What? Nobody?
Just sipping a Faustino I GR Rioja 2010, which I was given a few months ago. Lots of cherry, some red fruit too, a bit of leather, a bit more tannin, but surprisingly (to me) fresh and refreshing. Very enjoyable.
Hope nobody is taking Monday too seriously!
I’ve had this - a 2017 Old Road Wine Company Grand Mére Semillon - open for 4 nights now, but just about counts as a midweek wine.
This has really strut its stuff nicely over its time open, starting slightly shrill & energetic & citrussy & minerally - lovely with some sushi on Friday night - to tonight, by when it’s become a much more rounded, mellow and plush beast, with a lovely calming vanillin taste & a beautiful creamy texture; a perfect sipper to say goodbye to the summer holidays on this first-day-back-at-the-chalkface-for-2023-24 Monday evening.
These two wines have brought home to me that German Pinot has much to offer. The Fürst has structure and integrated complexity with a long smoked fruity finish. The Bouley has a lot of slightly flabby fruit. In many ways it is all about acidity balanced against fruit. The glossiness of the Burgundy, with its silky fruit is out gunned by the structure of the Fürst phenolic structure.
Opened a bottle of Cairanne Peyre Blanche, Famille Perrin 2017.
Trying one of the Moschofileros stocked by TWS: Mitravelas White on Grey 2022.
A less crazy Gewurztraminer foil: 12.5% abv, more restrained on the nose and higher acidity.
Nose of jasmine, orange blossom and rose petals. Gently grippy, with a touch of reduction, some citrus rind. Body is a bit towards the lighter end and acidity is medium. The finish is slightly short but this makes it a very easy to drink wine. Aromatic but also quaffable in equal measure.
This post fits equally with the What are you doing today thread, but this gets the nod.
Today, foraging for berries and mushrooms in Sami Lapland. Currently lingonberries, crowberries and bilberries in profusion plus loads of rufous milkcap mushrooms. The supermarket in Ivalo also has fresh -caught Lake Inari whitefish.
Sadly the wine is the lowest common denominator baginbox from Alko, but at least reasonably priced and tolerably palatable.
It snowed heavily en route to Rovaniemi…
Weissburgunder, Mittelrhein, Toni Jost 2021
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/weissburgunder-mittelrhein-toni-jost-2021
Clean, crisp, acidity with balance and a lot of structure to the fruit underneath that. More like a Riesling than a Pinot Blanc, and better than many Rieslings I’ve had recently.
I gave my rather handsome fish the five star treatment wine-wise tonight. Anyway, here’s Mick/Mary the mackerel…
…and to go with it…
…a Bourgogne Aligote ‘Les Auvonnes au Pepe’ 2019, Sylvain Pataille. From a 0.1ha vineyard and a yield of 20hl/ha. So, if my sketchy maths is correct, a total production of 200 litres. If so, hats off to TWS for giving me/us the opportunity to try it.
Anyway, leesy minerals, Granny Smith apples and tree blossom on the inviting nose. Pretty much the same on the vibrantly fresh and green/white fruited palate with a creamy leesy texture to round out the assertive flavours. I’ve little previous experience of the grape but, to my mind at least, it’s kind of like a turbo charged Muscadet. All in all, a bangin’ wine and a super match to my griddled fish meal. 
This sounds like a summary of my childhood dreams… 
Envious!!! Nordcapp?
Ahhh, Moomins and their associates (especially Little My! 
) were my childhood companions… I still read Moominland Midwinter every autumn.
I’m somewhat amazed.
@PHarvey can post some wonderful notes and images from Lapland, eating foraged fungi & locally caught fish, whilst drinking passable wine from Chile, on a UK wine retailer (community?) website !
Truly the world has changed in my lifetime. And of course, I wish I was there - especially for the Northern Lights. 
no, we were heading south again (went to Nordcapp on an earlier trip to Norway). Oddly there was more snow south of Inari - around Sodankyler - but now in Rovaniemi there’s none. Managed to speed past, without glancing around, the hideous “Santa Claus” village just north of here…there’s a very nice campsite on the riverside in the town itself.
Yes, we stayed there but in snow sad to say. We had instructions from the Grand children that a stop off in ‘Santa Land’ was obligatory but the momentos are well forgotten!
Mrs Jos and I joined the “Fine Wine Collection online tasting” yesterday evening which was really enjoyable. Pouches of 100ml provided enough wine for two. For the three chardonnay’s the Robert Oatley https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/robert-oatley-finistere-margaret-river-chardonnay-2020 won it on the nose, but the Beauregard won it for us overall, with intensity and complexity on the palate. Château de Beauregard, Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru Vignes Blanches 2020.
The Society’s Exhibition Haut Medoc 2018 from Chateau Beaumont was arguably the best value wine of the evening, The Society's Exhibition Haut-Médoc 2018 but the Gigondas Romane Machotte 2020 won it for us from the three reds, tremendous value for £20. Gigondas, Romane-Machotte, Domaine Pierre Amadieu 2020. All wines were actually nice.
Opened a bottle of TWS Sicilian Red last night and had a couple of glasses with homemade lasagne. This has been a firm favourite/cellar defender for a number of years. It’s 2019 vintage right now.
I found it a bit unbalanced, hard even, difficult to pinpoint exactly why. It wasn’t acidity per se, or tannin. Maybe it needed a bit of air. The fruit wasn’t as generous as before, when it sometimes sat just the right side of jammy.
I will revisit it tonight but was slightly disappointing.
Yes apologies, not really a weekend drinking post - should have been on the what are you doing thread. Where today’s activities are to be posted.
No apologies required whatsoever !!! there was that Chile winebox, so perfectly in the correct thread
Please keep on posting, so we may travel vicariously.
Just opened a bottle of Chateau La Garenne 2019 (Bordeaux, red). I am not sure where I bought it from - possibly TWS? It is wonderful, smooth, soft fruits, dangerously gluggable…
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