We had a dinner party with some relatives, who brought along a bottle of Château Prieuré-Lichine 4ème Cru Classé Margaux red, and some good friends. The Prieuré-Lichine is one of my favourite wines from Margaux. It has typical Margaux taste and concentration and it is silky smooth. This wine went down well with some roast pork.
On such an auspicious occasion I thought that I would open a top quality red wine from the USA - Qupé 2012 Syrah from the Californian Central Coast and this, too, is a favourite wine of mine. My family from France rarely get an opportunity to drink any sort of American wine let alone a very good one. I have never seen Qupé 2012 Syrah on sale anywhere in France. We also drank this wine with the pork as there were six of us.
How can you compare these wines for quality and taste as they are from different countries with different traditions?
The Margaux 1998 had matured much longer and I doubt that the Qupé would be at its best after 17 years. The American wine was designed and produced to be consumed younger.
The Margaux had a taste of its own but of course it was easily recognisable as a fine Bordeaux. The Qupé was reminiscent of a French Syrah from the South of France but it had a quality all of its own with a concentrated red fruit flavour with a little bit of spice.
Both of these wines were made to go with good food and were not meant to be slugged back at a party. It is really difficult to say which was the better wine and it was obvious that the winemakers were proud of their product. The Old world and the New united to produce high quality wines. This is what wine-making is all about: they are little bit more expensive - in the UK the Bordeaux is over £20 pounds a bottle and the Qupé can be found for just under. Of course both these wines are better value for money in their home countries.
We British are lucky, however, as it is easy to find great wines from all over the world - you can't do this in France as easily.
http://www.prieure-lichine.fr/
http://www.wine.com/v6/Qupe-Central-Coast-Syrah-2012/wine/132909/Detail.aspx?state=CA
Tuesday, 3 November 2015
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
Coulon et Fils Île d'Oléron Sauvignon 2013 VdP
This year we spent a couple of days on the Île d'Oléron on the Atlantic coast of France in early September. The island is due south of La Rochelle and just to the north of the Bordeaux region. It is a great place for a holiday in September when most of the visitors have gone home but there are sufficient people around for the island not to be "dead". Winter is probably not the best time of year to go there because of Atlantic gales sweeping in from the west.
The seafood there was simply wonderful. I had oysters with every meal and there is a good range of Atlantic wet fish on the menu and I particularly liked the Sardines. It is also heaven if you like cockles and mussels. We gathered some lovely fresh cockles from the beach and steamed them until their shells opened and ate them with lemon. We did not need to soak them in water before cooking as they were not full of sand. The water on the beach looked very clean and there were plenty of local people collecting shellfish so we assumed that we were safe. We did not suffer from any after effects.
If you are absolutely certain that your cockles have not been exposed to polluted water then you can eat them raw like other of sorts of clams such as amandes de mer or dog cockles in English!
http://www.thefishsociety.co.uk/shop/amandes-de-mer.html
In Wales, where I was born, cockles are often eaten for breakfast and cooked with bacon and lavabread: you also use lard to fry them. The bacon and lard obviously do not meet the approval of the World Health Organisation. The WHO would also recommend that you only consume 5 ml of wine with this delicious breakfast. I never drink wine in the morning I prefer tea. The next time I eat cockles and bacon it will be in the evening and washed down with with a glass of smoky Sancerre to go with the bacon.
https://www.msc.org/cook-eat-enjoy/recipes/cockles-and-bacon
There was no need to spend a lot of money to go with our fish on the Île d'Oléron because the local wine was perfect.
