Wines for Christmas Dinner
Discussion
2003 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc - pate/salad
1978 Henscke Mt Edelstone Keynton Shiraz - Goose
1998 Henscke Mt Edelstone Keynton Shiraz - Goose
1999 Henscke Noble Rot Riesling - Christmas Pud
Here's our line up. What is everyone else drinking? Post afterwards if you were happy with your choices...
Not quite as illustrious as your selection but:
Carpene Malvolti (sparkling wine for late breakfast)
Roero Arnes (white for starters)
Barbera D’Alba (fruity red with the duck)
Monferrato Dolcetto (full bodied red for the after dinner slump)
All Italian… Those “I-Ties” do knock out a decent bottle of plonk
. So much better than that ‘orrible French stuff 
Carpene Malvolti (sparkling wine for late breakfast)
Roero Arnes (white for starters)
Barbera D’Alba (fruity red with the duck)
Monferrato Dolcetto (full bodied red for the after dinner slump)
All Italian… Those “I-Ties” do knock out a decent bottle of plonk
. So much better than that ‘orrible French stuff 
I love it. 
Lazy boyLaurus - a superTuscan that I hadn't had before.
Early promise on the nose - but faded quickly.
Only drank half the bottle...mainly topping up to refresh it. Was OK...but certainly not the best choice for the excellent lamb I enjoyed....good news is there's plenty more lamb and a different wine choice tomorrow
Enjoying the port now
Early promise on the nose - but faded quickly.
Only drank half the bottle...mainly topping up to refresh it. Was OK...but certainly not the best choice for the excellent lamb I enjoyed....good news is there's plenty more lamb and a different wine choice tomorrow
Enjoying the port now
OK - Here's my review...
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2003. This was light, lemony, and beautiful. Its sophistication lets them charge so much. Its clearly NOT worth the inflated price BUT the quality is good enough one isn't annoyed. We had it with home made pate and toast made from home made bread. Not the best combination...but still pretty damn good.
Henschke Mt Edelstone Keyneton Shiraz - 1978. YUM! Everything you'd expect from the wine but showing its age - more complex than the younger wines but still enough fruit to round it out - just. Very, very good with the goose - enough acidity remaining even after 26 years. But I shall drink my other bottle of it before long. Its not going to keep much longer in anything but perfect cellar conditions.
We didn't get around to opening the 98 as we were fairly merry at this point.
After a couple of hours respite we cracked the Noble Rot Riesling 98. You know the delicious orangy bit in the middle of Jaffa Cakes? Imagine that - but with some sophistication. Scrummy with christmas pud, brandy butter and some cream.
I give the wine/food match an 80%'er. The wines a 95% er.
Damn good.
Did you all enjoy?
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2003. This was light, lemony, and beautiful. Its sophistication lets them charge so much. Its clearly NOT worth the inflated price BUT the quality is good enough one isn't annoyed. We had it with home made pate and toast made from home made bread. Not the best combination...but still pretty damn good.
Henschke Mt Edelstone Keyneton Shiraz - 1978. YUM! Everything you'd expect from the wine but showing its age - more complex than the younger wines but still enough fruit to round it out - just. Very, very good with the goose - enough acidity remaining even after 26 years. But I shall drink my other bottle of it before long. Its not going to keep much longer in anything but perfect cellar conditions.
We didn't get around to opening the 98 as we were fairly merry at this point.
After a couple of hours respite we cracked the Noble Rot Riesling 98. You know the delicious orangy bit in the middle of Jaffa Cakes? Imagine that - but with some sophistication. Scrummy with christmas pud, brandy butter and some cream.
I give the wine/food match an 80%'er. The wines a 95% er.
Damn good.
Did you all enjoy?
no hangover tho!!!
Wines for Christmas Dinner?
A bottle of Kentish Chapel Down Extra Brut Sparkly to start with, followed by some Curious Grape red and white.
Also over the last two or three days...
Fullers ESB - two bottles
Caledonian Golden Promise - two bottles
Morland Old Speckled Hen
Fullers London Pride
Badger's Champion Ale
Theakston's Old Peculier
Black Sheep Bitter
Black Sheep Rigwelter
Marston's Pedigree
Arran Dark Ale
Excellent selection of beers in local Asda at the moment.
A bottle of Kentish Chapel Down Extra Brut Sparkly to start with, followed by some Curious Grape red and white.
Also over the last two or three days...
Fullers ESB - two bottles
Caledonian Golden Promise - two bottles
Morland Old Speckled Hen
Fullers London Pride
Badger's Champion Ale
Theakston's Old Peculier
Black Sheep Bitter
Black Sheep Rigwelter
Marston's Pedigree
Arran Dark Ale
Excellent selection of beers in local Asda at the moment.
Size Nine Elm said:
Wines for Christmas Dinner?
A bottle of Kentish Chapel Down Extra Brut Sparkly to start with, followed by some Curious Grape red and white.
Also over the last two or three days...
