Disgusting!

This is simply disgusting.  Whilst catching up my reading of a few wine related articles at breakfast, I saw this photograph on wineindustryadvisor.com and let me tell you, it nearly put me off my bran flakes.  Disgusting, I tell ya!
Identified as an Araneus, this two inch long aracnid was found bottoms up, so to speak, by a man in Bristol, England, in a bottle of Tesco Finest white wine he had taken to his mother-in-law's birthday party.  Surprise!
Photo credit:  Adam Gray

Earth to Vinogirl.

My posts have been a bit sparse, I know - thank you BT.

I can't remember the last time I was without internet access for a solid 3 days, probably never.  I have become so used to being able to get online at the drop of a hat that being without the abilitity to instantly look up an unspecified, useful only to me, morsel of minutiae was quite disconcerting.  More disturbing was the little issue of it being a bank holiday weekend here in Blighty and BT informing Thud that internet service could possibly be down until Wednesday. Yikes!  Thank goodness the worst possible case scenario did not materialise.

The other day, Thud whipped up a fairly quick Bolognese-meatball-fettucine dish which we paired with a bottle of 2010 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo La Francese - part of the Tesco Finest line. Made from the Montepulciano grape this young wine was surprisingly very tannic and did not open up one iota during the course of our meal.  There was certainly a hint of bitter black cherries and vanilla-spiciness, but these flavours were suggestions only and did not develop into anything.  The left over wine became wine-ice cubes...lots of them.

The other cider the Atlantic.

I have mentioned before that Calvados is one of Vinomaker's all time favourite tipples (Thud's also), so I am constantly on the lookout for different ones that he might enjoy.  I bought this bottle on my trip home to Liverpool last spring and Vinomaker just finished it (I don't know when he opened it).  Seeing as my plane tickets are now booked for my next visit home I thought I'd start making a list of things that I want to buy when I'm on my hols.

Purchased from Tesco, this VSOP apple brandy comes from the appellation Pays d'Auge which is considered the finest amongst Calvados producing areas.  Double distilled from fine Normandy cider, this particular offering had a rich, appley-bouquet and some well integrated vanilla on the palate, probably from the oak casks it was aged in.  Or so Vinomaker tells me, I never touch the stuff.  I think I may have bought myself a packet of Winegums in Tesco that day.  Yum!

Pregnancy prohibited?

If I didn't already know that I enjoy a glass of Soave every now and again, it certainly could be helpful, to aid in my choice of purchasing this wine, to know that this bottle's content was dry and crisp.  That it has 12% alcohol by volume - again, somewhat helpful.  Vegetarian - important to some people, not me (I'm assuming the producer uses bentonite only when fining).  UK units - at this point I'd have to pull out my calculator to figure out the recommended daily allowance for myself (only if I was drinking this in the UK, that is).   I have to say, there is quite a bit of potentially useful information crammed onto the back label of this Soave Classico offering from Tesco.   However, the universal prohibition sign, which I am assuming warns of the dangers of consuming alcohol whilst pregnant, merely looks like getting pregnant is disallowed.   Consumer nannyism at its best.

The bottle is glass - good to know.

A pleasant tipple.

Enjoyed this bottle of rosé last night, purchased from the supermarket chain Tesco. Deeply pink and very fruity it was delightful. Thud and I enjoyed a bottle of the red version of this wine, from the same producer, about a week ago. I have to say I think I could become very fond of any wine, red or rosé, made from this Sicilian grape variety. I shall have to explore further.

One of these things is not like the other...

The sales and marketing team and the quality control crew at Ravenswood would probably be slightly perturbed on spotting this little labelling faux pas on the shelf at Tesco. Yes, I was there once again hoping that somehow their wine selection had miraculously improved over night!

Revenge for the Revolution?

As much as I love Tesco, and I do, their selection of USA wine leaves something to be desired. I almost get the feeling that there is some sort of prejudice against American wines, especially Napa as there are a couple of Sonoma wines featured. It's not as if Argentina, Australia, and Chile, who are all well represented, are closer to Blighty than the United States and it's a shipping and logistics issue. Also, they are obviously not members of the European Union.
It cuts both ways I suppose: I have had Americans tell me that the English only drink cheap wine. After being initially insulted I have to admit that a visitor, from any wine producing region of the world, would pity the poor Englishman's taste buds after witnessing the choice of Californian wines available to him.

Move over Auction Napa Valley.

To think I moved all the way to the Napa Valley to be in the wine industry. I could have just stayed at home and been a part of Tesco's Wine Festival every year. The 2009 Tesco bacchanalia of half price bingeing is under way. There is no celebrity host at this event, no Jay Leno, no Ryan Seacrest, so Auction Napa Valley does not have to worry about the competition.
The wines may be half price but I don't think I will be buying any of them: the selection is disappointing. I'll just try a couple of older things from Thud's cellar. Of course I have an aversion to most of the over priced cult wines in Napa too. I am so hard to please! I think I will just drink something I like, not something someone tells I should like because the price tag deems it so.