Coulon et Fils Île d'Oléron Sauvignon 2013 VdP is great white wine even if it is not as celebrated as its Sauvignon Blanc cousins to the south in Bordeaux. You can't find it anywhere in Britain and I have never seen it in a wine merchant other than on the island itself. If you want to try it then why not pay a visit? There are lovely villages on the island and miles of golden sand and oyster beds. It is a gastronomic heaven.
http://www.hachette-vins.com/guide-vins/les-vins/coulon-et-fils-ile-d-oleron-sauvignon-2007-2009/20096681/
The seafood there was simply wonderful. I had oysters with every meal and there is a good range of Atlantic wet fish on the menu and I particularly liked the Sardines. It is also heaven if you like cockles and mussels. We gathered some lovely fresh cockles from the beach and steamed them until their shells opened and ate them with lemon. We did not need to soak them in water before cooking as they were not full of sand. The water on the beach looked very clean and there were plenty of local people collecting shellfish so we assumed that we were safe. We did not suffer from any after effects.
If you are absolutely certain that your cockles have not been exposed to polluted water then you can eat them raw like other of sorts of clams such as amandes de mer or dog cockles in English!
http://www.thefishsociety.co.uk/shop/amandes-de-mer.html
In Wales, where I was born, cockles are often eaten for breakfast and cooked with bacon and lavabread: you also use lard to fry them. The bacon and lard obviously do not meet the approval of the World Health Organisation. The WHO would also recommend that you only consume 5 ml of wine with this delicious breakfast. I never drink wine in the morning I prefer tea. The next time I eat cockles and bacon it will be in the evening and washed down with with a glass of smoky Sancerre to go with the bacon.
https://www.msc.org/cook-eat-enjoy/recipes/cockles-and-bacon
There was no need to spend a lot of money to go with our fish on the Île d'Oléron because the local wine was perfect.
Coulon et Fils Île d'Oléron Sauvignon 2013 VdP is great white wine even if it is not as celebrated as its Sauvignon Blanc cousins to the south in Bordeaux. You can't find it anywhere in Britain and I have never seen it in a wine merchant other than on the island itself. If you want to try it then why not pay a visit? There are lovely villages on the island and miles of golden sand and oyster beds. It is a gastronomic heaven.
http://www.hachette-vins.com/guide-vins/les-vins/coulon-et-fils-ile-d-oleron-sauvignon-2007-2009/20096681/
Monday, 12 October 2015
Faulty wine
We opened a bottle of Fitou the other night and felt a prickling sensation on the tongue. The wine was meant to be a still red. The wine was also undrinkable. It was obviously in poor condition so we poured it down the drain.
There was a production fault in this wine and somehow a secondary fermentation had occurred within the bottle to ruin it. Perhaps the bottles had not been sterilised properly before they had been filled. Whatever the reason the extra fermentation had ruined the feel and taste of the wine.
The wine was bought at a wine fair at a French supermarket and cost about 5 Euro a bottle - not cheap by French supermarket standards. Had we lived in France we would probably have taken the wine back for a refund but we had not lost much money.
It is not often that you buy a bottle of wine with this fault which can spoil even the most expensive wine. If you find yourself with an expensive bottle of wine that sparkles when it should not then do not hesitate to return it.
There was a production fault in this wine and somehow a secondary fermentation had occurred within the bottle to ruin it. Perhaps the bottles had not been sterilised properly before they had been filled. Whatever the reason the extra fermentation had ruined the feel and taste of the wine.
The wine was bought at a wine fair at a French supermarket and cost about 5 Euro a bottle - not cheap by French supermarket standards. Had we lived in France we would probably have taken the wine back for a refund but we had not lost much money.
It is not often that you buy a bottle of wine with this fault which can spoil even the most expensive wine. If you find yourself with an expensive bottle of wine that sparkles when it should not then do not hesitate to return it.
Wednesday, 30 September 2015
"Insula" Ile d'Oléron Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon NV
We bought this wine from a supermarket on the Ile d'Oléron on the Atlantic Coast of France just south of La Rochelle. This island is a wonderful place for seafood but more of that in a later blog.
The wine was nothing special but it survived a two week trip around France. We opened it with some friends when we got back.
