What are you drinking right now?

quote:

Originally posted by Brad S.:
This may suit then:

[IMG:left] [/IMG]

Guessed it was you Brad that Bottle has just confirmed it!

quote:

Originally posted by MilesSmiles:

It's a hard life, Oliver!

Just to keep Fe levels up...

Just finished the last of this. I guess I'll have to buy another bottle, but it ain't cheap.

quote:

Originally posted by markah:

Just finished the last of this. I guess I'll have to buy another bottle, but it ain't cheap.

Consider it a bargain compared to this baby at US$250.



... but if you really want to live the high life, there is always this one at US$225,000



This platinum-and-gold bottle fetched nearly a quarter-million dollars at auction in Mexico City in 2006 (yes, it was before the recession). The spirit that fills it is a triple-distilled mix of 8-, 10- and 12-year-old agave plants and is produced by Hacienda La Capilla Distillery in Los Altos, Jalisco. Ley .925 CEO Fernando Altamirano says the liquor is aged in barrels whose provenance is a top secret.

quote:

Originally posted by haroldbudd:

quote:

Originally posted by gary1 (US):

quote:

Originally posted by haroldbudd:
absolutamente fantastico ........

Agree. I have several 2002 which were the declassified Gran reserva due to the cruddy weather. Recently had the 2004. Still too young, but terrific. Love their older world style. Prices have been getting a bit ridiculous with a ten dollar/bottle increase over two vintages.

gary1(US), please explain this " several " to me , I live in Canada right now which means our stores are regulated by the feds, which means when ( if ) I find a good bottle of Muga , the person at the till says " you know son, if that bottle said France or Italy on it, it would cost 3 or 4 times as much ", which I respond with a simple " si" , and then the price rises after a few weeks ! lol, ( not because of me , but some article in some food mag) gary1(us), we may have different opinions about dacs and Lavry's etc etc..... but it is great to know that someone else has understood " el secreto"..... 'the secret' , which funny , makes me take your opinion much more seriously

salud ! and "cheers" ( and please , everyone, do not say a word about great cheap Spanish wines because if you do...... they wont be cheap any longer ! trust me, it is almost comical )

a.t.b
Joaquim

Joaquim,

Yeah, I know how Canada is been there many times. We have found some terrific BYOB restaurants in Montreal so I got to experience first hand the "Canadian liquor system." Many states in the US are controlled the same way via "State Stores" or pricing controls.

Muga is one of my favorite Spanish producers because of the "Old world" approach. Very well made, balanced, age worthy wines. I'm not a big fan of Parkerized overdone fruit bombs.

Americans tend to buy highly rated wines and much of 2002 was passed on since the weather stunk in most of Europe, so no one buys Bordeaux and some Rhone and Spanish producers who produce 2 levels of wine the "Grand Cru" and the "regular" bottling took wine that normally went into the expensive bottle and put it into the cheaper one since they couldn't sell the other. Suits me fine as I have several wines fromm 2002 that otherwise I wouldn't normally buy, but.... opportunity knocks. So these declassified wines have the sense of the big boys, but not the depth or structure of the usual Grand Cuvee, but costs 1/4 the price. See this all the time in Italy with Barolo bottled as declassified Nebbiolo.

Anyway enough rambling, the store near me had 6 bottles of the 2002 they couldn't sell so I grabbed them all. They are excellent. Conversely, the 2004 Reserve has had rave reviews the price has gone ridiculous and you can't find it anywhere. I had it at a tasting about 2 months ago and it was excellent. Would love to taste that in 6-8 years or more.

I have no idea about access to wines in Canada or pricing, but if you see Santa Cantabria Gran Reserva 1998 should be about $30USD you'll love this stuff and they only release it when it's ready.

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
Its around $3 a bottle in Spain but no one will drink it .
So they ship around the world for a few years.

That's called Madeira.

Really must recommend this Shiraz. Perhaps typical of an Australian wine, it is not subtle, a bit like taking a sledge hammer to your taste buds, but never-the-less in a pleasant way. A strong flavour, but very, very, pleasant. Friends would back me up on this.

To misquote Eric Idle a good Australian 'fighting wine'. I think it would compliment a steak very well (but I don't eat red meat, so can't state as such). Very nice with what I have eaten with it, or over a movie even.

Yellow Tail's Pinot Grigio (white) is pretty good too.

I'm very interested in the enormous success of the Yellowtail brand. Clearly they are selling lots and lots of wine, partly through aggressive promotion, but mainly because people buy it again - having enjoyed drinking it.

