Weekend sipping - Friday 13th to Sunday 15th May

[Winestwit]

Opened my first bottle of this tonight

2011 Domaine Maby Nessun Dorma. Picked up 6 last year from TWS. I visited the winery last Sept and they said Nessun Dorma is good for 15 years. Not sure my remaining 6 bottles will last another 4 years to find out! This is fantastic, it ages perfectly and the society tasting notes clearly articulate my thoughts whilst drinking “Sumptuous and extravagantly rich”.

Not sure Richard Maby gets the credit he deserves, his wines are fantastic. This is the best I’ve had so far and I adore his standard Lirac that I see @Brenda is having tonight.

[JayKay]

Entering a low alcohol phase (we just cut down these days rather than deprive ourselves totally - justifying by the fact that three days a week are alcohol free anyway!) and saving the wines for Saturday and Sunday. So tonight helping out a beer brand that has possibly been unfairly neglected these past couple of years

[danchaq]

Burgers and claret.

Batailley 2010. Butcher burgers with all the usual trimmings plus the last of our wild garlic. Rosemary wedges. We have next week off and are starting our holiday with joyfulness.

My notes on the wine: Bright, deep red in the glass. Distinct red fruit brightness but with depth and a savoury edge. Redcurrants and pencil shavings, is that a thing? Walking the fence of maturity. Less exuberant than the 2009. Decanted 45 mins much more relaxed after two hours.

Happy weekend all.

[MarkC]

Opened this one with home made pizza last night, but with fairly low expectations after the first bottle was pretty poor last December.

https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/luna-beberide-mencia-2021

2020 not 2021.

It was much much better than the first one. The reviews polarise too, and I can completely get that, as I’ve had both experiences with bottles from the same order.

The new infantile review system insists that I leave a star rating, so I left a 2 star rating just to be annoying. In reality, the first one was a one star, second one probably 4 stars. For the good bottle, this wine is decent value and a good example.

[winechief]

Gewurztraminer ‘Folastries’, Josmeyer 2016

Excellent wine last night. Full of power and complexity. Yum

[robertd]

We were out a friend’s last night, helping to eat up an asparagus glut from his allotment (it was a hard job, but needed doing ). What else to do but raid our respective muscat collections? Between us, we came up with Frédéric Mochel GC Altenberg de Bergbeiten 2017, Dirler-Cadé GC Saering 2015, and Rolly Gassmann VT Moenchreben de Rorschwihr 1997.

The Mochel was started before the meal and finished with the asparagus, and was on the fruity and grapey side - off-dry, some mint on the finish, nicely balanced, and worked well as an aperitif, too. The Dirler-Cadé was quite a lot drier and more herbal, with a saline streak that went well with fish pie for main. The Rolly Gassmann was a wine that’s been sitting in our racks since around 2006, and we’d just never drunk it, so it was a bit of gamble - muscat isn’t really meant to age. But dessert wines made this well are indestructible - gloriously honeyed, floral and balanced, with age adding nutty complexity. Miel de fôret in a glass.

I’m now getting Piedmontese food and wine ready for this evening in honour of Eurovision in Turin (where’s a kitsch emoji when you need it?)

[mrptaylor]

Very useful. I have a single bottle of Batailley 2010 my wife bought for my birthday, on advice from TWS as ‘ready to drink’. Sounds like it is, up to a point, but maybe better to allow it a few years to fully come off the fence…

[danchaq]

If you’ve only got the one, I’d wait. It will definitely get better.

[mrptaylor]

Yes, she just bought me one, so I will follow your advice.

[Lewis]

Delicious!

This has been languishing in the cellar for years. Bought in January sale 4 or 5 years ago. @strawpig had me worried this might have gone over but this is terrific. Lots of everything but not too much in any department.

[joem]

Bone-in ribeye, sous vide at 54C for 2h 30 then flashed in the pan for a nice sear. Sweet potato wedges, garlic & balsamic mushrooms, homemade cognac based peppercorn sauce.

Served with Hortevie, Saint-Julien 2010, decanted for 2h. Really enjoyable wine - silky, smooth, long, complex, structured tannins and balanced oak. Last time around I made the mistake of decanting only for 1h. More patient this time and got much more from it.

