Ich bin auf Urlaub
I'm off to cycle the Danube. I'll be passing through the vineyards of Austria and Hungary and will try the local wines. I'll report back soon!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Go Emma Go!
Hurrah for Emma Pooley who won Silver today in the women's time trial. Having put in a fabulous performance Sunday to help Nicole Cooke take Gold, this one may not have been expected, but was certainly deserved. Go Emma!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Tallowwood Creek Shiraz 2006
We had a game of Tinner's Trail last night. If you've never played a game based on tin and copper mining in nineteenth century Cornwall then this is the one for you!
With it we had a Tallowwood Creek Shiraz 2006. It was dark and rich looking, and it smelled of cooked plums with spices. There was a high level of ripe tannins, with a full body and full-on alcohol. This is a big wine, filling the mouth with alcoholic warmth and a velvety tannin smoothness. The plum fruit has cinnamon spice added to it which perks it up.
This wine certainly packs a punch, it was perhaps a little too much for me, and would probably do better on a cold winter's evening. Expect to pay £7-8.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Summer Sundae
No wine this weekend, I was at the Summer Sundae music festival so beer was the order of the three days. Oakham's JHB was particularly nice - here's a man pouring it for me. There were plenty of real ales, ciders and perries to choose from right up until the last day when they were down to the BareBones, literally, the only pint available was called BareBones.
I saw:
The Coral
Howling Bells
Supergrass
New York Alcoholic Anxiety Attack
Maybeshe will
The Chairmen
Maximum Danger Project
Project Notion
Camera Obscura
Frightened Rabbit
Mitch Benn
My feet hurt and I want a sherry.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Go Nicole Go!
No wine today, I'm too excited. Did you see Nicole Cooke winning gold in the road race today? If not, why not - it was amaaaaaazing. Go Nicole go!
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Castello Montedoro 2005 Antica Vigna
I like Italian wine. I like the way it's often a surprise, I like the way it tastes like someone actually made it rather than it coming from a factory, I like the way that sometimes it's a bit odd. I like how it makes me think about sitting in local bars in Italy drinking wine out of a tumbler and laughing happily with local folk who just don't care that I don't understand what they're saying to me.
We had a Castello Montedoro 2005 whilst vegging out in front of Frasier. Hardly the Tuscan hills or the glories of Rome, but enjoyable none the less. It comes from Castel del Monte, an absurdly pretty town in Abruzzo.
It tastes good. It has spicy oak and cooked cherries along with a slightly dried herbs character more at home in Provence. At about £8 it's not an absolute bargain, I'd probably expect it to be closer to £6-7 to make it unmissable midweek drinking, but it made me feel happy, and that's all you can ask from a wine.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Time To Check Your Bookmarks
The good people at Golly Gumdrops Baby Boutique are looking to expand worldwide, and to do so they're going to use the www.gollygumdrops.com domain. That means Golly's Wine Drops will now be at www.gollyswinedrops.com. It makes sense when you think about it.
If you normally get here using www.gollywinedrops.blogspot.com then there's no need to change any links or bookmarks, but if you're using Gollygumdrops, please switch to www.gollyswinedrops.com. Otherwise over the next couple of weeks you'll get to Golly Gumdrops Baby Boutique. I'll be looking forward to receiving a bag of Cherry Ripes. I have no idea what wine to choose to go with them.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Laithwaites Voucher - £50 From CD WOW
The good people at CD-WOW have hooked up with Laithwaites to offer £50 off a Four Seasons case to new customers, you can also get £25 off any case over £70, a pretty good deal.
If you buy a CD from CD WOW they send you a coupon, with a link to the money off page which is here. They also send you the voucher code CDWOW. Enjoy!
Friday, August 01, 2008
Codorníu Cava Pinot Noir Brut - Pink Bubbly
We had happy girly celebrations this week, what better way to toast them than to drink pink and sparkly wine? That's what we thought when we bought a variety of Cava Rosadas. It would have made for a far better celebration if we'd remembered to take them along to the party. We had to chill them for mid-week drinking instead - life is hard.
The Codorníu Cava Pinot Noir Brut was an attractive salmon pink with firm and assertive bubbles. It smelled fruity and a littly earthy, with a gentle strawberry flavour, not overwhelming, well balanced with lemon acidity.
It was good value sparkles, and the pink fruitiness was a pleasant change for the summertime.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Palacio de Valdeinfante 1997 - Spanish Classic!
Hurrah for Carlos Sastre who won the Tour today after a heroic team effort got him there. It was pretty much sewn up last night at the time trial when Cadel Evans failed to pull off the outstanding time he'd relied on so we had a Spanish classic to celebrate.
It was a Palacio de Valdeinfante 1997 Tempranillo from Laithwaites. It's wrapped in a faux wire cage which is kinda silly, but the wine is good. It's thick, rich and oaky without tasting of fresh shavings. There's plenty of black fruit too, along with a touch of spice. It's worth the ��8 it's on sale for.
Enough typing for now, I have a cold glass of pink Cava waiting to celebrate properly. Maybe it will help me over the guilt I'm feeling at being secretely smug that there's lots of new world wine in the kitchen I haven't had a need to drink for the last three weeks.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Pouilly Fume 'Les Champlins' 2006
So Mark Cavendish has gone home to rest up ahead of the Olympics, but the Tour goes on, and the new format seems to be keeping things interesting. Today's winner was Cyril Dessel, a French AG2R rider. He used to race for Jelly Belly - I could ride for them.
Time for a French wine. We had a Pouilly Fume 'Les Champlins' 2006. I've cycled through Pouilly sur Loire, it's pretty flat, not like today's stage. 2006 was wet. Very wet. You can just see my panniers wearing their little raincoats outside the Chateau in the centre of town.
The 'Les Champlins' is pretty good despite the rain. It's steely in that mineral way that the Loire has perfected, with some lemon and lime balanced by a weird but good honeyed apricot kinda thing going on. At 12% alcohol it's easy drinking stuff. At about £7.50 it's a reasonable price for this appellation.
Friday, July 18, 2008
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