Hi all, hope you are all well, haven't been around for a while, life and stuff etc., currently 'forcing' my way through the second half of a bottle of Graham's 10yo port, painting (watercolour, not the kitchen) and listing to a great album. TFIF.

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Yep, Im still here.

Happy new wotsit GK, glad you're still here.

P.S. I do like Ruddles..proper beer !

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

And to you sir. Ruddle's County is indeed a very nice drop, even tastes good from the can.

I've just opened a bottle of Jim Barry's Lodge Hill Riesling '11, out for dinner tonight, currently sitting in a lovely little B&B in the Leicestershire Countryside, a cheeky night away for Mrs K and myself.

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Yep, Im still here.

GK - Happy New Year to you.

Hope it's all going well for you, and that your dear Misses is on a rapid climb to excellent health.

See email - Tesco FW cellar clearance.
The Mc Guigan wild yeast Adelaide Hills 2011 chardonnay, fermented in a proportion of french oak is a pretty good effort. Not the minerality of Chablis 1er, nor the butteryness of Pouilly Fuisse - which would not have worked with this bright, palate cutting style anyway. Comfortable in the mouth though, the wine for me was best when shaken and stired in a carafe for an hour or so, put back in the fridge for half an hour in the carafe, then served slightly cooler than Pouilly. Harmony is always a very difficult one for a new world producer who is trying to clone a white burgindy. However . . . . . . . .

All in all - a pretty good try of a Chassagne style. Glad I bought 6, I think this wine will keep well. If I am being critical, I'd say that the oak was a bit sappy, and the barrels could have done with more seasoning in open sheds. More time in the bottle could fix some of that, if you want it fixed of course.

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Duncan

Thanks Dunc, she is well, we are more positive for the future.

Quick heads up- Stopped off at my local Co-Op on the way to work this morning, noticed they were selling Trapiche Pinot Noir 2015 for £4 a bottle with plenty of stock. All previous vintages were warmly reviewed, this could be a steal for a young, fresh & fruity pinot, grabbed one to try, will fill my boot for over the summer if its decent.

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Yep, Im still here.

Glad to hear that Mrs K is feeling much better now.

GK - Noticed they were selling Trapiche Pinot Noir 2015 for £4 a bottle with plenty of stock. All previous vintages were warmly reviewed.

Well now, Please let us know when you get to it. Trapiche are a decent Malbec producer, I thought their premuim golden reserve malbec was a good cut above the usual.

Re-visiting the McGuigan Shortlist chardonnay 2011, this is what James Halliday said:-Light straw-green; an altogether stylish chardonnay that reflects (and repays) the care that must have been taken with the vineyard, particularly given its wild yeast fermentation. There is a delightful tension between white peach and citrus/grapefruit acidity, eight months in French oak a distant memory. (28-Aug-2012) a whopping 95 Points - I'm not sure about that 95 though, a good 90 in terms of interest and effort.

I'm not also sure about JH's white peach description, not now, this has aged since 28/08/2012. However the tension between the flavour of mature Chablis (lighter chardonnay fruit), the bright acidity, lime and ripe grapefruit and the french oak which is going over to a subtle vanilla additive to the main profile is a very worthy comment.
The cuvee' number of my half dozen was 5882, the other image on CT was a completely different batch, 0492 if my memory serves me well. The bottle number image for the 2013 vintage at Azda for £13.97 was also completely different. I wonder how many cuvee's there are? And, how different are they to taste ?

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Duncan

Hi Graham
Good to hear from you and even better to hear that Mrs K is well
Keeps us posted in the trapiche PN. I've seen it on offer at co-op before but never got round to picking it up

Cheers
Mike

I opened the Trapiche last night, overall a bit of a steal at £4, a good floral nose and plenty of fresh raspberry, well made.

Burgundy it is not, there's no great depth, however its soft fruit will be a crowd please and you can do a lot worse for a mid-weak tipple.

Pleasant enough at the standard £5.99+ price, a bargain if you can find it for £4.

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Yep, Im still here.

Gk,
Have you been to Co-op over the past few days? Seems they're starting to clear some stock in stores so a handful of wines have bin end discounts
Oddly enough different stores have different wines so one store will have say Bellingham Bernard series Viognier for £7 while others stores still have it labelled up at full price (I've not seen this wine discounted myself but know others who have)
Worth a visit if you haven't been since last Friday

Cheers, will check out my 'home' store, thats where i picked up the Pinot and find the deals. The branch near my work is rubbish, it rarely has any decent offers, just plenty of old stock at silly prices- who remembers the St Hallett Shiraz & Reisling Co-Op offered as a Xmas special, I think it was around 2010? Well, this store is still selling that wine at around a tenner a bottle. Ridiculous!

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Yep, Im still here.

I bought two bottles of Alsace gewurz @ £4.50 each from the CoOp clearance. Alcohol is a bit too obvious for me even though it's only 12.5%. I will give the 2nd bottle to someone who likes lychee and potpourri flavoured gin.

G

Ijutt

Went into a Lidl by mistake. 'Carpe diem' they say so I got a couple of Hautes de Beaune, a shampoo at £9.99 and a '14 Koenig Alsace riesling at £8.

The latter is fine for the price. Maybe heading a bit east in the style. Hint of floral and a teeny tad sweet, but not cloying. Yeah, why not?

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

Off topic- I have emailed you all, would be interested to know your thoughts.

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Yep, Im still here.

Off topic- I have emailed you all........

Oh dear, I must've been dropped from the loop. Must change my gooseberry deodorant

G, the address I had for you bounced, I believe Shezza has forwarded you a copy.

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Yep, Im still here.