drinking.
Wednesday 28 December 2011
Tuesday 27 December 2011
Blind Tasting
It was the week before Christmas and we were back in France to celebrate a birthday party. At lunch one afternoon my brother- in- law put us to the test trying to identify the wine. We were eating free range roast chicken and had downed half a bottle of Mercurey Les Montelons 2008. He then produced another bottle of red wine but with the label covered. We had to guess the wine. As the shape of the bottle was the same as a Burgundy we were already getting some clues. My wife and I were then invited to smell the wine first but not to taste it. The wine had a slightly vegetal scent which led us to believe that it might have been another red Burgundy. We then tasted it and immediately we could sense the spicy flavour of Syrah grapes and the wine was very tannic. All the time my brother- in- law was trying to lead us astray by mentioning the pope. Châteauneuf-du-Pape usually contains Syrah in its blend but this wine had an overwhelming taste of Syrah. We correctly guessed that it was from the northern Rhône region. My wife and I could not narrow it down further. The blind tasted wine was in fact Domaine du Pavillon Mercurol Crozes-Hermitage 2006. This wine was a good example of a northern Rhône appellation with red fruit, spices and lychees on the palate coupled with a slightly vegetal and floral aroma on the nose. The wine also was well structured with good strong tannins which were now starting to soften.
We had done quite well to identify where the wine had come from and the wine itself had shown good regional character. It is also a special tribute to my wife's palate as she has never had any formal education in wine tasting.
Tasting wine blind and identifying where the wine comes from is one of the most difficult things that I have ever done and whenever I have taken wine exams very few points were awarded for specifically identifying the wine. It is almost impossible to identify a wine unless you have drunk lots of it. Whilst doing my wine courses as an amateur in the company of industry professionals I have seen some of my colleagues making some bizarre choices during the tasting exams. One of my colleagues mistook a Tawny Port for a Rutherglen Muscat fortified wine. This happened because he was under extreme pressure and had temporarily lost his sense of taste and reason under the examination conditions; something which he never would have done whilst playing a game of spot the wine in the living room. Our senses cannot always be perfect and this is what makes wine tasting and assessment very difficult. One of my teachers, a Master of Wine, was unable to spot that a wine we were tasting was corked. Her excuse was that some days she was less sensitive to trichloroanisole and tribromoanisole which are the two chemicals responsible for the musty cork taint of spoilt wine. It was probably true but just goes to show that Masters of Wine can be just as fallible as the rest of us.
Mercurey Les Montelons 2008 can be obtained from Carrefour for around 10 Euros a bottle and it is a jolly fine wine it too.
Domaine du Pavillon Mercurol Crozes-Hermitage 2006 can also be obtained in Carrefour for 6 to 7 Euros a bottle. It is great wine with regional character and it is even better value for money.
We had done quite well to identify where the wine had come from and the wine itself had shown good regional character. It is also a special tribute to my wife's palate as she has never had any formal education in wine tasting.
Tasting wine blind and identifying where the wine comes from is one of the most difficult things that I have ever done and whenever I have taken wine exams very few points were awarded for specifically identifying the wine. It is almost impossible to identify a wine unless you have drunk lots of it. Whilst doing my wine courses as an amateur in the company of industry professionals I have seen some of my colleagues making some bizarre choices during the tasting exams. One of my colleagues mistook a Tawny Port for a Rutherglen Muscat fortified wine. This happened because he was under extreme pressure and had temporarily lost his sense of taste and reason under the examination conditions; something which he never would have done whilst playing a game of spot the wine in the living room. Our senses cannot always be perfect and this is what makes wine tasting and assessment very difficult. One of my teachers, a Master of Wine, was unable to spot that a wine we were tasting was corked. Her excuse was that some days she was less sensitive to trichloroanisole and tribromoanisole which are the two chemicals responsible for the musty cork taint of spoilt wine. It was probably true but just goes to show that Masters of Wine can be just as fallible as the rest of us.
Mercurey Les Montelons 2008 can be obtained from Carrefour for around 10 Euros a bottle and it is a jolly fine wine it too.
Domaine du Pavillon Mercurol Crozes-Hermitage 2006 can also be obtained in Carrefour for 6 to 7 Euros a bottle. It is great wine with regional character and it is even better value for money.
