..Moaned the hosting husband at least 10 days before their wine club, why you ask, well apparently his favourite football team, Chelsea, were playing some big match.. don't ask me what, I haven't a clue about football..my heart bleeds for him (not) now you might say put the footie on in another room & let the boys watch, logical but unsocial, however, he is in a minority the others aren't big football fans..ha ha..
So we arrived, to find the house littered with Chelsea hats, scarves and tops, the tops will appear later in the proceedings as you will see.. just making his feelings felt ..actually it was quite inspired and funny, we'll give him that, his daughter thought he'd lost the plot !
Well the brief was 'Anything'.. so that was a real tricky one.. now anyone that knows Karen & Mick will not be surprised at this... we found out the old fashioned way, by phone, not email, those that know Karen & Mick will also not be surprised at this either... let me think any other things that would not surprise you about Karen & Mick, oh yes, Karen got her own way and got her new kitchen regardless of Micks moaning, sounds like he moans a bit.. anyone that knows Karen & Mick... no, must stop that ...
So on with the wine tasting, we had three white and two reds, a real mixed bag..
Wine One ~ Vaillon Chablis Premier Cru 2001 (!) probably the oldest wine we have tasted..
We did all think it was older 2006/7, it was quite buttery with a thick texture and strong aromas, those that generally like a french wine, did like this one, the others were less keen.
Wine Two ~ Chardonnay 2011
Mick about summed it up at the first sniff "what's this bleedin' fing"... it wasn't very popular, very floral aromas, general opinion was french plonk!
Wine Three ~ Sauvignon Blanc
From New Zealand, very nice, not just saying that as it was my offering.. it wasn't as minerally and sharp as you would have expected, very drinkable..and I did ..
Wine Four ~ Rioja 2005
Very dark and leggy (!), lots of tannin real hangover stuff after a few glasses I am sure. Flavours of liquorice and blackcurrants. Not particularly liked by anybody.
Wine Five ~ DOC Amarone Della Valpolicella £15.99 (Tesco)
A treat from the hosts, shame Terry and Karen weren't there to enjoy it, as I think it is one of their favourite wines.. Aromas of cherries & berries, general opinion was that it wasn't worth the money, it just didn't seem to have the depth you'd expect..
I looked up the 'expert' view on this wine on the Tesco website:
"Medicinal aromas, cherry & coffee. Ripe big style wine with bold fruit, imagine overripe berries squished and laced with subtle layer of peppered spice" I think he must have been tasting a different wine ..
Ever wondered what DOC means ? ..and.. no it doesn't relate to the medicinal aromas mentioned above !
D.O.C.stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata. It is a law established in Italy in 1963 concerning Italian bottled wines only. It determines the area within which certain wines may be produced, the soil and the arrangements of the vineyards; the grapes and blend of grapes; the method of cultivation; yield of the vineyard and method of vinification; and certain details like the length of
maturation and whether wines of different vintages can be blended.
Bottles and labels similarly come under control,as well as the names of both wines and firms.
Penalties for infringements can be the closing of an offending establishment
for a year and a heavy fine on each gallon (4.54 litres) to which a false
description was applied.
Although the term D.O.C. s often compared to the French Applelation d'Origine
Controlée it works differently. The administration is centralised and does not depend, as does the A.O.C., largely on local syndicates.
So now you know.. don't say you don't learn anything !
~ You remember those football shirts that were hanging about.. whilst Mick popped out to help with the coffee, Linda & I quickly put the T-shirts on to see how quickly he would notice...
When he did notice.. he then told us they were Neils old ones... so who knows where they'd been !
Good evening had by all..
Time to stick a cork in it.
Bye S x
maturation and whether wines of different vintages can be blended.
Bottles and labels similarly come under control,as well as the names of both wines and firms.
Penalties for infringements can be the closing of an offending establishment
for a year and a heavy fine on each gallon (4.54 litres) to which a false
description was applied.
Although the term D.O.C. s often compared to the French Applelation d'Origine
Controlée it works differently. The administration is centralised and does not depend, as does the A.O.C., largely on local syndicates.
So now you know.. don't say you don't learn anything !
~ You remember those football shirts that were hanging about.. whilst Mick popped out to help with the coffee, Linda & I quickly put the T-shirts on to see how quickly he would notice...
When he did notice.. he then told us they were Neils old ones... so who knows where they'd been !
Good evening had by all..
Time to stick a cork in it.
Bye S x
