"House" white....probable philistine content ahead...
Discussion
Had a very enjoyable trip to Rome recently.
Enjoyed plenty of good food, and obviously, some wine.
Now, Im not a wine drinker normally, but Im not adverse to some white on occasion.
Pretty much everywhere we ate, we had the house white, served in a plain decanter.
This wine all tasted bloody lovely - clean, cold, crisp and a pleasure to drink.
Two questions.
Does it just taste better because holiday?
What would I need to buy from Tesco (other crap supermarkets available) to replicate this summer joy ?
And, yes, I know the PH response will be something costing £50 a bottle at least, and only served by the butler from your own cellar.....
Enjoyed plenty of good food, and obviously, some wine.
Now, Im not a wine drinker normally, but Im not adverse to some white on occasion.
Pretty much everywhere we ate, we had the house white, served in a plain decanter.
This wine all tasted bloody lovely - clean, cold, crisp and a pleasure to drink.
Two questions.
Does it just taste better because holiday?
What would I need to buy from Tesco (other crap supermarkets available) to replicate this summer joy ?
And, yes, I know the PH response will be something costing £50 a bottle at least, and only served by the butler from your own cellar.....
Yes, because holiday.
And you probably can't get anything similar here, either because it was fresh, local, not full of sulphites and other nasties, straight from the vineyard stuff, or because it was leftovers from sixteen vineyards, mixed in the tanker and flogged by the aluminium barrel to the local trattorias
Fun trying though.
And you probably can't get anything similar here, either because it was fresh, local, not full of sulphites and other nasties, straight from the vineyard stuff, or because it was leftovers from sixteen vineyards, mixed in the tanker and flogged by the aluminium barrel to the local trattorias
Fun trying though.I had a similar experience in Portugal the other week.
Normally white gives me indigestion and I only drink red but they bought some house Vinho Verde with the fish .
The fish and the wine were both lovely.
As you said, cold, crisp and really fresh tasting.
I will buy a bottle of VV and see what it's like here.
Normally white gives me indigestion and I only drink red but they bought some house Vinho Verde with the fish .
The fish and the wine were both lovely.
As you said, cold, crisp and really fresh tasting.
I will buy a bottle of VV and see what it's like here.
As a start, you could take yourself to somewhere that does "tasting"
Majestic does, taste some wines within your budget & see if you like any of them.
You might quickly determine the styles you like, and the ones you don't.
http://ask.majestic.co.uk/help/wedding-and-parties...
Majestic does, taste some wines within your budget & see if you like any of them.
You might quickly determine the styles you like, and the ones you don't.
http://ask.majestic.co.uk/help/wedding-and-parties...
I'm no expert but a couple of observations; house wine generally is OK maybe because it's in the restaurant's best interest that it is. The temperature it's served at. Would the same wine taste as good if it was warmer? Do Tesco etc sell their own 'house wine', that could be a good start.
yes, it will taste better in situ. in fact hey could have been serving you some really nasty stuff but right then, on hols' it would have been great
back home you need to try several wines to find what you like.
treat it like a "wine adventure". invest £100 in 12 bottles at your local wine merchant to find out what you like and go from there.
see if you can find a decent local independent who will listen to what you say you like and help.
It's in their interest!
back home you need to try several wines to find what you like.
treat it like a "wine adventure". invest £100 in 12 bottles at your local wine merchant to find out what you like and go from there.
see if you can find a decent local independent who will listen to what you say you like and help.
It's in their interest!
It's always better on holiday. Now get to your local supermarket and spend £5 to £8 a go on their standard pinot grigio Italian, soave, a sauvignon blanc, a Chardonnay, get one in the fridge overnight, then off you go. Make notes if necessary. Find one you like. It doesn't have to be complicated.
Turn7 said:
Had a very enjoyable trip to Rome recently.
Enjoyed plenty of good food, and obviously, some wine.
Now, Im not a wine drinker normally, but Im not adverse to some white on occasion.
Pretty much everywhere we ate, we had the house white, served in a plain decanter.
This wine all tasted bloody lovely - clean, cold, crisp and a pleasure to drink.
Two questions.
Does it just taste better because holiday?
What would I need to buy from Tesco (other crap supermarkets available) to replicate this summer joy ?
And, yes, I know the PH response will be something costing £50 a bottle at least, and only served by the butler from your own cellar.....
When we lived in Rome in the 80s, house white was usually Orvieto, as mentioned above. Enjoyed plenty of good food, and obviously, some wine.
Now, Im not a wine drinker normally, but Im not adverse to some white on occasion.
Pretty much everywhere we ate, we had the house white, served in a plain decanter.