The Ile d'Oléron is just north of the Bordeaux region and surprise surprise the red and white wines of the island are made from the same grapes as their more illustrious cousins. The wines also taste similar but not as rich; they are a little bit rustic in comparison.
Our friends had brought along a bottle of Saint-Emilion Grand Cru and I was a little bit hesitant to open such a humble wine but my friends are not wine snobs and they always give me an honest opinion. The non-vintage Insula red was nowhere near the same class as the 2003 Saint-Emilion but no-one expected it to be. Our French friends had never tasted the wine before and our English friends wanted to know what we drank on our holidays. At least no-one complained.
The Insula red just about held its own and it went down well with some English cheese: however, of course, it was a little bit rustic and light but it had the distinctive taste of the island and it didn't feel like it had been made in a factory. This is not bad for four Euros a bottle. You will never find this wine in Britain and I have not seen it in any French supermarket on the mainland.
I never knew that the Ile d'Oléron even produced wine; it is not something that you learn on a course. There is nothing like paying a visit to a wine region to get the feel of the wine and how it is produced. A visit is much better than reading about a region in a book or a wine blog - so Good Health.
http://www.vivino.com/wineries/insula/wines/ile-d-oleron-merlot-cabernet-9999
The wine was nothing special but it survived a two week trip around France. We opened it with some friends when we got back.
The Ile d'Oléron is just north of the Bordeaux region and surprise surprise the red and white wines of the island are made from the same grapes as their more illustrious cousins. The wines also taste similar but not as rich; they are a little bit rustic in comparison.
Our friends had brought along a bottle of Saint-Emilion Grand Cru and I was a little bit hesitant to open such a humble wine but my friends are not wine snobs and they always give me an honest opinion. The non-vintage Insula red was nowhere near the same class as the 2003 Saint-Emilion but no-one expected it to be. Our French friends had never tasted the wine before and our English friends wanted to know what we drank on our holidays. At least no-one complained.
The Insula red just about held its own and it went down well with some English cheese: however, of course, it was a little bit rustic and light but it had the distinctive taste of the island and it didn't feel like it had been made in a factory. This is not bad for four Euros a bottle. You will never find this wine in Britain and I have not seen it in any French supermarket on the mainland.
I never knew that the Ile d'Oléron even produced wine; it is not something that you learn on a course. There is nothing like paying a visit to a wine region to get the feel of the wine and how it is produced. A visit is much better than reading about a region in a book or a wine blog - so Good Health.
http://www.vivino.com/wineries/insula/wines/ile-d-oleron-merlot-cabernet-9999
Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Gallo Family Vineyards White Zinfandel 2013 California
I would not normally buy this wine and I didn't. Someone brought it around when we had a barbecue. I got it from the wine rack without looking at the the label.
One of our friends had come over from France and it was a hot summer's day and we were in a rush to eat outside before it got cold - it was just before 6 pm. I grabbed the wine and chilled it in a wine sock. The women wanted some rosé wine and who was I to argue. But this was a chance to test out French people's ability to spot their own wine -or not.
My wife and our friend tasted the wine blind and they had no complaints and my wife made no comment about the origin f the wine. I found the wine very sweet but the sweetness was not balanced by a decent level of acidity. However, the wine went down well with some salad and ham.
The wine is made from the Zinfandel grape which is quite common in California and often used to make spicy red wine.
White Zinfandel is not the name of a grape but it's the name of the process used to make the wine which involves stopping the fermentation of the grape must before all the sugar is used up. This is why the wine is sweet and this is why the wine is so popular.
A bottle of this wine costs around £6.50 which is rather expensive so it must have something going for it as it has to compete with cheaper rosé wine from France and Spain.
One of our friends had come over from France and it was a hot summer's day and we were in a rush to eat outside before it got cold - it was just before 6 pm. I grabbed the wine and chilled it in a wine sock. The women wanted some rosé wine and who was I to argue. But this was a chance to test out French people's ability to spot their own wine -or not.
