White Wine appreciation & pictures thread
Discussion
omniflow said:
This thread has a massive bias towards French wine. There are other countries that produce more than acceptable white wines which in many cases are far better value for money than those from France.
My favourite wine is from Stellenbosch, finding a decent bottle in 2022 is much harder than it was in 2015 due to the Wine ban. It is going to take a while to get back to 2015 levels for South African wine, if it ever does but i am optimistic.The only bottle in my local indy from SA is 55 pounds.
That is why my posts are heavily weighted towards French wine, it remains in plentiful supply, and thank god for that.
dunkind said:
VTECMatt said:
Are they not a little young?
Absolutely they are Matt, especially the CNDP whiteTop white Rhône’s in particular are often recommended for consumption either young or old (with quite different flavour profiles), going into a dumb/dormant phase in between. Drink them in the first 3-5 years or put them away for a decade longer. Obviously this might not apply to the same degree to all white Rhône’s, after all much wine sold at retail is consumed nearly immediately and doesn’t need to be/is not necessarily off ageing well.
Fwiw, my most memorable white from this summer was a 2019 CNDP (Beaucastel VV) that I’ve never had young before. As we head into autumn/winter the older ones, especially white Hermitages, will be more likely to make appearances.
Gearing up a bit for the spring and I have noticed that, to my horror, that White Châteauneuf-du-Pape in M&S has gone up to 27 quid a bottle.
Therefore, I have bought two cases of red and white CDP from ASDA and they have a 25% saving offer (for cases of 6) until this Sunday. That brings the cost down to about 17 quid for a CDP white.
dunkind said:
Which/Whose CdP Red/White do ASDA supply Carl?
that's a good question.the front label of the white and the glass bottle stamp looks near identical to the CDP white that m&s and others stock.
the red is a bit more of an unknown as whilst the bottle label and glass stamp look legit some of the reviews confuse it with the £9 non-special red cdp that Asda do from time to time on offer. one person commented in the Asda reviews for it that he put a bottle into a casserole sauce and it was awful.
I then had a look on the vivino reviews then and it seems that the Asda special label red CDP is the real deal.
Carl_Manchester said:
Gearing up a bit for the spring and I have noticed that, to my horror, that White Châteauneuf-du-Pape in M&S has gone up to 27 quid a bottle.
Therefore, I have bought two cases of red and white CDP from ASDA and they have a 25% saving offer (for cases of 6) until this Sunday. That brings the cost down to about 17 quid for a CDP white.
That’ll be due, in no small measure, I’d guess to the challenges the region faced in 2021. To generalise, frost damage resulted in very low yields. What was produced in the way of whites has had good reviews, with a great deal of demand. It could therefore be the case that the supermarkets are fighting over smaller stocks, having to pay more, and passing the prices on. Therefore, I have bought two cases of red and white CDP from ASDA and they have a 25% saving offer (for cases of 6) until this Sunday. That brings the cost down to about 17 quid for a CDP white.
Lots of merchants have just run their 2021 Rhone campaigns but there will be merchants with stock on the shelves when the wines arrive. If you’re heading to/beyond £20/bottle territory, seriously consider finding a good independent merchant and having a chat with them as it’s a price point around which they should have lots of options.
picked this Chablis up today for £20. the white CDP from Tesco has been tasted and it's 99% the same as the £27 bottle from m&s but the last dregs are not as fruity. I have five bottles left of course to see whether this was isolated or the whole case is the same.
Edited by Carl_Manchester on Friday 10th March 22:13
PomBstard said:
As an aside, I’ve got some 2007 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling ready for when PB Jnr1 hits 18 in 2025 - quite looking forward to that…
https://www.grosset.com.au/2007/06/22/grosset-poli...
Couldn’t quite wait that long…https://www.grosset.com.au/2007/06/22/grosset-poli...
Can confirm that 16yo Riesling is bloody lovely though
https://www.grosset.com.au/grosset-polish-hill-rie...
Edited to add working link to Grosset
Edited by PomBstard on Monday 18th December 10:18
dunkind said:
omniflow said:
This thread has a massive bias towards French wine. There are other countries that produce more than acceptable white wines which in many cases are far better value for money than those from France.
You could always post them.However, firstly - on the topic of Supermarket Chablis - my late Uncle (who was in Catering / Hospitality and quite senior) went on a Chablis wine tasting in France - I think it was organised by the Appellation (or whatever the right term is). He was astounded by how many of the wines were quite ordinary / borderline unpleasant and although allowed by the rules to be called Chablis, really should not be considered such.
Whilst the above is interesting, it's not really important to me as I don't like Chablis. I find it too minerally. I bought a case of Premier Cru direct from the Vineyard about 30 years ago, kept it for as long as I could (probably 18 months - 2 years) and was extremely disappointed when I finally opened it.
Now, onto the wines I do actually like. These are ALL Chardonnay, and I make no excuses for that.
From Majestic:
Planeta - Italian
Catena Alta - Argentinian (one person early in the thread did call this out)
Duckhorn - California (Napa Valley)
As with all wine bought from Majestic - you need to keep an eye on the deals and buy the wine when the price is acceptable. I think the Duckhorn is pretty good for £25 - no way would I pay £50 for it.
From the Wine Society:
Wente Morning Fog - Cali
Ranch 32 - Cali
Both of the above are around £15 / bottle so great for everyday drinking. You used to be able to get the Morning Fog in Waitrose, but it hasn't been there for several years. I should also point out that we saw the Bogle that they're selling for £14.50 / bottle on sale in Trader Joes in LA for $6.
From Waitrose:
Frei Brothers - Cali.
As with Majestic, this is only really worth buying when there's 25% off.
For those of you who can't see beyond France, please try and stretch your horizons. There's a whole world of Wine out there (say's he who's listed mostly Californian wine). When in France, it's very hard to source anything that's not French. However, when you're in the UK it's extremely easy.
I got into Planalto from Douro Valley through holidays in Lisbon and Porto - it's a lovely balanced white that, unsurprisingly, goes brilliantly with fish:
https://www.majestic.co.uk/wines/planalto-white-re...
Fantastic value, at the table in Portugal usually sells for 15 Euros a bottle
https://www.majestic.co.uk/wines/planalto-white-re...
Fantastic value, at the table in Portugal usually sells for 15 Euros a bottle
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