ernie wrote:

I hope I don't inflict defective wines on
my guests or hosts, but if I do I want to know about it so I can learn and
improve future batches. And the more precise the criticism, the better.

Erm... Yellowtail Shiraz. Need I say more, Ernie?

p.s. Sorry to have missed you last time out, but circumstances got in
the way...

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Salut Yves,

On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 22:14:10 +0200, "Yves"
wrote:

Another way of getting around the problem is to tell you hostess that the
wine is far too young to be enjoyed now and that it would benefit from a
couple of decades in the cellar. Imagine that you will be invited again: if
the herbacious, overextracted notes have not vanished in favour of a
memorable, smooth-as-silk mouthfeel (bet it won't!), well... you could still
blame it on the storage conditions...

Brilliant!!

==========
To answer those who asked if I was serious about the reputation of
Bordeaux. Yes. I was entirely serious. I live about 200 km (call it
130 miles) East of St Emilion, which is about the nearest Bordeaux
region. Despite the fact that there are several good wine areas
closer, most local restaurants stock 4 times as many Bordeaux wines as
these other regions put together. If I'm lucky I might find 3 or 4
Cahors, one or two moderate class Bergerac, and so on, while they have
perhaps 20 bordeaux, none of which are Crus Classés and most of which
I'd not even consider putting in my cellar.

There's some truth in the suggestion (was it Steve) that many/most
restaurants stock what the local suppliers sell. That certainly
happens to a greater or lesser extent here. As it happens I know the
owner of the local suppliers, and he's a good enough friend of mine
for me to have been able to remonstrate with him about what he offers
to the trade.

His reply is simple - and totally confirms what I've been saying. "But
Ian, I've got to supply restaurants what their customers want and
expect. They don't want some relatively minor appellation no matter
how much better value for money it may be. They want Bordeaux."

As for what the older people drink admittedly in an area which isn't
reallt a wine growing area. I'd say 90% of them will always look to
Bordeaux for their celebratory bottles and even rgeularly drink poor
quality minor AOC Bordeaux, despite the fact that there's a perfectly
good local (next door region, actually, and that matters) wine
available for FAR less than they pay for some memorably awful plonk.

When I came here, I was pretty shocked at the general level of
ignorance about food and wine. I can absolutely confirm what Mike T
says here.

While French journalists (echoing and reinforcing the opinions of M
Tout-le-monde) proclaim the pre-eminence of France in the worlds of
gastronomy, and oenology, they are talking about something that almost
no longer exists. There's very little knowledge about, practice of, or
respect for the dishes that created the reputation of France in the
last century. I'm not saying that you can't eat and drink well here,
or that we're worse off than in other countries, but we're WAY worse
off here than we were 30 years ago. As for oenology, I've lost count
of the number of times I've heard it said "Ah yes, but they're using
French grapes varieties and French oenologists, that's the only reason
they make good wines, and in any case they don't have OUR terroir."

While I'd have some time for French chauvinism if it was based on some
kind of knowledge of wines from elsewhere, this chauvinism is
reflected in an astonishing level of refusal to import good foreign
wines and therefore is based on an almost total ignorance of what is
being made elsewhere. Virtually not ONE of my french friends have
tasted any New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wines, Australian Shiraz,
Californian Zinfandel, Austrian Gruner Veltliner, Swiss Petite Arvine
or German Rieslings. Yet they are utterly convinced that "French
wines are the best in the World". And that's not because THEY have
tasted them, but because eminent oeno-journalists (Mchael Pronay won't
like me mentioning them) like Bettane or Burtschy, while in private
admitting that some of the best foreign wines might have a little
merit, publicly decry and denigrate all foreign wines to the extent of
actually lying about them.

I've read BB say that "Sekt" is a german name for a low quality
sparkling wine" (the Mikes can confirm this, as it sparked a furious
argument I had with him, which led to him leaving frbv) and MB
claiming that he doesn't like Tokaju Aszu because he doesn't like
sweet wines that aren't botrytised, which also sparked a somewhat
heated discussion that I had with him.
--
All the best
Fatty from Forges

Ah, but that putrid sample I inflicted last time wasn't my creation; it
was a 2005 2 Buck Chuck (not Yellowtail) syrah, bottled and sold just
four months after harvest. And I was looking for input from experienced
tasters on what that horrible stench was, not validation of my imagined
talents.

The observation by Monsieur R., "BLEEAGGHHH!", was perfectly appropriate in
those circumstances.


Mark Lipton wrote:
ernie wrote:


I hope I don't inflict defective wines on
my guests or hosts, but if I do I want to know about it so I can learn and
improve future batches. And the more precise the criticism, the better.


Erm... Yellowtail Shiraz. Need I say more, Ernie?

p.s. Sorry to have missed you last time out, but circumstances got in
the way...