The Wine & Whisky Thread

[The Grand Wazoo]

Sounds nice Barry. I'm mostly banned from mid-week zarzleberry juice manoeuvres but we'll be having some rather good looking mash ourselves later, which is currently riding on board a pair of Shepherds Pies (one meaty/one veggie). The gravy has just the tiniest smidge of Merlot in it!

[Barry]

Sounds nice Barry. I'm mostly banned from mid-week zarzleberry juice manoeuvres but we'll be having some rather good looking mash ourselves later, which is currently riding on board a pair of Shepherds Pies (one meaty/one veggie). The gravy has just the tiniest smidge of Merlot in it!

Sounds good to me Chris. Being Type II diabetic, I have to watch very carefully the amount of saturated fat (and salt) I consume. Shepherd's pie is something I love, but have to reserve as an occasional treat.

"I'm mostly banned from mid-week zarzleberry juice manoeuvres..." Pourquoi? Care to tell?

Regards

[The Grand Wazoo]

"I'm mostly banned from mid-week zarzleberry juice manoeuvres..."

Boozing only at the weekend nowadays except for special occasions & occasional slip-ups!
This is because for some years now (most of my adult ones, if truth be known) I have only been gaining increment on my x-axis. This was OK while I was also still developing my y-axis, but apparently one without the other is not acceptable!

[Barry]

Boozing only at the weekend nowadays except for special occasions & occasional slip-ups!
This is because for some years now (most of my adult ones, if truth be known) I have only been gaining increment on my x-axis. This was OK while I was also still developing my y-axis, but apparently one without the other is not acceptable!

Ah! the dreaded 'body mass index'! Or, if you can't see your feet (or other important body parts), it's Nature's way of telling you to do something.

Regards

[Beechwoods]

My take on this is that beer doesn't make you put on weight. Sitting down and drinking beer makes you put on weight. The solution is to drink standing up. Pubs these days are far too namby pamby; get rid of those tables and make folks stand at t'bar

[campbell mac]

I find pubs plus walks burns calories and saves on taxi fares. Pubs and cycling is quite amusing and also burns calories. It's when you stay in one place all night it gets a bit stagnating.

[Barry]

Honey Fayre / Cwrw Mel. ABV 4.5%
“A deliciously refreshing golden ale made with Welsh Honey. It is dry in flavour with the sweetness of the honey emerging in the aroma leading to a pleasing bitter finish.”

Around £10 for six, 500ml, bottles.

Just consumed a bottle with tonight’s repast:

Mackerel filets in a simple tomato sauce on a bed of cooked fresh penne, with red pepper, broccoli, green beans and sweet-corn ‘nibletts’ on the side.

[Marco]

Guys,

As a wine connoisseur of some time, I think I'm qualified to comment on this....

The subject of the benefits of allowing wine to 'breathe' is often hotly debated. The fact of the matter is that popping a cork from a bottle of wine (or more likely these days unscrewing the top) to allow it to 'breathe', is largely a fallacy. I say "largely" because it's not a complete fallacy.

However, doing the above only allows the wine to 'breathe' to a very small extent, as one is only permitting air to enter the bottle at the point of the neck, and so it would take rather a long time (many hours) for the liquid in the bottle to become fully aerated, which is the whole point of the exercise! So by opening up a bottle of wine to 'breathe' half an hour before drinking it, one is doing next to bugger all.

Aerating wine does indeed maximise its bouquet and flavour, and also softens the effect of tannins, giving the wine a more 'rounded' quality on the palate with less of an acidic edge.

To do this properly, however, involves decanting the wine, carefully, into a separate bottle or wine decanter, where the process of transposing the liquid from one container into another oxygenates it, thus aerating the wine in the process, to produce the desired beneficial effect when consuming it.

With certain types of vintage wine, particularly Bordeaux varieties and port, there is normally a crusty deposit (known as 'sediment') at the bottom of the bottle which must be removed before the wine is consumed. Otherwise, the wine will be tainted when poured and taste rather unpleasant, particularly when one gets nearer to the bottom of the bottle.

The decanting process both aerates the wine and removes this sediment or crust, when carried out in good light (often with the help of a candle), in conjunction with a small funnel. The funnel then fits into the neck of the bottle, with the top covered in some muslin cloth.

Therefore one removes the sediment from the wine by pouring it from within its existing bottle into another container, or decanter, through the muslin cloth (which collects the sediment) and into the funnel, and the resulting clear wine left is of course what is consumed.

However, ALL wines, regardless of age or quality, benefit from decanting, simply because of the oxygenation/aerating process, which is far more effective from decanting than it is by simply popping the cork on a bottle.

As for wine temperatures, this makes a huge difference to the flavour of wine and how it behaves on the palate.

Fully bodied red wines (such as Bordeaux types, etc) should be served in between 16-18 Celsius, with 'light & fruity' types (such as Beaujolais), served slightly cooler at 12-14 Celsius, and medium-bodied wines somewhere in between. Ideally, one would use a wine thermometer to measure the correct temperature.

It's worth noting that full-bodied red wine, such Burgundy or 'Claret', will NOT taste as intended unless served at the correct temperature. It is the most sensitive of all wines types to its flavour changing with variations in temperature.

As for white wine, full-bodied 'Burgundy style' whites (such as Chablis) should be served only lightly chilled at around 12-15 Celsius, which is comparable to light and fruity reds, which may explain why Chris prefers his red wine cold, if he's partial to more of the lighter style of reds than the heavier varieties.

Of course, 'rules' aside, one can drink wine at any temperature one wishes to, if it is enjoyed that way. I have even seen people in bars put ice in some red wines, so at the end of the day what pleases your palate is what matters most!

On that note... À votre santé!

Marco.

P.S I will move this into the wine thread later for reference.

[Barry]

Tesco have an offer on 330ml bottles of the Belgian beer: 'Leffe - Blonde'. £4 for four bottles - can't be bad.

Just drunk a bottle with tonight's meal of steak au poivre.

Regards

[Reid Malenfant]

I think i could heartily recommend any "Oakham Ales" produce Strangely they are based at a pub that is also a micro brewery in Peterborough that is threatened with demolition to build another darn shopping centre

If you ever get the chance to sample any of there real ales you'll be in for a real (oops, pun intended) treat. White Dwarf is one of theirs & a sensational brew that will stick in your mind for many years

First sampled at the Peterborough Beerfest & not found again for a few years which was kind of unfortunate, i just wasn't looking hard enough