What, nobody yet?
Just having my first beer of 2022. Hobgoblin IPA, and it’s very good and quite distinctive. Pretty cold from the fridge but a huge waft of grapefruit on pouring. Quite bitter, dry, fruity, hoppy flavour. Nice beer and probably aimed at fairly mature palates - that’s mature, not old!
Well I will add a second item…I exited the dry train this PM again:thinking:….Mrs adb is on a sojourn to sunny 
to see her sister so with comfort food , Lancashire Hot Pot some Rioja…delicious, sharp , depth and a soft oak finish.
Spanish alignment…
I’m glad I’m not the only person drinking any alcohol this week. I was getting worried.
Tonight I’ve opened a bottle of Louis Felipe Edwards Gran Reserva Chardonnay 2016 and I’m really enjoying it with a seared tuna steak. Quite a greenish lemon colour. Soft, rich, oaky and leesy. Lots of fruit, not too dry. I haven’t drunk any chardonnay for a while, and always enjoy wine that much more after getting back from the gym, but for a £10 bottle of wine this is exceptional value.
https://www.vivino.com/GB/en/luis-felipe-edwards-gran-reserva-chardonnay/w/85357?year=2016
Thanks for starting the thread Andy.
Some crisp but sunny weather here gave an opportunity to get some road cycling in on the local rural lanes, for the first time in ages, over the last two days which I really enjoyed. Er, so I felt deserving of a reward for the effort this evening…
…having been so impressed by their pinot at the weekend I felt compelled to check this out. So, from Elgin S.A. an Oak Valley ‘Groenlandberg’ Chardonnay 2018, enjoyed with a brined cod loin, dauphinoise potatoes and peas.
An attractive green gold colour. Typical barrel ferment aromas on the nose, toasty oak, oatmeal, spice and citrus. No reductive aromas, like burnt match or struck flint as is often the case these days, so it was good to go as soon as the cork was pulled. Similar notes on tasting, excellent balance, lovely freshness, pure and intense fruit flavours and integrated oak notes that provide some spicy / toasty complexity.
As per the pinot, a delicious and beautifully crafted wine.
We have gone for the 2020 Rhombus Robola of Kefalonia, Gentilini 2020
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/rhombus-robola-of-kefalonia-gentilini-2020
The description on the website calls it “a wonderful summer white”, which is certainly true, though it was also perfectly pleasant on a freezing january evening. But better in the garden in summer, no doubt about it.
It’s dry, on the lighter flavoured end of things, but no dull dishwater by any means. Definite lemon pith on the nose and taste, something herbaceous as well, a mix of bay and thyme (I realise that this makes it sound like a recipe for a stuffing for a chicken rather than a wine tasting note). Some almond notes, bit of peach, and a lick of minerality. All very pleasant.
Beer, I’d say.
A most delightful Bourgueil this evening - Bourgueil ‘Passion’, Joël Taluau 2020:
Textbook Loire Cab Franc, with all the attributes that we love about these wines; deep magenta hue in the glass, the nose has notes of violets, pencil shavings, bramble and cherries plus an earthy freshly-turned soil note, and something of the tomato leaf too.
Young and exuberant on the palate, the fruit is ripe but with a nice tanginess to it (bramble, strawberries, cherries, redcurrant), and the earthy note adds a nice dimension - there’s something of the beetroot about it. Appetising acidity and mellow tannins frame this nicely, and the finish has a savoury edge.
It’s not particularly complex - but a true vin de soif and very well made wine at that! We shall be ordering more 
Whilst cooking - a glass of this Medium Dry Amontillado from M&S:
Nutty, savoury and figgy… excellent value for money for £8 a bottle… Sherry rocks! 
Brunello?
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/laudun-cotes-du-rhone-villages-chateau-courac-2017
A regular purchase for me, this is my first of this vintage. Full bodied (of course), deep colour, a mere 14.5% abv, very smooth in the mouth but still manages to refresh. A re-order in the 2020 EP offer.
I would go Primitivo de Manduria or a Californian Zinf like a Ravenswood . I think you need a bold sweetness to the wine to counteract the marmite saltiness and some peppery element for the pork.
Enjoy what ever you choose and think of me with fizzy Adam’s Ale once again…
100 meaningless points to whoever can guess what this is:
It’s very pale, with a nose of stock and a powerful savoury strawberry taste. It is wholly inappropriate both for the time of year and the turbot I’m going to cook when the little man is asleep. Regardless, I love it so much I just fancied some after doing a preliminary sort through some wines for Spring (ever the optimist).
Marcillac:
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/marcillac-lo-sang-del-pais-domaine-du-cros-2019
Has a nice ferrous note that I reckon would suit the Marmite. Although if it were up to me (and I recognise it isn’t) Marmite would be allowed nowhere near a sausage.
Jim
I’d myself probably go something fresh & stalky & chilled-ish; something like a young Cab Franc maybe.
Or a cellar-temp Sensal for the sweetness followed by the savoury - I’ve been on one of these on & off for a few evenings with a white likewise, and it is a lovely wine. It’s gone nicely with sausages last night and - bizarrely - with smoked haddock gratin tonight. But a bit of a luxury for a midweeker, really.
No decent beer in the house 
Nice idea, but I only have 2015 and 2016 Brunello and I don’t think they’re quite there yet
Another great idea, but no Primitivo/Zinfandel in the house either (maybe I can show this thread to MrsBrocklehurstj to demonstrate the paucity of my cellar and the desperate need to spend heavily again this year…)
I found something suitable, with fruit, freshness and depth, but my other half took a measure of this down the road in the mystery wine bottle so I can’t reveal what it was until @JamesE has got it wrong.
Edit:
Probably would have worked too
Your thinking is along the same lines as my choice. Worked very nicely.
Odd that the photo is a bottle of white!
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