I’ve been thinking about buying a Coravin for a while (the system that lets you take one glass from a bottle through the cork and pumps in argon so that the wine stays fresh). I’ve been waiting for a sale and their Black Friday one opened today, direct from them is significantly cheaper than anywhere I can see online, so an order is in.
I was amused by the colour description “Featuring a Timeless Six wine-by-the-glass system in Hermitage Red, a rich burgundy hue with sophisticated black undertones and black metallic accents…”. Hermitage red is a “burgundy hue”, generations of Chaves and Jaboulets are turning their graves.
I see the Wine Society has sold out….
For a terrible moment I thought I’d missed a vote and they’d been bought out.
That would be sad, and unlikely!
Well, that has now come off my shortlist for a Christmas order, I had better savour the last two.
Just looked, and they have moved on to the 2022 vintage. I think i shall try it.
Had this with spaghetti, garlic, chilli and tomato. Good fruity acidity, toasty vanilla oak, and light tannins, making it a lovely wine. nice and long.
Schwarz - The Butcher Zweigelt
Especially when I first started my passion for vinyl, I often bought records because of the cover. I cannot remember a single bad purchase concerning this. It is the same with this wine. I liked the label. The wine is nicely balanced, rather on the dry side, not particularly complex but very drinkable, definitely not a bad purchase. The background: the winemakers also own or used to own a butcher shop.
2021 Henri Prudhon & Fils Saint-Aubin Premier Cru Sur le Sentier du Clou
That name’s a mouthful! Can taste the quality but it’s a bit tight. Better after being open for a while. Suspect it will be nicer in a couple of years
Felton road Riesling and Domaine Tunnel marsanne
The Riesling a medium style with beautifully balanced acidity. Honey, lime beeswax on palate. Superb. The Nahe in New Zealand.
The marsanne at 6 years old is still young and fresh. A wine of opulence and structure with no strong flavour characteristics. It’s all about mouthfeel.
2018 Gusbourne Selhurst Park Blanc de Blancs
Single vineyard fizz from Sussex, pale clear colour with gentle mousse. The nose has light citrus notes with hints of apple. In the palate lively mouth feel, strong minerality frames excellent fruit, citrussy notes and the apple I always seem to find in English sparklers. There’s a hint of pastry, but this largely lets the fruit and minerality shine, it tastes light yet manages to fill the mouth. Lovely complex wine, really really classy. Went well while watching Del Toro’s Frankenstein.
I absolutely love Gusbourne fizz and think it is second only to Dermot Sugrue’s wines for top notch English fizz. Nice to see them make a wine in honour of the mighty Crystal Palace FC 
Like! And good to see you back on form.
it’s a rare day that England put one over the All Blacks so today was a good day to enjoy the Gaston Chiquet 2013 - definitely not a champagne for shaking up and spraying everywhere but one to savour just like the win.
Giscours 2006
Bricking quite visibly, a meaty savoury nose with blue fruits. Palate is quite lean, strong savoury flavours and quite grippy tannins frame blue and red fruits. It’s medium-bodied, very tasty fruit, lovely wine if you like the old school claret style with meaty tannins perhaps dominating fruit, it’s quite light in body and hasn’t much length. I’m not selling it well, I really enjoyed it.
I popped round to visit my best mate, took the Coravin, and she suggested we tried it out. We chose the Giscours and as you can see above poured 2 glasses. I went to put the bottle back on the shelf and she said “Are we only having one glass?”. So I got to see how it worked all the way to the end of the bottle.
That’s quite a bit of argon…..
Local wine merchant’s pre-Christmas tasting today. Over 100 bottles to try. Speed tasted maybe 50-60 with spittoon in hand. Palate pretty shot by the end, but a Rutherglen muscat perked everything up its orange marmalade flavours on the palate. Cannot understand those that go determined to consume their body weight in wine to get full value for the ticket.
Home to a slow cooked ragu with a 22 year old Stellenbosch Bordeaux blend. Wine Society said drink up in 2016 but it is still singing. Sometimes forgetting what is at the back of the cellar pays off.
We sacrificed a lot of argon as a learning experience, we’re cool with pouring from it now.
Little treat on Sunday evening with friends at local hotel in the lovely village of Painswick just on the edge of the Cotswolds
Tappanappa Tears Chardonnay, I have had the pleasure of purchasing Brians wines since 1985, first Petaluma and now Tappanappa the orginal Tiers vineyard planted by Brian in the late 1970’s - stunning wine and as good a Burgundy
and a real treat Chateau Cos d”estourel 1995 which was sublime, only have a few bottles left - my sons 30th a Christmas so bottle then, but this wine showed what Bordeaux can be, mature, deapth, fruit and the length of the finish -