My wife and our friend tasted the wine blind and they had no complaints and my wife made no comment about the origin f the wine. I found the wine very sweet but the sweetness was not balanced by a decent level of acidity. However, the wine went down well with some salad and ham.
The wine is made from the Zinfandel grape which is quite common in California and often used to make spicy red wine.
White Zinfandel is not the name of a grape but it's the name of the process used to make the wine which involves stopping the fermentation of the grape must before all the sugar is used up. This is why the wine is sweet and this is why the wine is so popular.
A bottle of this wine costs around £6.50 which is rather expensive so it must have something going for it as it has to compete with cheaper rosé wine from France and Spain.
To me this wine does not merit the the five star rating given to it by Tesco's customers - perhaps I am a wine snob. I also think that Tesco's tasting note is very much over the top. I felt that the wine tasted as if it had been made in industrial quantities and that it had a chemical edge but maybe this was because of my prejudice; I had after all had sight of the label. However, if the wine had been no good my wife would have told me. I did not feel inclined to open a different bottle.
I would give it a three star rating because the wine is of good quality for every day drinking but in my opinion it is nothing special at the price. In Britain there is more duty on wines imported from outside of the EU and this is why the wine is so pricey.
There is nothing wrong in buying wine of this quality and it is like comparing standard cheddar cheese to mature cheddar. I don't want to eat expensive cheddar every day of the week I am content with the standard supermarket product. I save the good stuff for a special occasion. I am not a lover of rosé wine but if I want to spoil myself I go for a Bandol but of course that is much more expensive than the Gallo White Zinfandel.
The Gallo wine is not strong in alcohol at 9.5% but I did not notice it. The wine is very easy to drink and you could easily find yourself opening another bottle: Cheers.
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
Chantet Blanet Bordeaux Haut Médoc 2013 red AOC
Chantet Blanet is a brand name for wines produced by Oeno-alliance who are based in Bordeaux. Their Haut Médoc is a blend of red wines produced in this famous area. We bough the wine in a Leclerc supermarket in France just for every day drinking. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the wine. It went down very well with bavette steak. It was a wine typical of the Haut Médoc and even though it was from the 2013 vintage, which was not one of the best, it was of good quality but the wine from this brand is not for keeping.
The wine, however, was matured in oak and for around 5 euro a bottle it was a real bargain. The brand name is used on lots of wines including Saint Emilion. None of these wines are top notch but they are good quality wines to get out when you are not trying to impress someone.
We had a barbecue this weekend and the wine went down well with couscous and none of our guests complained but perhaps they were too polite. When I opened a bottle of much better quality Bordeaux later but at at six times the price they got my point that the good stuff didn't taste six times better. Perhaps the wine had dulled their senses.
If you are visiting France and have time to go to Leclerc then you will not go far wrong by selecting a Chantet Blanet wine for good everyday drinking at a fair price. Leclerc is much better than visiting a British supermarket in terms of value for money and the range of French wines.
Oeno-alliance is owned by the Castel Group who also own the Nicholas wine merchant chain. The Castel group also own Château Beychevelle but that is another story.
http://www.groupe-castel.com/en/group/
http://www.beychevelle.com/
The wine, however, was matured in oak and for around 5 euro a bottle it was a real bargain. The brand name is used on lots of wines including Saint Emilion. None of these wines are top notch but they are good quality wines to get out when you are not trying to impress someone.
We had a barbecue this weekend and the wine went down well with couscous and none of our guests complained but perhaps they were too polite. When I opened a bottle of much better quality Bordeaux later but at at six times the price they got my point that the good stuff didn't taste six times better. Perhaps the wine had dulled their senses.
If you are visiting France and have time to go to Leclerc then you will not go far wrong by selecting a Chantet Blanet wine for good everyday drinking at a fair price. Leclerc is much better than visiting a British supermarket in terms of value for money and the range of French wines.
