StephenT

Saying that Cognac is made kind of like wine is like saying that whisk(e)y is made kind of like beer

"Snakebite" is usually lager and cider in roughly equal quantities. Add some blackcurrant and you get "snakebite and black". Just cider and blackcurrant is probably called "cider and black".

Oh yes... and beware of tartrates... don't decide to quickly swig the last mouthful from the bottle while nobody is looking. If it contains tartrates you'll get a mouthful of nasty little crystals akin to salt which you'll have to disguise to pretend that you weren't being such a total philistine by drinking from the bottle.

Some people say that sediment is a sign of a good wine. Not because the sediment itself causes a good wine, but because only good wines cause sediment. Due to generally decent wines being the ones that are not filtered, etc.

This site contains quite a bit of explanation about the whole process of making malt whisky.

Whisk(e)y of almost any sort other than single malt (both because it's usually a waste and because I don't like my coffee to taste peaty).

Hehe... suspected this might be something to do with branding and marketing rather than with proper wine making That said, perhaps if I got hold of a bottle I'd be able to serve my wife some champagne that she actually liked!

They don't add anything (or at least they shouldn't be doing so!) Malt Whisky (such as Aberlour) is made from malted barley and water. Aberlour is from the Speyside region and these are particularly known for having some sweetness to them. Variation in taste is affected by many factors and can change markedly from region to region... the fun bit is investigating

Mark, I think you're being too harsh on britcook - I don't think his post was intended as a diatribe, he was just covering what people understand by terroir in order to start a discussion. Terroir is certainly what causes flavour, but would suggest that translating it directly as flavour is unwise. Do we have to have an English equivalent? I don't think that we necessarily do, but something like "growing environment" encompasses everything it should although it's rather boring.

Try Mela on Shaftesbury Avenue. If you do a search for it on this forum I'm sure you'll find some reviews and comments on it.

The restaurant previously known as Weststreet (on West Street, WC2) has closed and is soon due to re-open as "East @ West", probably resulting in exactly the sort of fusion madness that this terribly clever name implies. An Australian chef is going to be in charge, I can't remember her name - I read this while walking past the place one morning on the way to work and not much of it stuck in my head. Thought someone might be interested.

I also find that drinking a spirit-rich cocktail (e.g. a martini) can be rather overpowering on the nose if you try to drink it out of a wine glass which is designed to concentrate the bouquet (yes I tried it once in a desperate moment). Also you don't want to have to tip the glass over as far as you'd have to other glasses. The wide conical glass allows you to take small sips from the rim of the glass without having to lean it over too far and without getting your nose blasted with alcohol fumes.

Naah it's called Whisky

Yep

Fairview does turn out a large range of wines and some of it is quite good. Maybe the Goats thing is a clever way of selling off the "spare" wine that didn't into any of the decent varietals or blends. Or maybe they've just planted a lot of new vines of Rhone varieties and are using it as a vehicle for selling wine from those vines while they're still young.