What Was Your Most Recent Bottle of Wine?

[smittims]

Thanks for that, Barbirollians. As a long-time Claret drinker I'll be trotting round to Tesco. ALDI do a good one , Pierre Laurent, at £4.99.

[gradus]

While looking for a tree tie in the garage, I found half a dozen bottles of Riesling from two producers,a 2016 Trocken from the Rheingau grower Peter Jakob Kuhn and another 2016 Dengler Seyler Trocken Riesling from Maikammer in Oben Weinsper that I'd bought 2 years ago and forgotten about. Odd really, white wine doesn't usually hang around chez nous.

[hmvman]

While looking for a tree tie in the garage, I found half a dozen bottles of Riesling from two producers,a 2016 Trocken from the Rheingau grower Peter Jakob Kuhn and another 2016 Dengler Seyler Trocken Riesling from Maikammer in Oben Weinsper that I'd bought 2 years ago and forgotten about. Odd really, white wine doesn't usually hang around chez nous.

That must be the equivalent of finding a £10 note in the pocket of an old pair of trousers! I wish I could find a long-forgotten supply of wine somewhere when looking for something else...

[smittims]

I hope the Riesling is still good after 8 years .

[gradus]

I hope the Riesling is still good after 8 years .

So do I!

[Belgrove]

A friend returning from a lengthy sojourn in Mexico brought a vacuum pack of mole negro paste from Oaxaca, the culinary heart of the country, so it only seemed appropriate to make Chicken Mole Poblano. The paste takes all the hard work of making the mole from scratch, requiring only a cooking with tomato and chicken stock before a final finishing of the chicken in the formidably black sauce.

But the cellar has no Mexican wines (they can be very fine but are difficult to source). Such a grand dish deserves a grand wine, and a Weinert Tonal 111 Malbec from 1994 was opened, more out of approximate geographical considerations than culinary orthodoxy, and consequently with some trepidation.

It’s a wonderful wine, still, after all this time, requiring decanting and time in a (big) glass to release its aromas, which are decidedly on the leather and the tobacco spectrum, but with autumn berries buried beneath, so a strata of scents. The colour is a deep, opaque mahogany red, but the pale rim when held to the light betrays its age. The tough tannins, which would have made the wine undrinkable in its youth, have softened to a provide a velvety finish that bolsters a sequence of flavours from first taste to long finish. Primarily this is a complex dark and deep fruit mix, ripe blackberrys and blackcurrants, but with the sweetness knocked off, then comes a prickly spiciness. And that is what makes the match with the mole a happy success. The mole is a deeply aromatic spicy, smoky, fruity and smooth complex of flavours, with a subtle residual heat. It’s a powerful sauce and the Weinert proved to be an unexpectedly successful partner to it. Best wine drunk this year!

[smittims]

I've just finished a French Malbec from ASDA, 'Le Manoir du Baron'. £4.95. Very smooth , the flavour emerges nicely when taken with Stilton cheese.

[hmvman]

I'm very fond of Malbec in its Cahors incarnation. Aldi used to do a very good one at a cheap price but it disappeared a few months ago. They've now introduced one at the higher price of £6.69 (not exactly expensive, I will admit) and I bought a couple of bottles to try. I wasn't so impressed on first tasting, it seemed a bit thin and unexciting. I'll give the other bottle a go sometime to see if second impressions are better.

[kuligin]

Latest bottle

Clos du Roi Pinot Noir Bourgogne Coulanges La Vineuse. 9e from the grower. The sort of wine I like, only 13per cent, light but with real Pinot Noir flavour. Of course it can not compete with Burgundies from the Côte d’ Or but a very attractive affordable alternative.

[smittims]

ALDI still do a very tasty Malbec at £3.99, hmvman, either Spainish or Argentine.

[hmvman]

ALDI still do a very tasty Malbec at £3.99, hmvman, either Spainish or Argentine.

Thanks, smittims, yes, I've had few different Malbecs from Aldi and all generally good.

[Barbirollians]

I see the Times recommended Lidl's Deluxe Argentinian Malbec in its 50 best red wines to drink this winter on Saturday £6.29 13.5% alcohol .

My favourite god value Cahors is Clos la Coutale from the Wine Society, It keeps too - a 2017 was lovely last week . Its £9.95 though it was only about £7.95 a couple of years back .

Another very good Malbec is the Fairtrade Organic Malbec from Co-op . I think it was £8.99 not at all overblown and silky smooth fruit. I imagine it would go vry well with Christmas dinner.

[richardfinegold]

A friend returning from a lengthy sojourn in Mexico brought a vacuum pack of mole negro paste from Oaxaca, the culinary heart of the country, so it only seemed appropriate to make Chicken Mole Poblano. The paste takes all the hard work of making the mole from scratch, requiring only a cooking with tomato and chicken stock before a final finishing of the chicken in the formidably black sauce.

But the cellar has no Mexican wines (they can be very fine but are difficult to source). Such a grand dish deserves a grand wine, and a Weinert Tonal 111 Malbec from 1994 was opened, more out of approximate geographical considerations than culinary orthodoxy, and consequently with some trepidation.

It’s a wonderful wine, still, after all this time, requiring decanting and time in a (big) glass to release its aromas, which are decidedly on the leather and the tobacco spectrum, but with autumn berries buried beneath, so a strata of scents. The colour is a deep, opaque mahogany red, but the pale rim when held to the light betrays its age. The tough tannins, which would have made the wine undrinkable in its youth, have softened to a provide a velvety finish that bolsters a sequence of flavours from first taste to long finish. Primarily this is a complex dark and deep fruit mix, ripe blackberrys and blackcurrants, but with the sweetness knocked off, then comes a prickly spiciness. And that is what makes the match with the mole a happy success. The mole is a deeply aromatic spicy, smoky, fruity and smooth complex of flavours, with a subtle residual heat. It’s a powerful sauce and the Weinert proved to be an unexpectedly successful partner to it. Best wine drunk this year!

Mole paste definitely makes it easier. Chicago has the third largest Hispanic population in the US and our local groceries have large amounts of store space dedicated to Hispanic foods.
I prepare it much as you describe, but add a small jar of Frontera Grill salsa.
A local restaurant carries wines from Baja California. They tend to be a bight lighter than Malbec or Cabarnet Sauvignon. I haven’t seen these wines in our local wine shops but they are easily available on the Internet

[Mandryka]

The problem with cheap Malbec wines for is that they can be a fruit bomb, which I really don't like at all. In The Gazette Brasserie (there are a few, one in Insitut Français in South Ken) they do a drinkable French Malbec. I have at home a couple of Argentinian vintages - Riccitelli and Ar Guentota - I prefer Ar Guentota in fact. Both need some bottle age, 5 years minimum, preferably 10.

I'm enjoying a bottle of Montlouis as I type, Les Hauts de Husseau (Jacky Blot)

[Barbirollians]

The problem with cheap Malbec wines for is that they can be a fruit bomb, which I really don't like at all. In The Gazette Brasserie (there are a few, one in Insitut Français in South Ken) they do a drinkable French Malbec. I have at home a couple of Argentinian vintages - Riccitelli and Ar Guentota - I prefer Ar Guentota in fact. Both need some bottle age, 5 years minimum, preferably 10.

I'm enjoying a bottle of Montlouis as I type, Les Hauts de Husseau (Jacky Blot)

Sadly, no longer with us Monsieur Blot but the domaine’s wines are outstanding albeit not cheap.