Friday 2 December 2011
Rise in liver disease
Once again we are reading about some alarming statistics regarding liver disease in the young. In former years cirrhosis of the liver was largely confined to late middle age drinkers who had subjected themselves to a life time of abuse. Now this dangerous disease is spreading to heavy drinkers under the age of 35. Despite the blandishments and warnings of the government, the health service and organisations such as Balance the problem seems to be increasing. It is now time for the individual to take responsibility for their own health in the respect of drinking. If you drink too much alcohol over an extended period of time you will damage your health. How much you can drink without damaging your health is subject to much debate but if you stick to the government recommendations, you as a healthy person will continue to keep a healthy liver. Some people who have had other forms liver disease or who cannot control their drinking or mood when they imbibe should really not touch alcohol at all.
Over the last 30 years or so I have seen a complete change in our drinking habits. When I was young, men mostly drank beer which was around 3.5 % alcohol. Two pints a day would take you up to the government's recommended limit but of course most people did not drink everyday and most people did not drink at home. Party time was usually limited to Friday night. When I was young women drank much less than men. The price of a pint of beer or a shot of whiskey was much more expensive in comparison to wages. Supermarkets did not sell wine , spirits and beer and there were no special offers. Even though the average person drunk less than today there were still plenty of alcoholics. One of my best friends was killed by alcohol and no amount persuasion or pleading by me or his family would stop him drinking . He was an intelligent man and knew what he was doing to his body. I estimated that he drank more than the equivalent of a bottle of scotch a day. Think about it: a bottle of scotch contains 30 units of alcohol. The average healthy man can eliminate 1 unit of alcohol per hour so this meant that his blood was awash with alcohol all day every day. Alcoholism is a terrible addiction and, from a social point of view, it probably does more damage than smoking.
A couple of years ago I worked in Bournemouth, a university town, where young people were out every night. Once or twice a week I would go out for a pub meal with my colleagues. In the centre of town the pubs were full of students and young people having mid-week parties. All of these young people were friendly, intelligent and responsible, in my opinion. When I talked to them about their drinking they all told me that they drank before they arrived at the pub. When I went back to my flat at about 1030 or 11pm the same students were off to clubs. This was in the middle of the week! Their behaviour was confirmed by the taxi drivers who took me home. Many students were taking taxis from their digs to the pub at about 8 pm in the evening already "tanked up". At weekends whenever I stayed over and my wife came to visit me, we often saw students and young people piling out of buses at 11pm to go to the all night clubs. We were going to bed! Of course, my wife and I did this sort of thing when we were young but we could only afford to go to all night clubs once a month or so.
Times have changed so much and the sort of drinking that I saw was far in excess of recommended limits.The health professionals would probably blanch if they really knew how much alcohol is being consumed by the young on a daily basis.
No one, it seems, takes any notice of the recommended limits. But everyone should realise that if you drink too much every day you will become an alcoholic and you will seriously damage your mental and physical health. You will also damage your relationship with your friends and loved ones.
Consider this, if you drink cheap alcohol at home before going out to a pub and then on to a party and do this only a couple of times per week you are almost certainly drinking too much. Why not give your liver a rest for two consecutive days a week to allow your body to flush out the alcohol completely. Drink higher quality wines but drink less. Severely limit your consumption of alcopops or fore go them completely. Drink cask conditioned beer at low alcohol levels. Only drink spirits on special occasions and stick to higher quality. You can buy a really good bottle of wine for less than ten pounds and if you limit yourself to half a bottle a day five days a week you can enjoy your drinking safely and save money. Do not drink plonk just for the sake of it. Every now and then you can allow yourself to drink a little more without endangering your health. What could be worse than not being able to drink the beverage of the the gods because you have become an alcoholic or your damaged liver can no longer take alcohol .
Of course, excessive drinking is not confined to the young as the middle aged are now doing something similar, but at home. My recommendations still apply, so forget the cheap plonk and buy yourself a good quality bottle of wine then share it with your friend or spouse over a good meal. Above all, limit yourself to the safe consumption of alcohol. It will save you money in the long run and could even save your life.
Here are the drink aware recommendations:
"The government advises that people should not regularly drink more than the daily unit guidelines of 3-4 units of alcohol for men (equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% beer) and 2-3 units of alcohol for women (equivalent to a 175 ml glass of wine). ‘Regularly’ means drinking every day or most days of the week".
I am naturally a sceptic and have my own views on this. But when I add up the amount that my wife and I consume it is actually less than this. Two or three days a week we do not drink at all and when we do open a bottle of wine with a meal we only drink half the bottle and seal it. This is simply a commonsense and comfortable approach for us but for others it may be different. We are not averse to drinking more when we have friends around for dinner as there is no need to be sanctimonious about enjoying a few glasses of wine or guilty about exceeding the pronouncements of doctors and health officials.
Here is a way of calculating the unit equivalent of alcohol:
Strength (%) x Volume (ml) ÷ 1000 = number of units.