Currently pondering whether to order a case or not …

[strawpig]

I have envy. Glad it’s worked out for you! I now hold out hope for my other bottle. Mines the other cuvee.

[Brocklehurstj]

Currently sipping this

Oooh it’s lovely. A bit too lovely as it was only supposed to be a small glass while cooking the kids’ supper. Now supper is late, the kids are hangry and I’m in the doghouse.
Can confirm, however, that it partners very nicely with the next part of Italian cheese mountain scheduled for demolition - Robiola Bosina

Edit: sorry, keep forgetting - Donnhoff 2018 Tonschiefer dry slate Riesling

[Robin63]

Started the evening hoping to enjoy another new wine from TWS, but unfortunately the Nagy Somloi Furmint had oxidised and so switched the Domaine de La Renaudie Malbec from Touraine. Full of plumy fruit but I will admit to preferring Argentine examples at a similar price level.

Deep coloured wine but can just see glass stem. Medium nose. Ripe, black plum. Black currant and blackberry. Soft vanilla. Notes of tabacco. Medium palate. Sappy tannins. Medium acidity. Dry. Black plum. Blackberry. Shortish finish. A pleasant but fairly simple wine.

[lapin_rouge]

Saturday evening in Yorkshire - and it’s glorious sunshine, blue skies. Which means it will rain tomorrow.

With an excellent mature Beaujolais cru, Regnie 2016 (pic stolen from tinterweb). I absolutely love mature Beaujolais & this is very fairly priced from Penistone Wine Cellars. Nose is light with distinct cherry blossom & almond. Palate rich and rounded with more cherries, the slight bitterness which I find in Regnie, there’s marshmallow roses on the finish. Very drinkable.

Alongside a Pizza Margherita with added oxtail meat & home pickled chillies.

[CCouzens]

After a few inexpensive wines lately it’s time for a treat

I bought a couple of bottles at a TWS Bordeaux tasting some years ago.

Still a deep red colour, perhaps just a hint of brick at the rim. Enticing nose with plenty of fruit. On the palate it’s smooth, smoky, with a touch of strawberry, a dry and quite long finish.

A weekend sipper indeed.

[Andrew20]

I confess we’re watching Eurovision tonight but starting with a bottle of Czech sparkling. It’s really interesting with apple and custard notes and some haziness and yeasty notes. Also apple, pear and white flowers. A bit wild but excellent.

[Andrew20]

Do like Dry Slate. Enjoy!

[AnaGramWords]

The Ginglinger was a very nice surprise. I have never tasted a white Graillot CH before. The 2010 Belgrave is just getting into its stride. Another nice surprise!

[Inbar]

Snap with @AnaGramWords! on the Crémant!

We cracked opened a bottle of it to celebrate the 19-year-old’s health today. Her actual birthday was on Tuesday, but why not have a birthday week if you can, especially if the sun is shining:

Crémant d’Alsace Brut Prestige, Domaine Paul Ginglinger 2019

Absolutely love this Crémant, with its fresh notes of orchard fruit, shortbread biscuit creaminess and citrus zest. It disappeared all too quickly…!

And this Cab Franc, was heavenly with a rack of Dorset lamb, roast new potatoes and Cavalho Nero:

Gabriëlskloof Landscape Series Cabernet France, Bot River, South Africa 2017

What a wine! We were both awestruck by this beautiful example of a grape we love.

Everything about it was just beautiful – the colour, which was bold violet, with garnet on the rim; the nose, which was particularly enticing, with notes of violets, bramble conserve and plums, as well as herbaceous notes, pencil shavings, damp earth and sandalwood smoke; and the palate which was rich with fruit (plums, bramble, dark cherries), but also balanced with a tang of rosehip syrup, savouriness and spice (liquorice), and slightly sweet/sour balsamic notes. Tannins and acidity seemed in perfect balance – this will age longer, for sure, but is just beautiful right here right now.

Classy, generous but still Cab Franc for all that – I must get my paws on some more!

Happy weekend!