This wine all tasted bloody lovely - clean, cold, crisp and a pleasure to drink.
Two questions.
Does it just taste better because holiday?
What would I need to buy from Tesco (other crap supermarkets available) to replicate this summer joy ?
And, yes, I know the PH response will be something costing £50 a bottle at least, and only served by the butler from your own cellar.....
Depending where you live, find a local wine merchant that is also a wine bar (Loki Wine in Birmingham is a winner).
Loki's is particularly good because at any one time they have up to 40 different wines in preservation cabinets (pressurised, temperature controlled). You can choose different volumes to try (from a couple of sips for <£1 to a full glass) and they often have similar wines at different price brackets to try back to back (i.e. is it really worth spending £100 on a rioja when you can get one you enjoy for £10?)
Loki's is particularly good because at any one time they have up to 40 different wines in preservation cabinets (pressurised, temperature controlled). You can choose different volumes to try (from a couple of sips for <£1 to a full glass) and they often have similar wines at different price brackets to try back to back (i.e. is it really worth spending £100 on a rioja when you can get one you enjoy for £10?)
Turn7 said:
Had a very enjoyable trip to Rome recently.
Does it just taste better because holiday?
What would I need to buy from Tesco (other crap supermarkets available) to replicate this summer joy ?
I'd say it was because "holiday". I had some delicious reds in Barcelona - dirt cheap for a litre jug. Then I saw the old woman in the kitchen filling the jugs from a 5 gallon plastic container like you get on a water cooler, held on her shoulder. Does it just taste better because holiday?
What would I need to buy from Tesco (other crap supermarkets available) to replicate this summer joy ?
As has been mentioned, try Orvieto.
Holidays make everything taste better (hell, even Retsina is delicious when you are in a Greek island taverna, but try that stiff on a cold November wednesday in the UK...) but its worth adding that most UK supermarket wines are designed for UK palates, which might not match yours, hence your preference for Italian wines in Italy.
Holidays make everything taste better (hell, even Retsina is delicious when you are in a Greek island taverna, but try that stiff on a cold November wednesday in the UK...) but its worth adding that most UK supermarket wines are designed for UK palates, which might not match yours, hence your preference for Italian wines in Italy.
55palfers said:
I had a similar experience in Portugal the other week.
Normally white gives me indigestion and I only drink red but they bought some house Vinho Verde with the fish .
The fish and the wine were both lovely.
As you said, cold, crisp and really fresh tasting.
I will buy a bottle of VV and see what it's like here.
I wouldn't bother.Normally white gives me indigestion and I only drink red but they bought some house Vinho Verde with the fish .
The fish and the wine were both lovely.
As you said, cold, crisp and really fresh tasting.
I will buy a bottle of VV and see what it's like here.
IME white port and Vino Verde are best only drunk in Portugal
OP - just make sure the wine you have is very cold. It does make a difference. It will also help if where you are eating is warm
If Orvieto doesn't do it, try a light Pinot Grigio, Soave (good very cold) or even Frascati. Oh, I dunno, I have had vinho verde in the UK and well chilled on a hot day it's very refreshing. I like the fact that it's only 9% ABV, means that you can swill a couple of tasty glasses in the sunshine without getting too hammered. Just don't expect a great oenological experience, it's a simple wine for washing down a grilled prawn or two on a hot day.
Murph7355 said:
OP - just make sure the wine you have is very cold. It does make a difference. It will also help if where you are eating is warm If Orvieto doesn't do it, try a light Pinot Grigio, Soave (good very cold) or even Frascati.
FRASCATI!!! If Orvieto doesn't do it, try a light Pinot Grigio, Soave (good very cold) or even Frascati. That was the other one I couldn't think of. There was a shop at the bottom of our apartment block which would fill your own bottles from huge vats (which in turn were filled from tankers on a weekly basis) Frascati was the one my Dad used to get form there. Probably the wine which started my sometimes difficult relationship with booze. Very easy drinking for a 15 year old!
I'm not a wine drinker but I can stomach a half decent red when offered. I tend to get heartburn a lot so acidic stuff sets me off. Mrs Toon and I went to Rome for a friends 40th last year and we ended up with the house red in a huge jug on the table. It was actually nicer than some of the more expensive stuff I've had at home.
PositronicRay said:
Try Orvieto, one of the few whites I really, really enjoy. Localish to rome as well.
On holiday I'm often quaffing rose, it just seems right on a warm evening.
Thanks - this evening I'm drinking Orvieto for the first time in decades, it is absolutely superb! Only a fiver from Sainsburys too...On holiday I'm often quaffing rose, it just seems right on a warm evening.
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