Oeno-alliance is owned by the Castel Group who also own the Nicholas wine merchant chain. The Castel group also own Château Beychevelle but that is another story.
http://www.groupe-castel.com/en/group/
http://www.beychevelle.com/
Friday, 7 August 2015
Pensions and Wine Investment
There have been reports in the UK press that people who are about to draw down on their pension savings are being approached by unscrupulous "investment advisers" to put their money into fine wine. Some of theses advisers are fraudsters. Recent changes to UK pension rules allow individuals more flexibility to access their funds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33804578
Apart from market risk where the price of wine falls there are a number of other risks that potential wine investors should beware of:
1) The people you are dealing with. Perhaps this is one of the most important dangers. To mitigate this risk you need to assure yourself that you are dealing with honest and respectable advisers and brokers, who will advise you on the best wines to invest in and how to keep your wine safe and insured. Before you invest it is best to meet the people who you are trading with rather than simply deal over the 'phone or the internet.
2) Title to the wine is important; it is best to actually own the wine rather than buy a wine contract. If you decide to buy a wine contract, where you do not have title to the actual wine, then you should make doubly sure that you are dealing with an honest trader who is financially stable and who will not renege on the contract.
3) Real wine: be sure that the wine that you are buying is not fake; it is best to trade only with a reputable supplier.
4) High rates of return represent higher risk of losing your money. If you are attracted to a higher rate of return then you run the risk of losing some or all of your money. This principle applies to all investments. It is essential that you are wary of investment advisers who offer you higher rates of return than the market in general offers; such advisers could be incompetent or worse still dishonest.
Prospective pensioners should be aware that you can only benefit from a wine investment as the result of a capital gain. Wine investment does not generate dividend or interest income. The same is true of investing in gold, paintings or fast cars etc.
It is probably best to spread out your investments across savings accounts, ISAs, annuities and trust funds etc. These types of investment generate interest or dividend income. Do not put all your eggs in one basket.
If your wine investment does not live up to expectations in the middle to long term then you could always cut your losses and sell. You can only do this , however, if your wine actually belongs to you or you have invested in a safe contract. If your wine is fake or has been stored badly then you will lose everything and it won't even taste good if you decide to drink it.
Buyer beware.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33804578
Apart from market risk where the price of wine falls there are a number of other risks that potential wine investors should beware of:
1) The people you are dealing with. Perhaps this is one of the most important dangers. To mitigate this risk you need to assure yourself that you are dealing with honest and respectable advisers and brokers, who will advise you on the best wines to invest in and how to keep your wine safe and insured. Before you invest it is best to meet the people who you are trading with rather than simply deal over the 'phone or the internet.
2) Title to the wine is important; it is best to actually own the wine rather than buy a wine contract. If you decide to buy a wine contract, where you do not have title to the actual wine, then you should make doubly sure that you are dealing with an honest trader who is financially stable and who will not renege on the contract.
3) Real wine: be sure that the wine that you are buying is not fake; it is best to trade only with a reputable supplier.
4) High rates of return represent higher risk of losing your money. If you are attracted to a higher rate of return then you run the risk of losing some or all of your money. This principle applies to all investments. It is essential that you are wary of investment advisers who offer you higher rates of return than the market in general offers; such advisers could be incompetent or worse still dishonest.
Prospective pensioners should be aware that you can only benefit from a wine investment as the result of a capital gain. Wine investment does not generate dividend or interest income. The same is true of investing in gold, paintings or fast cars etc.
It is probably best to spread out your investments across savings accounts, ISAs, annuities and trust funds etc. These types of investment generate interest or dividend income. Do not put all your eggs in one basket.
If your wine investment does not live up to expectations in the middle to long term then you could always cut your losses and sell. You can only do this , however, if your wine actually belongs to you or you have invested in a safe contract. If your wine is fake or has been stored badly then you will lose everything and it won't even taste good if you decide to drink it.
Buyer beware.
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