An eclectic and complex blend. Vina Esmeralda on steroids. Beautiful, floral and not over-priced. Ne swig pas.

Can I clarify. Is this a single wine or a group. If a wine, is its name Alsace Selection? I suppose a mixure of the varieties.

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mel

Eclectic - nice use Ba, a sum of the best (most suitable) attributes to make a whole - I detect you really like this wine. Enjoy As Mel - please say more.

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Duncan

It's a single wine, being a blend of the classic Alsace grapes.

An early morning for you, Ba?

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mel

Sunday sparrow farts for Ba, that's a 1st since he walked in here. Bridge tournament in Devizes ?

Here is the Alsace, blended by the maker and John Avery's daughter - that's a nice personal touch.
Made by Nicholas Garde at Caves de Hunawhir. This wine was blended by Nicholas and Mimi Avery and is a blend of Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner, Pinot Grigio, Gewurztraminer and Muscat. Two base wines were used - one with a floral apricot and yellow stone fruit character, fresh acidity and a herbaceous finish. This was softened using a slightly sweeter wine with a soft honeyed nose, then we added complexity by blending in a small portion of pure Pinot Blanc and Gewurztraminer. Commended Decanter and IWC 2009.

Ba, has the advantage of walking in to Avery's...Do you Ba ? When Bordeaux Direct first started out, we could walk into their 2nd shop here. I like to see what is what.
Nostalgia corner
Sawn pine shelves, pine floor boards, spilt wine and shipping label stains on the boxes in the corner, more wine, a bell ringing till. Avery's looks as if it still has a few remnants of the way it was.

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Duncan

I used to buy en-premier claret from Averys and I remember when they had a clearout from their cellar and were selling of bin ends of old wines.

After I bought a case from them recently I started getting phone calss to tell me about 'wine I might be interested in' and I had to put my foot down when I got one when I was abroad and was paying roaming charges to hear their spiel.

Had Mimi over for supper and the night on Tues with another couple of single girlfriends. Oh, what larks! We had a blind bottle of red, which we all loved and she texted her colleague who had chosen and disguised the wine to ask which bank it was - I thought left, she thought right - only to find it was Avery's Ch de Bel, Bordeaux Superieur, which is mainly Merlot, I think. (so she was more right than I was). If you just buy one bottle it's £10.99 but we definitely thought it was something better than that. If you find yourself on their website and want to make up the numbers, it's definitely worth getting a couple of bottles. It tasted ready to drink. Didn't write notes as we'd already had a bottle of fizz, and a bottle of Magnus Riesling (between 4).

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mel

Damn good laugh Eh ! The brown paper over the bottle fooled me at our only local fine wine friends - He put it over a chablis grand cru.... and my misses teased me something rotten over dinner - I couldn't even identify it as chardonnay !

Still, at least I know what rarified '01 grand cru Montmains tastes like now. Very different from unfashionable Beauroy 1er - which actually is, of fine french chard.

Hey - Merlot blends on gravelly outcrops on the right is a dead ringer for merlot on gravelly terraine on the left

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Duncan

You're TOO kind.

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mel

3 out of 3 Mr. D. Yes was off to [as it 'appens] Devizes. Final of the Pairs championship won by an ex world ladies champion, and a current world seniors champion.
Arrived early and got 6 new-to-me from the local M&S though can only find 2 of them on the website. Musc s/l in glass at the moment.
Yes, I can walk into Avery's but only do so rarely.
Home junior internationals being interwebbed from Porthcawl. A pal is the NPC Welsh <20s.

Porthcawl....my home town.

I'm guessing Awel Y Mor....Seabank Hotel....Rest Bay ?

Btw...this wine sounds similar to the Hugel wine sold by Sainsbury many years ago. It tasted mostly of gewurz and was very good indeed.

Better than any single varietal gewurz that I had tried and I quite like gewurz.

I have never tried NZ gewurz but for those who like it Sainsbury have the Villa Maria Private Bin on offer for under £7.

13.5% alc puts me off trying it.

The other "windy city". I know it as "The Rest", near the golf course. Was a recupperation home for the military. Took me 8 mins to get to the beach and 3 secs to get back...Bah!

The Rest......a holiday home for the elderly soon to be a hotel after the EEC ruled that nurses cannot make contact with guests as guests are not technically patients even though their needs are the same and the nurses are trained.

Also the windiest place on the SW coast

The E.Wales mob use it quite often. There are 3 playing rooms, plus scoring/storing room. Prices are very reasonable, food simple and homely. The accomodation is a little oldey-fash but I've always had a 1st. floor room with a great sea view.