holiday wine survey

] On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 20:18:40 +0100, Emery Davis ] wrote: ] ] >Well, the moment is upon us, as we've popped at least a few corks ] >for the holidays... ] >What have you had? ] ] We enjoyed 1971 Volnay, Wine Society labelling sans producer details, ] 1988 Givry (Clos Salomon), 2000 St. Aubin red (Henri Prudhon), 1999 ] Monthelie white (Bouzerand-Dujardin), 1990 Champagne Cuvee ] Saint-Vincent (R & L Legras), Champagne Blanc de Blancs (R & L Legras) ] plus, at other times, several glasses of my home-made vin chaud in a ] failed effort to get rid of my cold! ]

Hi John,

Sounds festive. I wonder where that Volnay came from, and what was in it? :) Was it OK?

] We've just trying to put some plans together for next year - late May, ] probably. Are you likely to be around? ]

Love to get together, too early to tell exactly what we'll be doing. Much depends on Adele's treatment schedule. Do you plan to be in our neck? Odds are we will be around, just can't make guarantees at the moment. Best to email (or call) some time in april....

cheers and best for the new year,

-E

Yeeeak!

M.

[Beaucastel 1997:]

Would you mind to enlighten the relationship of organic farming of the vineyard and brightness of the wine in the glass?

M.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that fining a wine organically was not as effective as artificial means, .

Sorry about the mouse brain still in Xmas mode:-) JT

My impression was that egg whites are quite commonly used by both organic and traditional growers.

And what about filtration, btw?

M.

Hi John,

In France there is no legal basis for calling a wine organic. The ruling bodies for the "bio" label only control viticulture, not winemaking. Hence you will at most see mentions like "wine made from organic grapes" but never "organic wine" (it would be illegal to mark it so).

Logically a good winemaker that is AB certified should be as careful in the winemaking cellar as he is in the vines, and many are. But nothing in AB rules prevents these certified growers from using harvesting machines, slave labour, and every weapon in the oenologist's chemical arsenal (and some do not hesitate for a moment).

I suspect the reason for this state of affairs is that if you allow some to label their wine as organic, you are giving the customer the impression that 95% of wine production is not organic or somehow less healthy. A weak legislation on bio keeps everybody happy, including the unsuspecting customer.

Mike

][]

Hi John,

] Beaucastel 1997, two bottles with main dinner. As usual deep garnet, bright ] ( for an organic wine), very pleasant spice, and fruit, some vegetal aromas, ] good entry, long............try again next year, not a long liver?

Surely she's got a few years left in her!

I echo Mike's comment about the confusing state of the "organic" label in France. I know an "organic" farmer who thinks Roundup (glyphosate) is OK to use because it's based on a "natural plant hormone!!"

] Coutet 90, with mince pies and blue cheese, ( not together!!!), stunning ] bright viscous straw, barleysugar nose, very unctous and with a little ] acidity to stop it being cloying.......very nice. ]

Good stuff.

[] ] Happy New Year, we are off to Pembrokeshire, the cliff path will blow away ] the colds. ]

Coincidentally one of our favorite places, and on the coast path I proposed some

20 odd years ago. Still have a painting of Dinas Head... Enjoy the walk!

-E

Hi;

A Canadian family Christmas turkey dinner featuring a cast of dozens (at which I was finally a guest and not a worker bee!). My vinous contribution consisted of 2 bottles of dry Vineland Estates 2000 Riesling Reserve. Lovely citrus highlights without edginess and a nice medium mouth feel. Reisling being the biggest bargain in the wine world today, these lovelies only cost about C$12.00.

Family dinner last night at my brothers featured a 14 lb. prime rib (with lots of succulent rare slices). My vinous contribution here were 2 1998 Jackson-Triggs Proprietors' Grand Reserve Meritage (black cherries, smooth medium mouth feel and long slow luxurious finish) and a NCT 2001 Chardonnay (buttery nose and taste, another full mouth feel and lovely clean finish).

The plan for an intimate New Years dinner ALONE with SWMBO calls for some kind of Iberian treatment of shellfish and scallops along with a nice Sauvignon Blanc from Peninsula Ridge winery..... report later.

Hi Chuck,

Think I'll go out and try this one. Long smooth finish is what I love!

Looking forward to your "report later".

Got an interesting present from my wife. She usually buys me one nice bottle of wine each month (anniversary thing). For Christmas, she's arranged for a winery near St. Catherines, to send me two bottles of their premium wines each month for six months.

With all her shopping and ebaying she FORGOT to take down the name of the winery. She says to wait for the phone bill and take down the number then. I'll let you know what I received sometime in January.

At least it will get me drinking some Ontario wines for a change.

Larry Stumpf, S. Ontario, Canada

Ahem, not all Scandinavians have beer and schnaps for X-mas dinner; I believe that most Danes actually prefere wine for Christmas Eve's dinner. We had roasted goose and 2 bt. Amarone: 1985 Allegrini and 1988 Masi's Campolongo di Torbe. A muscat d'Alsace as aperitif, and a fortified nice red from Southern France after dinner....

1985 was, so far I know, not a very good year for Amarones, but 1988 was. However, we did not find very much difference between the 2 Amarones, but finally agreed (3 people) that Masi's were the best one. I might have been too young, and I intend to keep the final 2 bottles yet a few years. HK

Salut/Hi John Taverner,

Just noticed this:-

le/on Sat, 27 Dec 2003 10:50:37 -0000, tu disais/you said:-

What a coincidence. We had the 95 (2 botts) and '96 (1 bott) with rare roast ribs of beef on Boxing day (that's the 26th of December, when traditionally the aristocracy would take round Christmas boxes to their underlings - hence the name).

The '95 was decanted a couple of hours beforehand and was showing very nicely inde3d, plums/prunes and all sorts of good things. The '96, on the other hand was an emergency bottle, in case the 10 of us needed another bottle. We did! That meant that we only decanted it just before drinking it. It was a little lighter on the noser I felt, with the fruit more prominent. Actually, a number of us preferred it.

long since sold out. Give their Delaine vineyard offering a try though.... this is the vineyard owned by Mrs. Triggs and it is now in its first release.... again, AFAIK available only at the NOTL winery. Well worth the trip.

Aha - M. Oh-arr.

Home in time for New Years Eve, Huh?

2004 is but 6 1/2 hours away - it is a gorgeous sunny evening.

The champagne is on ice - the fireworks primed.

Guests arrive in half an hour for an alfresco evening celebration.

Kindest wishes to you and yours.

Shall drink a toast (Bollinger RD "79) at midnight

St.Helier

Gee, why are you drinking that _old_ wine? Can't you get something *new* at the store? ;^D (Paraphrased from a Steve Martin movie; I don't remember which.)

Happy New Year, all!

Tom S

_The Jerk_. "Waiter! There are *snails* on her plate!".

Dana