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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 15, 2019 20:02:55 GMT
By mistake I picked up a South African Shiraz. I am invariably disappointed by South African wines which seem weak and weedy.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 17, 2019 20:40:10 GMT
I just had two glasses of ti'punch and should now go to bed. It is actually almost the same as a caïpirinha, but it is more potent because rhum agricole from the West Indies or Réunion is generally between 49° and 51° whereas most commercial rum or cachaça is just 40°.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 18, 2019 4:24:22 GMT
I just enjoyed my stripped-down version of lassi / ayran. I make it with yogurt and water and nothing else, no thicker than regular milk.
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Post by bjd on Oct 18, 2019 17:57:46 GMT
Just opened a bottle of Gigondas, 2016. It could perhaps wait another year or two but was pretty good. There is enough left for a few more meals.
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 20, 2019 15:05:51 GMT
Just been out for lunch. Why do I have to pay £7 for a glass of house red here but just 3€ in Spain.
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Post by fumobici on Oct 20, 2019 16:51:34 GMT
I had a caffe' macchiato with maybe 3/4 oz. of Jack Daniel's added at the end with lunch at one of the local bars today. It was sublime (the barista/owner is really good). Cost: 1,70€. In the US, that would cost me... well I couldn't actually get that in the US because coffee bars don't have whisky, and the whisky bars can't make a proper caffe' macchiato. But if I could get one, it'd be at least $5.
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Post by fumobici on Oct 20, 2019 16:54:36 GMT
And why does a mediocre pizza cost nearly twice as much in the US as a really good pizza in Italy does? Haven't quite figured that out yet.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 20, 2019 18:35:20 GMT
While each country has its "price traditions" plus sin taxes for beverages (usually pretty awful in the UK, the US, Canada and Scandinavia, to name just a few), on most of the continent there are extreme variations even in the same city. Obviously, the house wine is very cheap in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal or Greece, and it is usually quite acceptable (not going so far as to say "very good" -- in any case I am in the "acceptable" camp).
Cocktails in France are wildly variable, but there is one item I have found to be very reasonably priced and so potent that you can hardly walk once you have had one -- an Irish coffee. I think it's because it isn't ordered very much and the bartender takes great pleasure in pouring a generous dose into the cup. Just saying...
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Post by whatagain on Oct 20, 2019 18:55:02 GMT
Irish coffee tends to be my preferred dessert these days. Now we made our own pizzas tonight and they were far better than what I get in an average pizzeria in Belgium. And at a fraction of the price. Unfortunately I had a leftover of a chilian wine instead of a good Gigondas. I had a good one lately from the region. Rasteau or vaison La romaine or ? Something quite cheap in southern france is pastis. Cheaper than a Coke.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 21, 2019 17:45:18 GMT
Tonight I opened a bottle of perhaps the cheapest wine that I have ever purchased sold outside of a box. It was on special at the E. Leclerc supermarket, and I paid 1.60 euros for it. I like to experiment sometimes, and I have a cast iron stomach so I have no fear. It is called "Cramoisay" which is clearly voluntarily close to the word "cramoisi" meaning "dark red" (think "carmine"). The vintner is based near Lyon and has purportedly existed since 1921. Then again where does it come from? That is obligatory to know, and the reply is "wine from the EU." That is what they put when it is a mixture of just about any wine from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, maybe Romania, who knows? The alcohol content is 11.5° which is respectable although 12 and 12.5 have become more popular. I sometimes buy white wine from Luxembourg which is only 10° and it is actually quite good.
So, I opened the bottle and was already surprised. It has a real cork made of cork. Most cheap wines use synthetic corks now, even Beaujolais Nouveau. I was not expecting a real cork at all. As for the taste, I was stunned. It is really quite good. That is the whole point of the cheap wine lottery. When they mix this stuff, they have no idea how it will turn out. I imagine that they have quality control people, but what they control is probably just whether it will poison you or not, not how it actually tastes (since there is no accounting for taste).
If that supermarket is still selling it the next time I return, I will buy more. But I will probably never see it again, because this is the sort of promotional item that comes in on one palette and then it is gone forever. And even if it returns a few months later, it won't be the same mix anymore.
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 21, 2019 18:14:00 GMT
Not at all surprised. One of the cheapest reds in my local supermarket is also one of the tastiest.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 21, 2019 18:24:52 GMT
At my Dia superette a few years ago, they had an unbeatable Côtes du Rhône that I always bought because it was always available at its incredible price (under 3 euros). And then Dia was sold to Carrefour, the stores changed, and it disappeared.
