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A brace of cheapie Asda reds
With the current anti-alcohol tax regime, is it still possible to sell a bottle of wine at £5? Asda thinks so. They pointed me at a handful of recent Extra Special selections in their range in the £5-6 price bracket. Looking for something to go with fresh Yorkshire Spring lamb chops, I pulled out these two...
Symmetry in a Glass
*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery. Although it’s spring here in the DC area, we are still experiencing (more) than our fair share of cool nights. Which calls, in our house, for a bold red wine. What fit the bill tonight was the 2008 Rodney Strong Symmetry, a Mertiage blend...
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Vinsobres Domaine Chaume-Arnaud 2009
Rhone wines can be easily overlooked, and yet many rival the finest Bordeaux, as anyone who has tried Hermitage La Chapelle will tell you. This Vinsobres comes from the Southern Rhone, is inky in colour and robust, spicy, tannic and plummy in taste. It’s a George Galloway of a wine. Feisty, intelligent, slightly unbalanced and...
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Niepoort, Redoma, 2006
Most people think of Portugal and think of Port. But, when it comes to table wine, this is an outdated view. Dirk Niepoort is a pioneer of new Portugal. Fabulous non-fortified wines made from indigenous grapes that I can’t even pronounce, let alone spell. I first discovered his wines in Lisbon in 2009 at EWBC....
Muddy Waters
*Disclaimer: I receive this wine as a sample from the PR firm associated with the brand. I’ve been in a Pinot Noir mood lately. So I chose the 2008 Muddy Water Pinot Noir from the basement the other night. I’ve been interested in the Pinot Noirs coming out of New Zealand, and this wine proved...
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WART award for the Three Acres
The serving temperature of wine is so important to its enjoyment that 267 members joined a Facebook group dedicated to the subject. As the owner of said page, I appoint myself Chief Evangelist and poster boy for raising awareness of the Wine at Right Temperature (WART) campaign. Part of my duties include throwing brickbats at restaurants...
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Perfect Beans-on-Toast recipe
As any good chef will tell you, good cooking starts with good sourcing. Assuming that you are an adult, the single most important ingredient you need for this dish is Branston Baked Beans. The other essential component is a bottle of Tuella, Douro, 2006 vintage if you can get it, which should be opened and...
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Chénas, Château Bonnet, 2010
I’ve had a massive, Rowan Gormley style, fallout with Virgin Wines. Having restructured (read less favourable terms) their “Wine Bank” offer, I had the temerity to request the closure of my Wine Bank account. After three emails and two phone calls still no joy. So, no more Virgin Wines. I am storming (or maybe mincing)...
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Dujac, Morey-saint-Denis, 2006
If you are ever in Manchester and fancy a decent glass of wine, Hanging Ditch is my recommendation. The only negative is that, even in this alco-city, where poor restaurants barely survive next to pubs, bars, lounges and drinking dens, Hanging Ditch has the temerity to close at 8pm, even on big nights. On the...
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Yali, Three Lagoons, Carménère, 2008
When I am in a really good mood, my Opus Dei style self-flagellation is a mooch through the wine aisle at Sainsbury’s. Brings me back down to depression with a bump. Yard after yard of unremitting boredom. Branded wines at prices that, once you have removed duty, VAT and cost of shipping, indicate an investment...
Back to the Ranch
Sorry for the radio silence this past week. Mr. Wannabe Wino and I took our annual trek out to Sonoma last week and I tried (as much as possible for someone as addicted as I am) to disconnect from the computer. Helped along by spotty wireless, it wasn’t that difficult! To start back down the...
Time for Zin
Our warm weather disappeared. How disappointing. So to lift my spirits, I dug around in the basement for something bigger and red. Nothing like a bottle of Zin, my first red wine love, to brighten and warm up a day. Tonight I chose the 2007 Talty Filice Connolly Vineyards Zinfandel, which we picked up on...
