....year 2013

Badger Hopping Hare English golden ale £6 for 4, 500ml bottles at Tesco.

Disappointment of the year 2013

Pithy Wairau 2012 sauvignon blanc.

Happy New Year to all including GK who eats parsnips supports Wolves and thinks Spumante is nice.

It probably is with parsnips

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Four wheels move the body - 2 wheels move the soul.

I thought that was quite funny.

Happy New year, Go on - 2014 could be good. Hope your mum is ok.

Ba what is that image all about ? Grumpy guts posts a picture of an old git whining (frowning) who looks as if he just walked out of the Ashes whitewash, after having forked out for a short stay down under, and an expensive plane ticket for two weeks of pain.

?

BTW Ba, the Prosecco from Aldi was very Ok, made a super Bucks fizz, much better than that Andre' Carpentier stuff did last year, yeah ok, not last week, but last year being Christmas 2012. We do buck s fizz when the grandchildren and running all over the place~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I'm sure they try to nick it while our backs are turned !

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Duncan

:shock: Pithy Wairau 2012 sauvignon blanc.

HNY MrD

The Southon Valleys/Wairau style has changed. They are now much fuller in body with either partial oak or lees enhancing the body at the expensive of flavour. You can still buy a bottle of Saint Clair or VM WR where the richness isn't there and the underlying passion fruit/blackcurrant shines through and you have a really lovely wine but finding one is like finding a bottle of Tesco Finest Pouilly Fume that tastes like Pouilly Fume.

I wish I liked the Awatere flavours of tomato and bramble because they seem to produce a lighter style. Like the Wairau used to be.

I'm sorry G, I hadn't properly appreciated your dilemna. You are right, the style has changed significantly since 2007. The uneven 2008, followed by the soft 2009, then a spike of interesting '10s, then odd 2011's, and when holding them seemed to improve matters. All that variable MSB over the preceeding 4 years confused matters for lovers of the ethereal style. And then finally the 2012 Villa Maria Wairau Reserve 2012, which I like very much indeed. But of course, I know because, that VMWR on the '12 is a much weightier & leesy wine than hitherto. Lovely flavour for me, but too much texture and weight for you

G - your only hope is Top Saint Clair and Top Astrolabe. This is a serious additional cost to your pleasure. What is to be done ? Drink less - pay more appears to be your only option just now.

The Waitrose PF's on '11 & '12 are not much better. We have to wait until a decent Loire growing season comes along again. I've not bought more than a very few.


This a rat bag for you, I do sympathise. Also I hope you're not getting flooded and soaked to the skin in South West Wales, that is, if trees aren't getting uprooted by the SW gales all over the place - Mad weather. The jet stream has gone a very loopy.

Good luck

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Duncan

Still raining here as well. However, statistics confirm that there has been less rain this year than last.

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Four wheels move the body - 2 wheels move the soul.