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Post by mickthecactus on Oct 21, 2019 18:45:38 GMT
The one I was talking about is a Cotes du Rhone
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Post by fumobici on Oct 21, 2019 19:23:20 GMT
If that supermarket is still selling it the next time I return, I will buy more. But I will probably never see it again, because this is the sort of promotional item that comes in on one palette and then it is gone forever. And even if it returns a few months later, it won't be the same mix anymore. I hate when I discover something I quite like, that is also seriously cheap, was a one-time deal. I know almost nothing about wine, and that may help me be more objective. Though in the few blind tastings I've done, I almost inevitably go for the expensive stuff. The one time I blind tasted whisky, I prefered the cheaper stuff by and large.
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Post by fumobici on Oct 21, 2019 19:29:19 GMT
There seems to be a truism here in Italy that there is virtually no bad Italian wine and, significantly, there is some bad French wine. But. The best French wine is grudgingly conceded to perhaps be better than the best Italian wine. And there are only two imortant wine-making countries here. They reckon the French are their only real competition.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 21, 2019 20:34:31 GMT
Portuguese wine has improved immensely, especially the whites. Some are remarkably good, and cheap by our standards. I have friends in Porto (they are both professors) and hope to visit them someday - not to impose myself on their hospitality, I no longer enjoy couch surfing. One never knows - perhaps they'd be able to find me accommodation as a researcher (a friend in Perugia has done so) at a very modest cost.
It is rare, but I've had utterly vile Italian wine.
Fumobici, I still find supposedly good US wines, even from the Pacific Northwest, far too sweet. Understandable from hot parts of California, but not so far north. Perhaps customer tastes? I almost never buy BC wines, so I don't know if it is the same there. Simply because they are far more expensive than wines of similar quality from other origins.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 21, 2019 21:36:51 GMT
I know less and less about white wines since they have fallen completely out of favour in France -- they are down to just 10% of the market. I drink some chilled Muscadet in the summer, but otherwise I totally avoid white wine even with seafood.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 21, 2019 23:01:45 GMT
Rosé instead? Not that I dislike red by any means, but I don't think most red wines go well with fish, except some special preparations. And I love fish.
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Post by bjd on Oct 22, 2019 9:17:22 GMT
I prefer white wine to rosé, even though the latter has become really popular over the past few years. Even being sold mixed with stuff like grapefruit syrup.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 27, 2019 14:47:44 GMT
11 days without cola nor Pepsi. Honestly not so easy. I find it easier to stop drinking alcohol.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 27, 2019 14:59:29 GMT
Trump will have to raise tariffs on wine again as it seems the Californian vineyards are burning. Poor guys there. Seems each year worse than the previous one. At Cavalaire the carrefour has a great Séguret at about 4-5 euros. Year long.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 25, 2019 17:20:10 GMT
I finally bought some Beaujolais nouveau today, which is a bit dangerous because since it lost all popularity in France, it is rarely on the market for more than a week. I have completely missed it a few times in recent years when I was not paying attention. I have (almost) always liked it because I like young fruity wines, but that's not fashionable. It's supposed to be pretty good this year, and I will find out in a few minutes, because that's what's in my glass, but I have not tasted it yet.
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Post by bjd on Nov 25, 2019 19:03:48 GMT
I just had a small glass of some white wine from New Zealand I bought during a "foire aux vins" because it had great ratings, but...it's okay but only that. I must have paid 8 euros for it but it's not worth that. We opened it the other day because we had chicken and it seemed that it would go well with it.
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Post by whatagain on Nov 25, 2019 21:29:49 GMT
We had a Chablis yesterday. We needed wine for the risotto and we had nothing else. So Chablis it has been.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 25, 2019 22:05:04 GMT
Actually, the Beaujolais I had (from Monoprix) was excellent.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 30, 2019 18:46:33 GMT
I'm drinking rosé tonight, which would be a seasonal anomaly except for the fact that most dwellings are well heated during the cold season these days.
It should be pointed out that in recent years, rosé has become the principal wine drunk at French ski resorts, probably because they are totally overheated with those roaring fireplaces.
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Post by whatagain on Dec 7, 2019 12:08:27 GMT
I had an excellent chateauneuf du pape 2008 that I mustn't let get much older.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 7, 2019 19:22:37 GMT
I bought a 3-litre box of Sicilian wine in Luxembourg today. I don't know when I will start on it, but I expect to be pretty good. We never have access to this sort of thing in France, which only imports the more expensive foreign wines. Not because the French importers are crooks, but simply because it is a well known fact that most French consumers are complete snobs and will only buy certain things if you jack up the price.
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Post by whatagain on Dec 7, 2019 22:39:26 GMT
Sicilian wines are great. I am being gently plastered with mirabelle. Very good stuff.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 7, 2019 22:50:28 GMT
I bought a litre of mirabelle today. I was stocking up in FraBeLux. Jarny, Kirchberg, Messancy.
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