A 175 ml glass of wine at 14% alcohol by volume therefore contains 175 x14 /1000 = 2.45 units. There is some food for thought here. 175 ml is about a quarter of a bottle.
Over the last 30 years or so I have seen a complete change in our drinking habits. When I was young, men mostly drank beer which was around 3.5 % alcohol. Two pints a day would take you up to the government's recommended limit but of course most people did not drink everyday and most people did not drink at home. Party time was usually limited to Friday night. When I was young women drank much less than men. The price of a pint of beer or a shot of whiskey was much more expensive in comparison to wages. Supermarkets did not sell wine , spirits and beer and there were no special offers. Even though the average person drunk less than today there were still plenty of alcoholics. One of my best friends was killed by alcohol and no amount persuasion or pleading by me or his family would stop him drinking . He was an intelligent man and knew what he was doing to his body. I estimated that he drank more than the equivalent of a bottle of scotch a day. Think about it: a bottle of scotch contains 30 units of alcohol. The average healthy man can eliminate 1 unit of alcohol per hour so this meant that his blood was awash with alcohol all day every day. Alcoholism is a terrible addiction and, from a social point of view, it probably does more damage than smoking.
A couple of years ago I worked in Bournemouth, a university town, where young people were out every night. Once or twice a week I would go out for a pub meal with my colleagues. In the centre of town the pubs were full of students and young people having mid-week parties. All of these young people were friendly, intelligent and responsible, in my opinion. When I talked to them about their drinking they all told me that they drank before they arrived at the pub. When I went back to my flat at about 1030 or 11pm the same students were off to clubs. This was in the middle of the week! Their behaviour was confirmed by the taxi drivers who took me home. Many students were taking taxis from their digs to the pub at about 8 pm in the evening already "tanked up". At weekends whenever I stayed over and my wife came to visit me, we often saw students and young people piling out of buses at 11pm to go to the all night clubs. We were going to bed! Of course, my wife and I did this sort of thing when we were young but we could only afford to go to all night clubs once a month or so.
Times have changed so much and the sort of drinking that I saw was far in excess of recommended limits.The health professionals would probably blanch if they really knew how much alcohol is being consumed by the young on a daily basis.
No one, it seems, takes any notice of the recommended limits. But everyone should realise that if you drink too much every day you will become an alcoholic and you will seriously damage your mental and physical health. You will also damage your relationship with your friends and loved ones.
Consider this, if you drink cheap alcohol at home before going out to a pub and then on to a party and do this only a couple of times per week you are almost certainly drinking too much. Why not give your liver a rest for two consecutive days a week to allow your body to flush out the alcohol completely. Drink higher quality wines but drink less. Severely limit your consumption of alcopops or fore go them completely. Drink cask conditioned beer at low alcohol levels. Only drink spirits on special occasions and stick to higher quality. You can buy a really good bottle of wine for less than ten pounds and if you limit yourself to half a bottle a day five days a week you can enjoy your drinking safely and save money. Do not drink plonk just for the sake of it. Every now and then you can allow yourself to drink a little more without endangering your health. What could be worse than not being able to drink the beverage of the the gods because you have become an alcoholic or your damaged liver can no longer take alcohol .
Of course, excessive drinking is not confined to the young as the middle aged are now doing something similar, but at home. My recommendations still apply, so forget the cheap plonk and buy yourself a good quality bottle of wine then share it with your friend or spouse over a good meal. Above all, limit yourself to the safe consumption of alcohol. It will save you money in the long run and could even save your life.
Here are the drink aware recommendations:
"The government advises that people should not regularly drink more than the daily unit guidelines of 3-4 units of alcohol for men (equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% beer) and 2-3 units of alcohol for women (equivalent to a 175 ml glass of wine). ‘Regularly’ means drinking every day or most days of the week".
I am naturally a sceptic and have my own views on this. But when I add up the amount that my wife and I consume it is actually less than this. Two or three days a week we do not drink at all and when we do open a bottle of wine with a meal we only drink half the bottle and seal it. This is simply a commonsense and comfortable approach for us but for others it may be different. We are not averse to drinking more when we have friends around for dinner as there is no need to be sanctimonious about enjoying a few glasses of wine or guilty about exceeding the pronouncements of doctors and health officials.
Here is a way of calculating the unit equivalent of alcohol:
Strength (%) x Volume (ml) ÷ 1000 = number of units.
A 175 ml glass of wine at 14% alcohol by volume therefore contains 175 x14 /1000 = 2.45 units. There is some food for thought here. 175 ml is about a quarter of a bottle.
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