Thrifty Gourmet Wine Steal – Chapoutier Belleruche
When I took my first gulp of Chapoutier Belleruche last Saturday night, I had an explosive coughing fit. Not due to any fault with the wine, which was as silkily delicious as ever; it was the revelation of the price which caused me to fear I was about to suffer a pulmonary embolism.
Family were visiting from Europe, and my brother-in-law, who works in the French wine trade, always arrives with a clinking bag containing a few vinous gems. The first bottle we pulled the cork from was the Belleruche. Continue reading Thrifty Gourmet Wine Steal – Chapoutier Belleruche
By Jamie Grafton on July 29, 2009 | 1
Wine According To The Goldilocks Principle
At first glance, the narcoleptic, house-breaking porridge-thief known to generations of children as Goldilocks may not seem a likely role model for wine drinkers looking to maximize enjoyment of each bottle purchased (and in these lean times we all want bang for our buck), but her finicky perfectionism when blithely helping herself to the Three Bears’ breakfast is a trait all wine drinkers can learn from. Too often, wine is served at a temperature that is, as our heroine opined, “too hot” or “too cold” – a glass of vino poured when the mercury level in the thermometer is “just right” is less common than one might assume. Continue reading Wine According To The Goldilocks Principle
By Jamie Grafton on July 9, 2009 | 0
Decadent Summer Drinking Without the Headache
There are a couple of rules of thumb for summer drinks: one, tone down the alcohol content unless you want a dry mouth, thudding headache, and the possibility of a psychotic episode if booze is fused with sunstroke; and two, a drink sipped under a hot sun has to be lip-smackingly refreshing.
There is a drink that lets you observe these rules and also chucks a twist of decadence into the mix: moscato. Often derided in my home country of Britain as a sweet drink for teenage girls, in the hands of a half-decent winemaker moscato is an unmistakably adult drink, miles away from the over-syrupy sweetness of alcopops. It’s likely that the first sparkling wines ever drunk by our ancestors several millenia ago would have tasted similar to moscato – the simple fermentation techniques of Fred Flintstone aren’t too far from the gentle handling the grapes receive today. Unlike some of the elaborate conjuring found in many of today’s modern wineries – oak chips, microoxygenation, etc – moscato grapes are picked, crushed, pressed, fermented, and then fermentation is stopped when only half the sugar in the juice has been converted into alcohol. The wine is then quickly filtered and bottled. Continue reading Decadent Summer Drinking Without the Headache
By Jamie Grafton on June 19, 2009 | 0
Bubble-and-Squeak English-style – Not Just For Breakfast…
Bubble-and-squeak is one of England’s gifts to world cuisine. That probably sounds like an oxymoron to many people (although I will blog about the history of English food soon, so prepare to be surprised: a common reaction among readers may be swooning amazement at its rich and diverse heritage).
Bubble, as it’s commonly known in Britain, is a time-honored way of using up leftover vegetables. Sometimes this is from the Sunday roast – roast potatoes are smashed up and mixed with chopped carrot or cabbage or peas – but for most its two main ingredients are mashed potato and cabbage. And as bubble is so tasty and such a simple yet sublime accompaniment to fish or meat for an easy midweek meal, home cooks often prepare the mash and cabbage just to make it specially. Continue reading Bubble-and-Squeak English-style – Not Just For Breakfast…
By Jamie Grafton on June 4, 2009 | 0
Thrifty Gourmet Wine Steal – Chateau Charron 2007
Poor old France. First it was the Judgement of Paris, when American wine first topped the best the French had to offer in a blind tasting; then brash and colorful wines from South Africa, Chile and Australia began arriving in wine stores, hogging shelf space that France had once held unopposed; and now – mon dieu! – the old enemy, England, is producing award-winning sparkling wine just as the Champagne region comes under threat from climate change. There are mutterings that the writing is on the wall for the anachronistic French wine industry. Continue reading Thrifty Gourmet Wine Steal – Chateau Charron 2007
By Jamie Grafton on May 7, 2009 | 0
