What Was Your Most Recent Bottle of Wine?

[Thropplenoggin]

How nice to have a caviste. He said he’d been told that you could always tell a good wine by the size of the indentation at the bottom of the bottle. (I believe the indentation is called a ‘punt’ or ‘kick-up’. No doubt Throppers will supply the correct French term for this.) We had a good larf over this afterwards, but where did this presumably urban myth come from?

Aucune idée. I'll ask the caviste next time I'm en ville.

[Thropplenoggin]

Domaine des Tours Vin de Pays de Vaucluse 2009 - apparently, very much in the vein of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, or so said the caviste. Opened and breathing now to accompany a roti boeuf ce soir.

http://www.chateaurayas.fr/vinsdomdestours.htm

[vinteuil]

I visited my caviste in Paris this week. .

... I used to be an habitué of a restaurant just up the road from there - le Languedoc on bvd Port-Royal. I don't know whether it's still as it was - but back in the '90s it was one of the last really traditional bistrots, a place to go to when in need of les valeurs sûres... Must check it out when next in Paname...

[Thropplenoggin]

... I used to be an habitué of a restaurant just up the road from there - le Languedoc on bvd Port-Royal. I don't know whether it's still as it was - but back in the '90s it was one of the last really traditional bistrots, a place to go to when in need of les valeurs sûres... Must check it out when next in Paname...

Doesn't ring any cloches. Le Petit Pascal on rue Pascal was a regular haunt of ours, back in our 13ème days. Ah, gay Paris...

There's a great café-bistro at the bottom of Mouffetard, off the roundabout and opposite the librairie. Nearby is Carl Marletti, a pâtissier haut de gamme: http://www.carlmarletti.com/site/

[Alain Maréchal]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21929287

What is everybody's response to this, apart from "that means there'll be more for me"? I am happy to say I am part of the generation for whom "wine remains an essential part of their patrimoine, or cultural heritage" (although I grew up in a country where beer is the patrimoine, possibly to emphasise otherness from France).

[Thropplenoggin]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21929287

What is everybody's response to this, apart from "that means there'll be more for me"? I am happy to say I am part of the generation for whom "wine remains an essential part of their patrimoine, or cultural heritage" (although I grew up in a country where beer is the patrimoine, possibly to emphasise otherness from France).

Surely this is linked to the new 'grignoter' (snacking) culture now prevalent in the young French, which has seen them become the world's second-largest consumer of McDonald's. My students in Paris would always bring biscuits and crisps to class for their breaktime "goûter" (snack). Only one boy brought something traditional and less fattening: a slice of bread with pâté and 'cornichons' (gherkins), which his grandmother had prepared for him.

[Alain Maréchal]

a slice of bread with pâté and 'cornichons' (gherkins), which his grandmother had prepared for him.

instant nostalgia! I hope he had bread and chocolate spread later.

[Thropplenoggin]

instant nostalgia! I hope he had bread and chocolate spread later.

Ah, tartine au chocolat!

[Barbirollians]

The car - wine's greatest enemy ! I like that line .

I suspect that the Parkerisation of wines also may have played a part whereby wine is - to appeal to Robert parker's palate for alcoholic fruit juice and that of his slavish followers has become so much more alcoholic . Even claret cna now frequently be seen weighing in at 14 degrees of alcohol or more compared to 12 degrees 15 or 20 years ago . A couple of glasses of wine like that is simply undrinkable at lunchtime say as it will put you to sleep for the afternoon.

[Alain Maréchal]

Is there a study of what Robert Parker has done to (not "for") wine production? I'm recycling other ideas here which are now to distant to cite, but it has been pointed out that Americans seem to think that a deuxieme cru is just not trying hard enough and really ought to be aiming for gold. The idea of a relatively stable hierarchy is anathema to them.

[amateur51]

Is there a study of what Robert Parker has done to (not "for") wine production? I'm recycling other ideas here which are now to distant to cite, but it has been pointed out that Americans seem to think that a deuxieme cru is just not trying hard enough and really ought to be aiming for gold. The idea of a relatively stable hierarchy is anathema to them.

undoubted the lethal combination of Robert Parker and climate change have done much to change patterns of wine production.

On positive thing that Parker has done, wittingly or no, is to swing the focus of wine writing and wine consumption outside superrmarkets where wine is just part of 'the offer' on to quality and that undefinable quality called 'terroir'. The success of institutions like The Wine Society (a mutual) means that they are able to encouage, through long-term purcvhasing relationships, the smaller grower to do what she/he does best on the land/climate/terroir that they know best. The growth of good enterprising independent wine merchants in UK and elsewhere is a pointer too.

Not that long ago I was looking for quality wines at the £5-£6 price point. Reluctantly I have now moved to the £10-£12 price point but I also now drink less and enjoy it more

[Nick Armstrong]

This Southern French Grenache from Waitrose has become the 'house wine' at Château Caliban... It's a very acceptable tipple, with a good 'Châteauneuf' kick

http://www.waitrosedirect.com/product/waitrose-southern-french-grenache/633763

There will be a shudder and a sigh and who knows what else from vinteuil, but the screw cap is a boon... it means a small glass can be taken when required with food, and the bottle can last a week

[Thropplenoggin]

This Southern French Grenache from Waitrose has become the 'house wine' at Château Caliban... It's a very acceptable tipple, with a good 'Châteauneuf' kick

http://www.waitrosedirect.com/product/waitrose-southern-french-grenache/633763

... it means a small glass can be taken when required with food, and the bottle can last a week

By which time it's perfect for making vinaigrette.

[Mr Pee]

There will be a shudder and a sigh and who knows what else from vinteuil, but the screw cap is a boon... it means a small glass can be taken when required with food, and the bottle can last a week

You make a bottle last a week? That's about 6 days and 22 hours longer than it would last chez Pee....

[ahinton]

You make a bottle last a week? That's about 6 days and 22 hours longer than it would last chez Pee....

On this I have to agree with you in terms of lasting power chez ah...