Yellowtail Shiraz has 12g/L (grams per litre) of sugar left in, making it technically 'off-dry'.
Blue Nun / Back Tower have about 20g/L, and because of a much lower pH (2.9ish) can 'handle' far more. In fact the acidity in Yellowtail and other similar warm climate New World wines is artificially added.
For comparison, however, Coca Cola, and other sweet fizzy drinks, has 178g/L (!) and a pH of 2.2.

Yellowtail is very well made, of course, and from good quality super-ripe fruit (although 2009 will test them because of the drought and fires).

Yellowtail* is the fastest growing wine brand in history, ever, and now the largest selling Australian wine in the USA.

A phenomenal success story marketing-wise, and all because lots of people who say they (only) like 'dry' wine actually don't particularly. A little bit of sugar and all that. If a wine tastes 'jammy', it's because it does.

The problem, in as much as there is a problem, is that producers in Languedoc, Jumilla, Apulia, Sicily and everywhere else in the New Worold are now increasing the sugar content, having seen that it works so well. I worry slightly that Yellowtail et al is rapidly becoming 'the new liebfraumilch'. Maybe that's not a problem.

Santé

Rod

*The company that makes Yellowtail insists - on pain of no-further-samples - on the name being printed [yellowtail]® in all publications/promotional material and so on.


(edited as originally sounded a bit patronising - not my intention)

Rod,

In my opinion this does not bode well at all. As you know many wines are being made to please the Parker palate for ratings and sales. These wines are huge fruit bombs with gobs of jammy fruit and high alcohol content. I have a real difficult time enjoying any of these wines. I'm not against more modern style, but there needs to be a balance of the components, which many of these wines do not have whether inexpensive like Yellow---- or pricier.

These wines do not age well as they are extremely unbalanced when the wine matures and the primary fruit starts to fade. I'm not talking 10-20 years here, but only within 3-4 as I've experienced all too often. They also do not go well with food as they areoften overpowering of all the flavors and you need huge flavors to make them work at all.

From my post, you've probably surmised that I don't buy Aussie wines at all. I'm not against them, just the style "on the average." I've tried many and have stopped. I do have 1 or 2 which I like, but these are not everyday drinkers and need years to settle down like the Dead Arm.

Problem is that other parts of the world like Spain, Argentina, Chile, Southern France are trying this model and it works for sales, but not for my palate. Getting harder to find the balanced style I prefer in these regions. Jumilla immediately comes to mind as I've had many of them. Unfortunately, they seem to get "bigger" all the time and many are following the Jordonez formula which has changed IMO from ripe to super-ripe.

Can't argue with the success of Yellow----. However, I have been to several BYOBs in Chicago where the food really needed a good bottle of wine, I'm not saying expensive, but certainly the food was worth pulling out your good stuff and people were bringing in magnums of Yellow----. I'm not trying to sound snobby as my everyday drinkers are between $9-12USD, but when I see this something has gone wrong, IMO.

Unfortunately - or maybe fortunately - not a 1928, but a 1989.

quote:

Originally posted by MilesSmiles:


Unfortunately - or maybe fortunately - not a 1928, but a 1989.

A 1961 from a cold cellar would have been even better . Five stars from Michael Broadbent. Palmer 1983 is also excellent.

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That's called Madeira.

No - Madeira is produced on the Portuguese island it's named after.

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Originally posted by 555:

quote:

That's called Madeira.

No - Madeira is produced on the Portuguese island it's named after.

555 I know that. I was not alluding to the "Spanish" theme, but the "being shipped around the world for a few years" portion of the quote.

Gary

I can see your thinking now Gary,
although both Madeira & Rioja range in quality from el cheapo to true fine wine.

cheers - John

quote:

Originally posted by haroldbudd:
absolutamente fantastico ........

The Torre Muga and Prado Enea are even better. Nice family as well, wish I still worked with one of them as we used to get the wine at a very decent rate.

A good everyday taster!

I only let people I realy like into my house, let alone listen to my set.

I don't even let people I dislike know my address. Then things indeed go well ...

just found this last month in the stores here. I don't drink much beer any more but this is good. Somewhat like Dos Equis, great with Mexican food.

quote:

Originally posted by Wolf2:

just found this last month in the stores here. I don't drink much beer any more but this is good. Somewhat like Dos Equis, great with Mexican food.

Never seen this one before - might give it a try if I find it.