The Wine List

[Anna]

The witness side-stepped the issue very neatly and indeed would she like to repair to the judicial lodgings for a swift Chateau d'Yquem after the Court rises?

I beg to differ M'Lud. The witness did not side-step but replied honestly and sincerely, merely passing on to the Jury the findings of one of her siblings who, she admitted in earlier evidence, is very misguided and, the on-dit is, terribly gauche where ethics are concerned. I rest my case.

[handsomefortune]

burp,

To produce "foie gras" (which literally means "fatty liver"), workers ram pipes down male ducks' or geese's throats two or three times daily and pump as much as 4 pounds of grain and fat into the animals' stomachs, causing their livers to bloat to up to 10 times their normal size. Many birds have difficulty standing because of their engorged livers, and they may tear out their own feathers and cannibalize each other out of stress.

The birds are kept in tiny wire cages or packed into sheds. On some farms, a single worker may be expected to force-feed 500 birds three times each day. Because of this rush, animals are often treated roughly and left injured and suffering.

imv therefore a particularly grotesque choice of menu for the g20 summit a couple of years ago! oh dearism ensues.

why aren't foie gras eaters more concerned about their own constitutions coping with the fatty content? i imagine eaters all heading up to a&e, rather like 'the overboozed' as featured in the media at this time of year.

imv (only) on sweet wines - no, no, no. (although laithwaits do a lovely floral white one ... quite sweet, as in not dry. tolerable in very small quantities, if there's nothing else going ....which isn't usually the case at xmas...... hic).

let's hear it for xmas nutloaf! can cost an absolute fortune .........in teeth mind you! out of pocket and virtuous is not the best combination it has to be said. although some would doubtless counter that it has little to do with virtue, nutloaf is masochism. perhaps on a par with foie gras sadism... but not quite? good job there's a bottle or two handy to consume so as to forget ......most things temporarily, during the ritual event. hic

the only comment on the 'animal' thread that i agreed with was salymap's 'i like horses' ....as she wasn't planning on eating one, and i like em too!

don't worry, i'll shut up now you can talk about stuffing ants into mice into a rabbit, into a piglet into a deer to your hearts content.....afterall it is christmas!

[Anna]

let's hear it for xmas nutloaf!

No, to be perfectly honest, No. Nut Roast is the Spawn of the Devil and an Abomination on the Face of the Earth. Let them eat Tofu!

Caliban mentioned amontillado. This is so brilliant with walnuts which have been sprinkled with flakes of sea salt. (fear not, my blood pressure is a healthy 120/70)

[marthe]

[IN DEFENCE OF STELLA]

I know much better contenders for the wife-beater award starting with Charlie aka. Carlsberg ... probably the vilest larger in the world. Nor do I have any time for the insipids ... Fosters and Carling.


Back to the wines ... I've treated myself to a case from an online supplier this year, 'Naked'. A mixed case of reds.

I shall be homo alone this Christmas so in need of fortified solace.

Stella probably needed protection from Stanley while he was wearing his "wife beater." Actually, when I was a teenager visiting my cousins in Belgium, we drank a lower-alcohol version of Stella as table beer. This was served to children as well as grownups. I was underage (for drinking alcohol legally in Massachusetts) so was delighted to be able to drink beer out in the open. My uncle and aunt lived in Louvain/Leuven at that time and the Stella Artois brewery was located there. Good place is it's a university town! There are lots of microbreweries all over the US that produce interesting beer and ale.

[Stillhomewardbound]

Christmas Scheme:


A well chilled Sancerre for the fish starter ...

A long chambred red, perhaps a round, vanilla rich Rioja, or a Dao even, for the turkey or pheasant ...

And a demi sec, or a presseco with the pudding is choice.

[Anna]

Christmas Scheme:

I haven't planned that far in advance. I would love to have Blanquette de Limoux as a starter, I feel I have left it too late to find it?

Edit: Many memories, up in Pyrenees

[Nick Armstrong]

I beg to differ M'Lud. The witness did not side-step but replied honestly and sincerely, merely passing on to the Jury the findings of one of her siblings who, she admitted in earlier evidence, is very misguided and, the on-dit is, terribly gauche where ethics are concerned. I rest my case.

Je repose ma valise...

[arancie33]

Any alternatives that members can recommend?

Yes. Tanners in Shrewsbury run a scheme called "Wine in Time" in which they will deliver a case of their selection monthly (or at greater intervals if you wish). You can specify mixed (50/50 red/white), aperitif (white/rosé) or all red and at two price levels - Silver at £90 or Gold at £120. Delivery out of their local area (Marches) is by courier. I've subscribed for years now and appreciated some excellent wines. http://www.tanners-wines.co.uk/Tanne...me/default.asp

[MrGongGong]

burp,

[B]To produce "foie gras" (which literally means "fatty liver"), workers ram pipes down male ducks' or geese's throats two or three times daily and pump as much as 4 pounds of grain and fat into the animals' stomachs, causing their livers to bloat to up to 10 times their normal size. Many birds have difficulty standing because of their engorged livers, and they may tear out their own feathers and cannibalize each other out of stress.

that's not strictly true everywhere
I've seen free range geese run up to be fed .......

no one eats Foie Gras is large quantities ...........

though I hope your wine is totally without ANY animal products ......... hummmmmm that's a tricky one
and I guess you never eat cheese as well ? and if you do you really should be eating Pink Veal

cheers

[arancie33]

My uncle and aunt lived in Louvain/Leuven at that time and the Stella Artois brewery was located there. Good place is it's a university town! .

I'll second that, and well remember the bar attached to the brewery in which the beer was piped straight to the customer (well, via the barperson and a tap) through large copper pipes running across the ceiling

[ahinton]

Other desert wines worth mentioning include Californian Essencia. Another that I love is called Marta and is made at the Oliver Conti winery in the Empordá region of Spanish Catalunya, a mere stone's throw from the border with SW France. As to wines to accompany foie gras, something quite different but which, I think, works well is a très vieux or extra vieux Pineau des Charentes, red or white, though they're not easy to come by in UK and quite difficult to source even in parts of France that are not in or near the production region.

[Anna]

Je repose ma valise...

And if your valise contains a bottle of of 2006 Chateau Y, in which ideal conditions for botrytis were challenged by uneven ripening ....... I'm on the train Meet me at Paddington!

[ahinton]

And if your valise contains a bottle of of 2006 Chateau Y, in which ideal conditions for botrytis were challenged by uneven ripening ....... I'm on the train Meet me at Paddington!

You'd have to struggle with Arriva Trens Cymru first - but I agree that it would be worth the effort!

[jayne lee wilson]

What about taking a gamble?

Last winter in Sainsburys I saw a single bottle, price 23.99, of I Saltari Amarone 2004, a Valpolicella I'd never come across before. On the "if you don't, you'll never know" basis I bought it and... we drank it with roast chicken, and I've often thought of it with a sigh of regretful pleasure ever since. I could never find another one for looking, at least nowhere within reach. And nothing I've had since comes near.

Being on the top shelf near the heat and lights (not good, I grant you) didn't do this masterpiece any harm..

[vinteuil]

And if your valise contains a bottle of of 2006 Chateau Y, in which ideal conditions for botrytis were challenged by uneven ripening ....... I'm on the train Meet me at Paddington!

... much too early to be drinking 2006 château yquem - I'm only just starting on the 1988!