01438 741177
Nice start to the weekend, in the garden with my wife. This is a cracking bottle for £11.95. Goes especially well with beef hula hoops. 
28 Likes
Thanks for kicking things off this weekend Owen.
Due to the sticky weather here, and a not entirely appropriate meal for it, another chilled red tonight.
A Grignolino del Monferrato Casalese 2021, Pio Cesare.
A pale garnet colour, one notch above a Tavel Rose, in the glass. Considering the deceptive colour, a complex nose with notes of cherries, rosehip, cured meat and evergreen twigs. A similar flavour profile on the subtly complex and savoury palate with fresh acidity providing a ridiculously easy to drink balance and structure.
A thoroughly individual and engaging wine that was a super match to my easy to cook meal.
Apart from colouring and rendering out some of the fat on the duck and poaching the shop bought pasta on the hob everything else was just a matter of counting minutes as it cooked in the oven. 
All the best for the weekend ahead everyone, as always, I’m looking forward to reading about your choices too.
23 Likes
I agree, @Embee, an absolutely brilliant wine, at a great price. Just wish that I still had some more.
3 Likes
Sierra de Toloño Blanco 2020, Viura. Fresh, high acidity. Very unlike your usual plain Viura. Lemon peel and juice, some minerality, just a gentle touch of more tropical fruit. I doubt it has seen any oak but it’s freshness and length are remarkable.
14 Likes
Picked this up from Bentley’s here in Ludlow. Bright purple, crunchy cabernet franc. Great summer drinking.
18 Likes
With hindsight, me too, hopefully TWS will list it again in the future, fingers crossed on that !
3 Likes
2017 Felton Road Calvert Pinot Noir. Something nice to sip whilst watching NZ v France. Well balanced and fragrant. Almost too delicious
20 Likes
A disappointment with dinner tonight was an oxidised bottle. The first one for several years and down the sink it went.
11 Likes
Not that it’s any consolation, I feel your pain on what should have been an enjoyable and engaging bottle. It’s so disappointing when oxidisation rears it’s ugly head, especially at meal time, when a Diam or Stelvin closure would likely have prevented it in the first place.
Hopefully there was a back up to soothe your disappointment ?
3 Likes
Indeed there was and in great form.
The Society’s Exhibition Pouilly-Fuissé 2020 (thewinesociety.com)
10 Likes
Rustenberg Wild Ferment Unwooded Chardonnay 2022
Quite a pale colour for a chardonnay. It’s a bit reductive. Lots of citrus, bit of pineapple. Rather decent on a hot evening.
11 Likes
I too have a Guigal CdR on the go, from 2019, and agree it’s a terrific wine, especially for under £10 a bottle.
Tonight it’s a TTD Gewuertztraminer which I picked up a few weeks ago.
Sort of a very typical gewuerz but not very exciting, and for me a little bit too sweet. I’m now drinking it with quite a hot Thai green curry, which I thought would counteract the sweetness slightly. In fact it’s a decent match, but if anything makes the wine taste a bit sweeter, which surprised me. It’s definitely not a don’t buy again, but a possible maybe!
14 Likes
This 2021 August Eser Oestrich Riesling ‘vom Löss’ is an absolute belter for this balmy muggy evening - concentrated, long, tense, green, spritzy & fun, and a bargain IMO. Really enjoyable with some sashimi and various ocean-based bits & bobs.
Also been enjoying a late-night chilled glass or two of this - the 2019 Pio Cesare Grignolino - over the past few nights with a tangy tomato & basil salad I’ve knocked up. I love its peppery sappy twiggy green savouriness. For my tastes, even better with a few years under its belt; and I actually prefer the Cesare version to the Burlotto version.
19 Likes
One for @Phil_H this evening. I cooked scallops and prawns with a mirin and sesame glaze; an aubergine and crab fritter; kimchi; and a gochujang and seafood sauce. And we drank Marcel Deiss, Rotenberg, 2015.
The first 2015 that we’ve opened, and as ripe as you’d expect from the vintage. Really golden in colour, and there’s quite a lot of botrytis there - the wine is right on the sweet edge of off-dry. But it shows why wines with residual sugar can work really well with the right dish. I was happy with the heat level of the food, and the sweetness complemented that, but there’s plenty of acidity too - more than your gewurz would have had, I’d think, @Andy999. Ripe grapefruit, dried apricots and lime marmalade 
Hope everyone has a good weekend!
21 Likes
Hmm, what to say about this. Some cherries and a bit of vanilla spice on the nose, cherries on palate with some gentle tannins and refreshing acidity. Is it nice? Yes. Is it worth the (compartively low) Wine Society asking price? Almost certainly not. If this was any other wine region I’d be spitting feathers at the poor VFM, alas this is burgundy… anyway i like it, i just wished i liked it more.
26 Likes
Presentation looks amazing 
3 Likes
Gone Bordeaux vs Felton Road tonight 
Not a rugby supporting choice and I don’t mind who wins tonight. Just enjoying the tussle and high quality rugby.
Great nose on this 2008 Bouscaut. Not had this producer before. Some of the mid palate a little light but really enjoying this recently purchased TWS aged oddity.
Cheers all!
20 Likes
Yes, you’re right. There is little to no acidity at all.
3 Likes
Wrong thread
1 Like
Similar territory to @Luke_275 and the OK Burgundy. I think I may have scored an own goal here as the TWS drinking window suggests from 2026, but I was encouraged by two recently-opened fellow cohort bottles from the same TWS mixed 6 2017 Red Burgundy Case and I do prefer my PN on the fruity side of sous-bois, and I don’t mind a bit of tannic bite. It was served with risotto-stuffed greenhouse tomatoes and garden fresh sweetcorn.
Don’t get me wrong, it was nice enough, just felt a bit restrained and average which would not be anticipated from the purchase price. No doubt it’s going through the closed-down phase ? I have half left which I’ll tackle tomorrow probably.
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/domaine-jean-grivot-vosne-romanee-2017
20 Likes