Naked Wines Share Discussion Threads

[abitgreen] 22/8/2005 14:37

Thanks Rayac, yup Chille is up there fastest growing country by sales I'm told, thanks for your thoughts.

[bionicdog] 22/8/2005 14:13

Try to get get through them all by the end of the week :o)

[topbidd] 22/8/2005 14:02

bionicdog,

re-

I tried (last night) the Era Contana Reserva 1999, Rioja Spain @£8.99
& the Tabili Shiraz Reserve 2002, Chile @£6.99

Both from Sainsburys & I would highly recommend both.
I look forward to sampling more from that list & I have saved the link for future reference.

Cheers & happy glugging:-)))

[abitgreen] 22/8/2005 13:11

Hi hope you don't mind me barging in, one of my recent business interests is a small pub that we are going promote as an eating house (old hat I know but this is particually suited to a predominantly fish menu) my question to all you gluggers is this; when writing my winelist (years ago I was a sommellier, but now very rusty) would you prefer to see choices made by grape (i.e. a choice of single varieties chosen to represent the pre-conceived ideas of what that grape should taste like)or by country (i.e. choose a list of the top say 8 countries for producing red & the same for white, then pick the best in a certain cost bracket trying to maintain a balanced and varied list)? Or any other suggestions?! All comments greatly appreciated.

[rayrac] 20/8/2005 13:06

Grupo GuitarLumber

Prefer water!

[topbidd] 20/8/2005 12:21

bionicdog,

cheers for that list I will try a few of them.

[grupo guitarlumber] 20/8/2005 11:19

Anybody into Elderberry Wine?.

[grupo guitarlumber] 20/8/2005 09:01

Wood that be Sickofmore.

enjoy your weekend.

[english bigblls] 19/8/2005 23:08

Oh god, has anyone had the Gallo "Sycamore Canyon" ?

Is it really meant to taste like that!?

There is oak-aged and then there is this, bloody wood-flavoured wine!?

[english bigblls] 19/8/2005 19:41

The Co-Op is great for good value, good quality wine.

[bionicdog] 19/8/2005 19:38

This is a good little list to take with you next time you go shopping and I wouldn't disagree with most of the choices. Perhaps most importantly , it is kept up to date.

[jl202] 15/8/2005 08:36

click on the old monitor tab and follow the streaming problems q&a at the bottom if it doesn't start imediately.

jl.

ps wtf??

[nellyb] 15/8/2005 06:32

new hard-drive, how do i get this thing java enabled?

[ariane] 15/8/2005 06:10

Champagne boom makes farms go pop
John Follain



OUTSIDE the pretty village of Fontaine-sur-Ay (population: 100) clustered around an ancient church, young vines of champagne grapes have appeared on slopes where until last year fruit trees grew.
The sunny patch of land, which covers 370 acres, has been given official permission to grow the vintage after geological tests showed that its soil was suitable for grapes.



However, examples such as Fontaine-sur-Ay are becoming increasingly rare across the Champagne region because of a growing shortage of land deemed suitable for turning into vineyards.

The problem, combined with a surging demand for bubbly, has presented its makers with a dilemma: should they extend the area of northern France which is entitled to carry the coveted champagne label, or resign themselves to one day failing to meet demand? The sales slump of the late 1980s has been long forgotten. Demand has risen sharply over the past decade - some £2.5 billion of the stuff was sold across the world last year, 54% more than in 1990. The millennium celebrations helped; so, too, has been the way that champage has re-established itself as the drink of choice among America's high-rollers, with even hip-hop stars such as Sean "P Diddy" Combs mentioning top-of-the-range Cristal in his songs.

Ironically, the boom has coincided with a slump in demand for wines such as bordeaux and beaujolais, some of which are being distilled into ethanol for use as factory fuel.

Under a 1927 law which is still in force, only wine coming from grapes grown within an 86,000-acre region can be described as champagne. With all but 4,900 acres of this region already covered in vines, the value of such land is soaring: a 2½-acre high-quality plot could cost as much as £660,000.

Merely being in the area is not enough: permission to grow champagne grapes is granted with great parsimony by the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, a body which is made up of growers and producers.

Experts conduct a battery of tests on potential areas, studying both climate and geology. Slopes are favoured not only because they are more sunny, but also because the concentration of lime and chalk in the soil is highest and closest to the surface, ensuring that the vines' roots will bury themselves deep in the earth.

The age of the growers is also taken into account - the younger they are, the more chance they have of receiving a favourable verdict.

News last month that the Taittinger family was selling its champagne business provoked eager anticipation among other makers eyeing the 681 acres that it owns in the region. Hopes were soon dashed when it emerged that both the business and the land will end up in the hands of some of the younger Taittingers.

"Just drive around the region and you can see the problem," said Fabien Henry, 39, president of the Chanoine Frères house, which is based in Rheims. "We've planted grapes pretty much everywhere and in four or five years' time there'll be nowhere left to do so. But growing these grapes is such a delicate operation. I doubt there can be many other places out there which would be suitable, even if we do decide to extend the area."

The issue is a divisive one among the 15,000 growers and producers of the Comité who would have to make the final decision about any extension to the authorised area.

Some makers say that the priority must be to meet demand and point to global warming as a justification for spreading vineyards northwards. Others fear that increasing the area, and therefore output, although making sense in the current buoyant climate, would make the industry more vulnerable to any future slump in demand.

"It's a case of should we flood the world or should we stay exclusive," said one maker.

Either way, a speedy solution is unlikely. Françoise Peretti, who heads the Champagne Information Bureau, the London branch of the Comité, said that she expected the issue to be resolved "within five to 10 years from now".

Even if a decision is made to extend the borders, experts will have to agree on criteria for picking the new areas. "Everything we do is based on general agreement," said Henry.

"We don't row with each other - that's why the Champagne region is doing much better than other wine regions like Bordeaux or Burgundy, where it's each man for himself."

[strategy and luck] 13/8/2005 08:52

Red Ninja,

Venez-vous de France?

[jl202] 12/8/2005 09:49

s&l, huh?

:-)


jl.

[red ninja] 11/8/2005 23:00

Bien sur les francais font les premier vins du monde.

[english bigblls] 11/8/2005 22:07

French wine is tres bien (plus temps)

[strategy and luck] 11/8/2005 21:56

No comment, anyone?

Too subtle for ya, eh?

;-)

[strategy and luck] 11/8/2005 17:27

Instead of bottling it and sending it to the UK so our householders and hoteliers can clean their drains out, perhaps in future the French should simply LEAVE IT IN THE DONKEY, WHERE IT BELONGS?!!!

[grupo guitarlumber] 10/8/2005 16:16

merci Monsieur Chance

[jl202] 10/8/2005 15:13

qu'ell horreur!!!

[loverat] 04/8/2005 20:24

This looks like a nice little thread.

Any wine investors here?

I used to work in the wine business quite a few years ago and regret not
buying some of the Bordeaux 1982's we were selling at the time.

I wonder how much some the first growths from that year are worth now...