Fullers ESB - two bottles
Caledonian Golden Promise - two bottles
Morland Old Speckled Hen
Fullers London Pride
Badger's Champion Ale
Theakston's Old Peculier
Black Sheep Bitter
Black Sheep Rigwelter
Marston's Pedigree
Arran Dark Ale
Excellent selection of beers in local Asda at the moment.
English wines : very patriotic, sir.
Hmmmn. I've not had any fine beers yet....maybe later.
As we had a house full of family during Christmas, I spent most of the day perfecting my Coffee, Amaretto & Baileys recipe. Can't remember if I got it right, but I do have to replenish the ingredients now.
Dinner was accompanied by various California Kendall-Jackson selections...
...Desert wine was Inniskillin oak aged ice wine. Very tasty followed by more Coffee (and Amaretto & Baileys for myself...)
ErnestM
Dinner was accompanied by various California Kendall-Jackson selections...
...Desert wine was Inniskillin oak aged ice wine. Very tasty followed by more Coffee (and Amaretto & Baileys for myself...)
ErnestM
Don...
If you ever get a chance to visit Central Florida, have dinner at Maison & Jardin. That is where we are going for New Year's Eve. The wine list alone is worth the trip (requires Adobe Reader):
www.maisonjardin.com/documents/MasterWineList_007.pdf
ErnestM
If you ever get a chance to visit Central Florida, have dinner at Maison & Jardin. That is where we are going for New Year's Eve. The wine list alone is worth the trip (requires Adobe Reader):
www.maisonjardin.com/documents/MasterWineList_007.pdf
ErnestM
Don said:
Zod said:
We drank:
Chasagne Montrachet 1er Cru les Chaumees Vincent et Francois Jouard
Chateau Haut Bages Liberal 1989
Chateau Lafite 1981
Chateau Doisy-Daene 1990
Very pleasant!
Ohhhhh
Not much finer in the world than your first one there - I LOVE White Burgundy...
It was very fine and only the second bottle from the case.
edit: it was a 2000 by the way.
>> Edited by Zod on Monday 27th December 23:33
ErnestM said:
Don...
If you ever get a chance to visit Central Florida, have dinner at Maison & Jardin. That is where we are going for New Year's Eve. The wine list alone is worth the trip (requires Adobe Reader):
www.maisonjardin.com/documents/MasterWineList_007.pdf
ErnestM
That certainly is comprehensive - they have my favourite Chassagne Montrachet - a Bernard Morey et Fils. Blimey!
If we plan a Florida hols, Ernest, I'll definitely be getting some advice from you on fine dining....
Zod said:
Zod said:
We drank:
Chasagne Montrachet 1er Cru les Chaumees Vincent et Francois Jouard
Very pleasant!
It was very fine and only the second bottle from the case.
I've been foolish enough to let my cellar (pah! - storage under the stairs!) to run out of white burgundy - this will need to be remedied forthwith. I still do have a little Chablis but I like to have available some Chassagne Montrachet, Puligny Montrachet and some Meursault at any time - most remiss of me!
On the plus side - I have some very fine Barossa wines from Henschke (Cranes Chardonnay, Lenswood Riesling and Chardonnay) - I also have some wonderful Italian wines from Isle de Olena : a fantastic chardonnay (and a rather fine syrah too...but that's getting off-topic).
Glad you gentlemen enjoyed some of your collection. I know I've been enjoying some of mine!
ErnestM said:A man after my own heart.
Dinner was accompanied by various California Kendall-Jackson selections...
Excellent choices there.
At mum and dads, the old man and I sank a bottle of Grahams LBV on Christmas Eve, sat in the garage with a hugely imposing Bentley radiator grille straight behind us.
Christmas Day was 3 bottles of Moet Vintage before lunch (between 6 of us), then a Gevurtztraminer and a '98 Faustino VI Rioja with dinner. Nicely polished off with a bottle of Moscatel.
Don't remember much of the afternooon....
Boxing Day was sober as a judge, mainly due to my father being involved in a car accident at 8am. I had to run him to the police station, as well as meet him at the scene of the accident (he's fine, by the way but mother needs a new car).
Yesterday ran them to Heathrow on the way back home, then cracked open a bottle in the evening.
A great Christmas, all in all. For those that wanted to get up Worcester Park high street early Boxing Day but found the road closed, my dad sends his sincerest apologies...
Greg
Liebfraumilch, followed by some Blue Nun, then a couple of bottles of coca cola, mixed with white cider, some meths and then finally onto lighter fluid.
Hats off to the chap who mentioned local wines. Camel Vale do a kick ass "Magdelena" white and a lesser known vineyard seems to have produced some very promising red (with my own hand) "Triomphe". Needless to say, if you thought local wines were poor. Be very surprised. They are up there with the very best.
On principle, I would not spend more than £5 on table wine.
Hats off to the chap who mentioned local wines. Camel Vale do a kick ass "Magdelena" white and a lesser known vineyard seems to have produced some very promising red (with my own hand) "Triomphe". Needless to say, if you thought local wines were poor. Be very surprised. They are up there with the very best.
On principle, I would not spend more than £5 on table wine.
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