Wine Appreciation / Oenophiles

Eh? Is it not supposed to be cheap and drunk straight after harvest?

Yep! probably the worst gift ever.

Completely overrated and generally tasteless.

There are good wines made in Beaujolais, but these don't generally include the ones marketed under the "nouveau" sales tag.

I am out for BoJo NuVo tonight.
French tradition really.

If you like wine that tastes like Ribena, it is for you!

I think I'd like to buy a bottle of very nice wine for a couple of people for Christmas. In the £100 range. What would be reccomended if I was to do that?

How many bottles?
You might struggle to buy individual bottles of some of the higher end (ish) stuff, but a half case of 6 for £600 or so will likely be easier to find.

Perhaps something like Lynch-Bages?

ah ok. as you might be able to tell it's really outside of my sphere of knowlege.

Would somewhere like Hedonisim would be a good place to go, or would it all be overpriced?

For single bottles in that price range, what about a vintage Port?

Probably wise to go to a specialist like that, or even Berry Bros, even if you might be able to find the wine marginally cheaper elsewhere, as they will be able to give you some guidance - likely they will have had the same question a few times already....

As mentioned - vintage Port could be a good option for Christmas

Thanks for the advice - I'll pop along there next week

Are they people who are knowledgeable about wine? If so, would be worth finding out what they like.

If not, probably safer to go with crowd pleasers:
Champagne
A decent rioja
New World classics (Kiwi Sauvigon, a big American red)
Southern Rhone (a Chateauneuf such as Vieux Telegraphe is hard to dislike).

As mentioned above, will they appreciate a decent bottle or any bottle?

Safe option is to see if Vince has a couple of bottles of his elixir, perhaps?

yeah, they'll definately appreciate it. they're proper wine drinking alcoholics. I'll have to work out a way to find out the sort of thing they like between now and next week and get an expensive bottle of that.

Erm is it worth mentioning I am a senior account manager for a wine merchants with 15+ years in the trade?

If anyone needs advice and indeed wants to buy some vino I can get it sent anywhere in the country.

Had a quick squiz: for around £100 I have some 2015 Pontet-Canet, fifth-growth Pauillac, 96+ points
A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, 50% of the 2015 Pontet-Canet was aged in new French oak, while 15% was matured in second fill barrels and 35% in cement amphorae. Deep garnet-purple in color, the nose opens with exuberant black currants, red currants and black raspberries scents plus an evocative undercurrent of cedar chest, dusty earth, cloves, chocolate box and Provence herbs with a fragrant waft of lavender. Medium to full-bodied and built like a brick house with very firm, wonderfully grainy tannins and black and red fruits charged with the most singular energy, it finishes with incredible persistence and depth.

Also Luciano Sandrone Barolo Aleste 2014, 93 points
This is the second year Aleste is produced instead of Cannubi Boschis, however the grapes are exactly the same. The 2014 Barolo Aleste is named after Luciano Sandrone's grandchildren Alessia and Stefano. The 2014 is still wound up and will require extra time to find its footing. The Sandrone family lost 25% of their fruit production in this challenging harvest. The wine offers fragrant notes of wild cherry and cassis with smoke, crushed stone and candied orange peel. The tannins are firm and textured. It is the palate (more than the nose) that requires more time to soften.

Just a couple. You will also get things like Valbuena from Vega Sicilia, Super-Tuscans like Sassacaia, top Brunellos and Barberescos, top wines from the new world etc. If you want them to drink it shortly then maturity becomes a key factor.

If you want white then 1er/Grand Cru white Burgundies, top white Ermitage or Chateauneuf-du-Pape from the Rhone, or white Bordeaux from Graves like Domaine de Chevalier. Champagne will be like shooting fish in a barrel, NV Krug and most of the Grand Marque's vintage or Prestige Cuvees. Dessert wines like sauternes, Trockenbeerenuslese, Tokaij and eiswein will be up there.

wow, thank you. I'll send you a dm over the weekend. thank you.

If they are boozehounds then an amazing Tokaij or Sauternes could be a great should bit more unusual but you could find something pretty fantastic at that point.

I'm sure @Jimmy_Fingers will be able to advise better than me but if someone buys me a nice bottle of wine, I'll research it straight away and often prefer it to be something I wouldn't ordinarily buy or order. I guess I'm saying a surprise of a real banger like those mentioned above would be my shout.

Also can you be my friend :P

So I came on this thread to see if anyone could recommend a really good Amarone for medium budget (don't expect it to be cheap but ideally below £50 a bottle) and saw @Jimmy_Fingers comment above seems well timed!

All and any recommendations welcome, though- someone must have had a good one recently?

I ordered a couple of bottles of Amarone from the wine society a few months ago - drank one and cellared the other. It was the Allegrini valpollicella classico 2016. Think it maybe needs a little more age but was £26 and still drank well. @andyfallsoff looking at my list I’ve also tried a Dindo 2012 Classico which scores well but I don’t remember it!

I still think DHL is better than MyHermes, at least they deliver the broken bottles!

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Fuck. Bet they were my ones too!

The half bottles come in cases of 12 so they'll be at least 4 good ones for you!

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We have taken the "lockdown" opportunity to get our website updated and also create an online shop.

The call / email ordering process was too tedious for most people so now, customers can order directly and pay online at any time of the day or night.

We can ship direct from France to pretty much any location (please note that additional local taxes may be applicable - the UK has additional excise duties of £3.43 per 75cl bottle for example).

For those interested, here is the link:

http://www.lasseaux.com

Thanks Vince, does this work out about the same as ordering from you?