Which wine are you drinking? Tell us about it

You betcha! Like pouring Grange for Uncle Cecil at Christmas!

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:joy:

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For my parents 50th Wedding anniversary we (collectively) decided to get them “50 Golden Things”* ranging from appropriately named chocolates, to yellow flowers, to balloons (for the hard of innovation), and actual trinkets.

My contribution, at - I might add - considerable effort and not inconsiderable expense, was a bottle of Tokaji from the year of their marriage (my dad had had the common sense to arrange the wedding for 3rd April 1956, presumably so he would never forget it, being 3456).

Mum compared the wine - unfavourably - to the supermarket Piesporter she had consumed the week before.
Dad and I drank it, and I don’t think he enjoyed it that much either…

*a very good idea if you are similarly placed with old people who have everything they want, and more besides

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Does your lady friend like Brisket?

No ladies here. Just me. Daughter popped in yesterday to check my will was still in the same drawer.:wink: If that counts.

Brisket decamped a week ago. I got the usual feline response to grub that she considered unworthy.

I haven’t seen her since. She has not been seen in the Avenue.

I do of course wonder and hope she is ok but with such a fickle nature I can’t let wonder turn into worry. Some cats are like that.

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The weather has turned, it’s definitely time for wines that give you a hug. First bottle of this I’ve opened, plumb and dark cherries at the start and finishes to a warm tapenade. Beautiful.

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Still in Greece and had a bottle of this last night - Driopi Nemea 2017 made with the Agiorgitiko grape. Really well made wine and makes me want to explore more Greek wines on return to UK

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‘Dourthe’ St Emilion - quaffing while listening to records as I clean them (via the Degritter RCM that arrived this evening)

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Sounds exquisite. Beaune is such an excellent region …

We have some good friends that I’ve found it’s just not worth opening a 15 yo wine for anymore. We always pour very nice wines for them, but now stick to something like a 4-5 yo Barossa Shiraz with that pleasing fruit concentration. Not everyone has the palate for an aged wine, it seems.

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To accompany our beef bourguinon.

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Chateau Cissac haut medoc 2016. Very nice tasting wine to me.

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For today’s roast the consistently excellent, reliable and great value Medalla Real Gran Reserva Carmenere, this one from 2014.

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Did you use the same stuff *in * the boeuf bourguignon?

Sacrilege I know, but no, we used a “cheap” burgundy, which is the right wine for the dish. I’m not a fan of using good wines (especially the whole bottle) for cooking. I was tempted to open a red burgundy to go with it, but went instead for the côtes du Rhône which accompanied the bourguignon very nicely

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Just curious, given that some people refer to very cheap wine as ‘cooking wine’. I made coq au vin a few days ago and with no Burgundy to hand I chose an Aussie Shiraz/Durif which worked very well. Probably cost about a tenner which I know some would regard as a bit extravagant.

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If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it.

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We used a simple Pinot noir from burgundy which is certainly drinkable but obviously we won’t use a premier cru for cooking.

Most restaurants in Burgundy do likewise, that is cook with Côtes du Rhône…(although they may not admit such!)

Never cook with a wine that you wouldn’t be prepared to drink - it is an ingredient after all - but no point wasting fineness (or elegance) or money for that matter.
You are effectively pasteurising the wine, and you know the difference between milk and UHT milk…

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Pasteurised? I reduced mine by almost half before adding it to the dish, so more like boiled to death! It was from an old Raymond Blanc recipe I found, and it worked a treat.

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Well exactly, but everything gets concentrated, and if the wine was as rough as a badger’s arse before you started, it won’t be much of a complement to the dish once you’ve finished.

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