What Was Your Most Recent Bottle of Wine?

[cloughie]

Every now & then I find that I have to revise what I think of as expensive and reasonable for what Woy Jenkins might have called 'a tollerwobble bottle'

These days anything that's drinkable under £5 is a miracle in my experience and you need to glide up to the region of £10 for the everyday bottle (plenty in the £6.99+ range). My uppermost limit is about £15 these days and rarely afforded

There is/was a nice Chilean Chardonnay/Viognier on offer at £5 from Sainsbury's - yes that grocer that sells CD box sets at a reasonable price on line! The main problem I find nowadays is deciding whether to splash my cash on a bottle that should really be half the price. I frequently see old favourites drifting up above my price range - rarely see Gigondas under £10 and I reckon I'll really have to save up if I want Condrieu. Maybe we golden oldies should heed the health warnings and just go for less but better!

[amateur51]

There is/was a nice Chilean Chardonnay/Viognier on offer at £5 from Sainsbury's - yes that grocer that sells CD box sets at a reasonable price on line! The main problem I find nowadays is deciding whether to splash my cash on a bottle that should really be half the price. I frequently see old favourites drifting up above my price range - rarely see Gigondas under £10 and I reckon I'll really have to save up if I want Condrieu. Maybe we golden oldies should heed the health warnings and just go for less but better!

That's this golden oldies' strategy, cloughie

Both Wine Society and Yapp Bros are good sources of wines from the Rhone

http://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/search.aspx?keyword=gigondas

http://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/search.aspx?keyword=condrieu

http://www.yapp.co.uk/pages/productList.aspx?loadType=search&q=gigondas

http://www.yapp.co.uk/pages/productList.aspx?loadType=search&q=condrieu

Yes some saving up will be required for Condrieu but Wine Society's Exhibition gigondas 2006 is 'just' £12.50

Other stockists and wine merchants are available

[Nick Armstrong]

Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape

A magnum of same accompanied a round-number birthday dinner a while back, and the bottle is still upon the hearth as a memento. Phenomenal stuff.

You've made me thirsty now...

[Barbirollians]

A magnum of same accompanied a round-number birthday dinner a while back, and the bottle is still upon the hearth as a memento. Phenomenal stuff.

You've made me thirsty now...

A bottle of the 1989 Vieux Telegraphe that I bought when it was far too expensive for my impecunious state in 1992 was magnficent when drunk in 2009 - how I kept my hands off it for 17 years ....

[vinteuil]

there is a lower quality wine offered by the same winery - Vieux Telegram - which, I have to say, is so-so.

... sadly, I have to agree. There was some on offer the other day at a restrong I frequent - ever hopeful, I thought it might approximate a Telegraphe of which I had fond memories... ) - meuh! - it was - drinkable, but - pretty thin .

[Barbirollians]

Telegramme is OK but Vieux Telegraphe it isn't - it is all the wine that does not get into the VT blend plus that from the young vines.

[Keraulophone]

A bottle of the 1989 Vieux Telegraphe that I bought when it was far too expensive for my impecunious state in 1992 was magnficent when drunk in 2009...

Good things come to those who wait. One of the best of a very good year for CndP:

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf du Pape 1989: Deep mahogany red. Rich fruit on the nose, with spicy cloves. Tannic palate, but carrying loads of fruit and sweet toffee oak. Full bodied, spicy. Warming alcoholic finish. Excellent length. 18/20

Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf du Pape 1989: Bags of fruit on the nose. Tannic palate, awash with fruit, not showing its age at all. Some spicy notes. Quite alcoholic. Finishes well with good length. This wine still has great potential. 17.5+/20

Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf du Pape 1989: Rubbery note on the nose mars the overall impression of this wine, but it is still superb. Loads of fruit on the palate, with a soft, silky textured that is so appealing. Less aggressive alcohol than the other wines, impeccable balance, finishes just beautifully. 18/20

Château Rayas Châteauneuf du Pape 1989: A soft, forward fruity nose. Raspberry and vanilla notes. Lower in acids on the palate, nice alcohol, overall much more approachable than the other wines, but doesn't have their structure. Finishes well. 17/20

[source: winedoctor aka Chris Kissack]

[Barbirollians]

Sounds about right !!!

[Anna]

I know it's all down to personal taste but can I pick your brains? I don't know a lot about wines and I know the traditional red + red meat, white + fish, chicken, etc., is not adhered to now but what would you suggest to accompany guinea fowl, being as it's more strongly flavoured than a chicken, would a soft red be more appropriate than a chilled white?

[Roehre]

I know it's all down to personal taste but can I pick your brains? I don't know a lot about wines and I know the traditional red + red meat, white + fish, chicken, etc., is not adhered to now but what would you suggest to accompany guinea fowl, being as it's more strongly flavoured than a chicken, would a soft red be more appropriate than a chilled white?

Yes. And to put your mind at ease about combining red with fowl, nowadays even the French are doing so.
It is IMO even questionable whether it should be a soft red. I obviously wouldn't advice a claret (bordeaux) but a nice Rioja or Barros would IMO be a good and tasteful (literally) combination.
Btw, a dry Rosé would do well too.

[Nick Armstrong]

I know it's all down to personal taste but can I pick your brains? I don't know a lot about wines and I know the traditional red + red meat, white + fish, chicken, etc., is not adhered to now but what would you suggest to accompany guinea fowl, being as it's more strongly flavoured than a chicken, would a soft red be more appropriate than a chilled white?

I've never actually believed in the white with white meat thing - always prefer red with a bird.

FYI, here are two French sites for food-wine matches, and for guineafowl ('pintade') all their suggestions are red...

http://www.lespassionnesduvin.com/accord-mets-vins/volailles/pintade-94/

http://www.platsnetvins.com/accords-plats-mets-vins.php?plat=pintade

Another site suggests these for pintade: Chenas - Santenay - Côtes du Rhône-Villages - Côtes de Provence rouge

So I'd say Red Red Red!!

Bon appétit!

[vinteuil]

certainly a red for me.

Depending how grand or otherwise the meal was going to be I might go for a beaujolais (yes, a chenas wd be nice... ) - a Loire red - a modest burgundy.

Think pinot noir - gamay - cab franc...

[Richard Tarleton]

I know it's all down to personal taste but can I pick your brains? I don't know a lot about wines and I know the traditional red + red meat, white + fish, chicken, etc., is not adhered to now but what would you suggest to accompany guinea fowl, being as it's more strongly flavoured than a chicken, would a soft red be more appropriate than a chilled white?

(Can't remember if I've posted this before)

[amateur51]

certainly a red for me.

Depending how grand or otherwise the meal was going to be I might go for a beaujolais (yes, a chenas wd be nice... ) - a Loire red - a modest burgundy.

Think pinot noir - gamay - cab franc...

Sound advice vints - you don't need to spend a fortune to get nice examples, Anna

[Thropplenoggin]

Ye gods!

Just picked up a few bottles of this chez Carrefour (€8.50): Château Dasvin-Bel-Air 2009 Haut Medoc. This vintage won a gold medal at the Concours de Bordeaux 2011. A lovely bottle - nice nose, quite complex though lacking that leathery tobacco element that exceptional Bordeaux wines have (Pomerol et al), all at a great price and available, it seems, chez Aldi: http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers...uys3_27929.htm £9.99!

It'd probably be even better if laid down in the cellar for a few years.

Eminently quaffable, especially to accompany beef (saignant) followed by an odiferous hunk of Roquefort and dried figs.