Wine Wine Wine
Collection of wine news and wine-related feedsWalpole used the Royal Navy to smuggle wine
“Hedonism and Claret”, from The Economist <link>. It’s a good read.
When Britain made peace with France in 1713, claret became more accessible and the wine trade flourished. Claret was pricey but rich Londoners, who were also by then big spenders on theatres, spas and music produced by fashionable immigrants, such as Handel, consumed conspicuous quantities. Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister, used navy ships to smuggle his favourite wines from France. The most expensive one he bought was old burgundy, but that—as now—was available only in tiny quantities. So he relied largely on claret, buying four hogsheads of 24 dozen bottles of Margaux and one hogshead of Lafite every three months. In a single year his wine bill amounted to over £1,200 (£100,000 today).
Red wine improves sex life
The best of Wine Spectator in 2009 <link>
It’s all there in one article. Make sure you read the one about how red wine improves your sex life and the Californian Pinot tasting.
How to decant
A lovely narrative and a thorough description of how to decant. <link>
So what is decanting? Decanting is a process of carefully moving (pouring) wine from its vessel (typically the bottle) into a decanter. A decanter can be a glass pitcher or carafe. Many wine masters believe the best decanter has a long neck and wide bottom surface area, almost the opposite of a wine bottle. These features better allow oxygen to reach the wine for a more smooth, mellow finish.
New York & the wine world
Thanks Dr Vino for pulling these stats together. That Burgundy (70,470) acres is about five Manhattans but Romanee-Conti (DRC) vineyard (4.4 acres) is only half of Bryant Park is the one that will stick in my mind.
The very best Champagne
Looking for some of the very best champagne to welcome in the New Year? This review of the five most famous and highly regarded Champagne houses, Louis Roederer, Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Bollinger, and Taittinger by WineZap is a must-read.
I have been fortunate enough to drink the top wines from each of these houses and I completely agree with this statement.
“For whatever reason, Taittinger has not been able to establish quite the same level of fame as the other Champagnes we have mentioned and thus, the price is on the lower end of the spectrum. We consider this champagne to be a “sleeper” champagne at a high end..”
The Taittinger Comtes de Champagne is mighty fine.
For a very thorough review of the state of the champagne industry read this post from Berry Bros.
The latest evidence for sales statistics in 2009 is fairly gloomy, especially in the two top export markets (UK and USA) where volumes, anecdotally, are down by up to 30%. The key victims seem to be the Deluxe brands such as Cristal and Krug.
Beautiful labels
There are more excellent wine labels in this post than I seen in one place for a long time. <link>
2009’s Top New Zealand Sauvignon
Top 100 Washington State wines
Paul Gregat picks his top 100 wines for the Seattle Times <link>. As he says some of this wine may be sold out. Never mind it’s a great guide to the quality producers.
I’ve travelled to Seattle a lot in recent years, on business, and never really had a chance to taste everything the State had to offer, other than what you find in the bars of Bellevue. Seems like I missed out on some great wine and some good value wine.
Every wine word
You’ll never be stuck for words when describing wine with this glossary of wine tasting terms. <link>
Here are few that are new to me:
Best wines for Christmas: Australia
The Sydney Morning Herald is on the ball. Here’s their list of good value wines for Christmas <link>. I’m not sure how many of these I’ll find in the UK or how many will make it into US outlets but I’ll be on the look out for the Coldstream Hills Pinot and the Perrier Jouet Grand Brut NV (which should be widely available).
