Hi Winos!

I hope you’ve been enjoying my foray into Christmas sandwiches as well as the recent wine gubbins, but this weekend Xmas starts for real. It’s our first Christmas dinner, with my brother-in-law and the Ginger-in-law… and that means plenty of booze, some great food and a whole lot of opinion! Whether you’re kicking off your festive season or just opening a great bottle of wine, have a great weekend!

Oh… and I hope to bump into a few of you at the Wine Car Boot tomorrow evening!

New post

Do you find Italian confusing? Me too! Hopefully this will help a touch:

http://confessionsofawinegeek.com/2014/11/23/giro-ditalia-the-exciting-tour-of-italian-wine/

 

#newwinethisweek

After tasting the best Italy has to offer, Mike only goes and chooses Pinot bloody Grigio! But do you know what? Spend a bit more and have a look around the wine globe and the grape may well surprise you:

http://confessionsofawinegeek.com/2014/11/27/newwinethisweek-week-47-pinot-bloody-grigio/

Supermarket wine
As soon as I saw the Guigal Cotes du Rhône on offer at Waitrose there was no other choice. If £10 is your limit for a bottle of wine, make sure you buy plenty of this stuff when its offer; its my house red!

Guigal Côtes du Rhône 2011, Rhône, France (£9.19 was £11.49)
Baron de Ley Rioja Reserva 2009, Rioja, Spain (£9.49 was £12.49)
Errazuriz Estate Syrah Reserva 2013, Aconcagua Valley, Chile (£6.99 was £9.99)
Cave de Tain Crozes-Hermitage 2011, Rhône, France (£8.49 was £11.49)
Paolo Leo Primitivo di Manduria 2012, Puglia, Italy (£7.99 was £10.99)
Louis Jadot Macon Villages Chapelle les Loups 2013, Burgundy, France (£8.99 was £11.99)
Cune Barrel Fermented Rioja Blanco 2013, Rioja, Spain (£7.85 was £10.49)
Les Andides, Saumur-Blanc 2013, Loire, France (£6.99 was £8.99)

 

Wine in the news

The Chinese won’t stand for counterfeits… or so it seems:
http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2014/11/chinese-wine-dealer-smashes-fake-lafite/
Why Sauternes is under-appreciated:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/dining/why-sauternes-is-underappreciated.html?_r=0
Burgundy split over new Cote d’Or appellation plan:
http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/587755/burgundy-split-over-new-cote-d-or-appellation-plan
Is there a role for wine bloggers? Well is there??
http://www.harpers.co.uk/news/debate-over-role-and-relevance-of-wine-bloggers-continues-as-trade-figures-take-sides/373915.article
10 Things Every Wine Lover Should Know About La Rioja Alta
http://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2014/11/10-things-every-wine-lover-should-know-about-la-rioja-alta

 

Light relief

A few more 1-liners this week… including a favourite of The Fish!
“I saw Monty Python at the O2 this year. You know a troupe is getting old when you seeing them is on their bucket list.” Brendon Burns
“I occupy the difficult ground between being posh and liking hip-hop. I’d do a drive-by shooting, on a pheasant.” Ed Gamble
“I had an argument with one of the seven dwarfs. He wasn’t happy.” Rebecca Humphries
“I broke up with my girlfriend over creative differences. I thought I was creative. She thought differently.” Phil Wang
“Polygamy – the art of parrot-folding.” Lizzy Mace
“I’ll tell you what separates the men from the boys. Operation Yewtree.” Maff Brown
“The early bird gets the worm but the late worm gets to live.” Jonny Lennard
“When my wife and I argue, we’re like a band in concert: we start with some new stuff and then we roll out our greatest hits.” Frank Skinner
“My father was a magician. Well, not a magician, he just disappeared a lot when we were younger.” Alex Edelman
“I sold my guitar to a bloke with no arms recently. I asked him how it was going to work, he replied: ‘I’m going to play it by ear’.” Lloyd Griffith
“I believe in gay marriage so that gay people can be as miserable as straight people.” Tom Allen
“My Dad is a proper family man. He’s got three of them.” Steve Bugeja
“One thing you’ll never hear a Hindu say… ‘Ah well, you only live once.’” Hardeep Singh Kohli
“I’m a strict Catholic. This year I gave up abstinence for Lent.” Andrew Doyle
“If I discovered a new animal I’d call it a Quorn to mess with vegetarians.” Jim Campbell
“Inside every Russian doll there’s a Russian doll screaming to get out.” Phil Mann
“I don’t believe in sceptics.” Tom Binns

And the best one of all comes courtesy of The Fish…

“I hate Russian dolls… They’re so full of themselves.” The Fish

Xmas sarnie diaries
A great showing by Waitrose and a dirty pasty from Tesco among this week’s updates…

http://confessionsofawinegeek.com/xmas-sarnies/

 

The boring stuff

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Cheers and have a great weekend!

Wine Geek

confessionsofawinegeek.com
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@winegeekconfess