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Post by bjd on Sept 2, 2021 11:02:59 GMT
Speaking of tasting, last night we were invited to the neighbour's for an apéritif. She had made wine from walnuts, using the whole nut with the hulls on unlike commercial walnut wine which is made from the leaves. It was pretty good even though I am not usually a fan of stuff like that.
Don't worry, Fumo -- all those wines are finished except for the Jurançon, which is not a drink to accompany meals. I made a plum cake and it went well with that.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 3, 2021 15:09:33 GMT
I've had walnut liqueur before, but I don't know how it was made. It was quite good, though. A bottle of it would probably last for years (as do many liqueurs) because such things appeal to you at unpredictable moments. The weird bottles usually come out at the end of a long evening with friends when everything normal has already been drunk.
I don't have much in the category of "weird" at the moment, but I guess that my saffron liqueur might qualify or even my mei kuei lu chiew which is a rose flavoured sorghum hard liquor (and not liqueur). But it is extremely common in the Paris region and is even made in France (for people who don't need the fancy red Chinese bottle, which is lovely and exotic but which adds nothing to the taste). Also, I don't have any at the moment, but I really like green Chartreuse which many people think tastes like medicine.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 10, 2021 11:37:31 GMT
At the hypermarket I visited yesterday in Lorraine, I was happy to see that a lot of local drink items are highlighted. On the other hand, I thought it was a bit inappropriate to look upon WW1 with nostalgia to the extent of naming beers after it.
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Post by bjd on Oct 10, 2021 15:44:35 GMT
Local beers here are named for surf spots.
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Post by lagatta on Oct 10, 2021 18:09:27 GMT
I don't think I've ever had wine from Lorraine. Improvement there is possible, due to climate change. Québec wines were a bad joke, but they've improved. So have our ciders, but that is more due to cultivation of more appropriate apples, and better production methods.
Indeed the trenches don't evoke pleasing tastes and odours...
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Post by whatagain on Oct 10, 2021 19:29:18 GMT
Had a Saint Joseph 2018. Quite good.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 10, 2021 19:30:42 GMT
Indeed the trenches don't evoke pleasing tastes and odours... Bah. We have beer calked Waterloo, some brewed on the battlefield.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 20, 2021 5:37:16 GMT
I had some Suze on the rocks after dinner. It was my grandmother's favourite apéritif.
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Post by bjd on Oct 20, 2021 5:57:25 GMT
Isn't Suze on of those old-fashioned bitter drinks?
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 20, 2021 11:00:28 GMT
Absolutely. It's made with the roots of yellow gentian.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 20, 2021 17:34:31 GMT
I had a glass of Zinfandel. Long time no drink. Good.
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Post by bjd on Oct 20, 2021 18:12:13 GMT
I only tried Zinfandel once. It tasted like the kind of wine that makes your tongue turn red. Today we opened a bottle of wine from Hérault: Château de la Salade, Saint Henri. Pretty good.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 22, 2021 7:57:36 GMT
A nice name, chateau de la salade...
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 22, 2021 18:24:21 GMT
Mei kwei lu chew - the Chinese fire water now made in France. It's what Asian restauranteurs pour into those little goblets with the nasty photos at the bottom, only visible when the glass is full.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 22, 2021 18:42:54 GMT
I hate these glasses. Fir the women, there is/was a whistle. Mum would make a lot of noise, and i hated that.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 22, 2021 18:51:06 GMT
Oh, then you have never seen the male version? I even had to buy a set for one of our members here.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 14, 2021 19:55:31 GMT
I had a bit of ordinary Gamay with dinner (there wasn't much left), which was fine with chopped steak, mushrooms and garlic, but I felt that I had not had enough wine. So I have opened a bottle of Boulaoune from Morocco to sip during tonight's movie (Knives Out, which I already saw at the movies and then on the movie channel and it never impressed me, but it seems to be an appropriate movie for a Sunday night when my brain is on standby. Even when you are not working anymore, there is something about Sunday nights that makes you seek more relaxing entertainment.).
Anyway, what I find interesting about the situation is that I drank my dinner wine as most ordinary people do in France -- in a Duralex glass. But for my slightly upgraded after dinner wine, I have taken out a ballon (stemmed glass). One thing that I have always appreciated in France is that often the glass informs you of your status as a guest for an informal meal. If they bring out the stemmed glasses, you are still an outsider, even if you know they like you. If you are served wine in a Duralex glass (often called a mustard glass here since mustard is sold in that format), you are part of the family.
My use of a stemmed glass for the Moroccan wine is simply to acknowledge to myself that I have upgraded just a bit and should imbibe with moderation.
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Post by fumobici on Nov 14, 2021 20:20:58 GMT
Duralex is fine. I'm currently drinking a very pale sparkling wine my neighbor here made from his vines next to my house from Sangiovese grapes that is, to me at least, remarkably similar to a champagne (considering it's from Sangiovese!). From a Duralex glass, of course. We opened the bottle at his place across the strada bianca and he sent me off with an opened half-bottle and some prosciutto made from a pig I've probably talked to down the hill leaving me little choice, given that it's a sparkling wine, but to finish it. And so I will.
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Post by mickthecactus on Nov 14, 2021 20:29:50 GMT
I read prosciutto as prosecco and was totally confused.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 14, 2021 20:31:20 GMT
You can have both!
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Post by fumobici on Nov 14, 2021 21:54:45 GMT
I did. Prosecco biologico with lunch at another friend's house and prosciutto (but not really, made from la spalla, a shoulder cut) for some version of dinner, all the same day. I'm a bit buzzed but my goal was to stay awake until 23:30 to put the hobnailed boot to my jet lag and I can see the end of the tunnel now. A couple more Roxy Music videos on Youtube and I'm there.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 14, 2021 21:58:53 GMT
I agree that staying up as late as possible is the best remedy for jetlag.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 15, 2021 0:14:43 GMT
I'm drinking some ordinary but tasty and full-bodied Mas de Tourelles from a Duralex Picardie glass.
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Post by whatagain on Nov 15, 2021 8:03:51 GMT
In belgium we are civilized. I would bever dare give a glass of wine in a duralex to a friend. And i don't remember drinking out of it. I guess it is my snobbism, like having a nice corkscrew.
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Post by bjd on Nov 15, 2021 8:54:03 GMT
Being in uncivilized France, we use both mismatched mustard glasses and stemmed ones. I would never serve mustard glasses if we have company though -- even if it's just our family.
At the moment we have an open BiB (boxed wine I got for free) of Argentine malbec which is really awful so I refuse to drink it, and an open bottle of braucol from Gaillac.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 15, 2021 10:46:12 GMT
Bad red wines still make good boeuf bourguignon.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 15, 2021 11:34:44 GMT
I have a superb Riesling from Vrede En Lust called "Ëarly Mist Riesling" 2019 vintage. I am not sure what a Duralex glass looks like but I'm guessing it maybe one of those little stubby glasses -like the one I use for my tootbrush glass..... Anyway, I only drink wine from a wine glass - even the Chateau Le Cardboard variety. Makes awful cheap plonk taste just that little bit acceptable!
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 19, 2021 18:54:43 GMT
A day late, I tested the Beaujolais nouveau. It was okay but I probably won't buy any more because it was at least 20% more expensive than last year because of covid/climate change/brexit/inflation/changing tastes/agricultural greed/logistics/China (select one or more).
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Post by lagatta on Nov 20, 2021 9:50:15 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Nov 20, 2021 11:46:10 GMT
That’s a coincidence. I live in the Lee Valley.
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