balex

Slight preference for Thursday.

Have fun! I am embarrassed to say I have never heard of Domaine Grivelet Let us know how it is: just a simple good, medium, bad please -- no fancy stuff.

I meant the term and concept "terroir", which is a European invention, not terroir which is a property of the real world not invented by anyone. I guess to me "terroir" means the idea that each type of wine can be made only in that particular region; as opposed to the idea that you can make a similar wine pretty much anywhere in the world with the right climate and soil type. The AOC/DOC systems of course enshrine the notion of location as being the prime determiner of wine quality. (A simplification because they often include limits on yield and aging etc.). Re-reading my first post, it comes off as a bit of a troll, but I am genuinely agnostic about the whole expression of terroir thing, particularly in its more mystic variant, where you bring in the culture and food and so on. Thanks for your essay which was very lucid. I guess the sort of thing I have doubts about is your statement: I can't disagree with this very strongly since I haven't drunk a wine not from Chablis that really tasted like Chablis But it seems reasonable that somewhere in South America there is a bit of land which could do quite well.

You are absolutely right that the difference in climate (Barbaresco ripens earlier) is important here, but there are other effects -- doesn't Barolo have to be spend longer in wood? And when Barbaresco is aged longer then it starts to resemble Barolo; there is even a verb "baroleggiare" applied to barbaresco which resembles barolo.

A more interesting debate is to what extent "terroir" is an invention of French and other European winemakers in an attempt to justify high prices for their wine when in fact you can make just as good wine in many other parts of the world (Argentina, Australia, Oregon and so on).

Precisely. The other two are where English people (errr me anyway) go for trad English food in antrad setting. Actually, I haven't been to Wilton's since its makeover -- perhaps they have messed it up.

Delete Rules and replace with either Wilton's or the Dorchester grill.

I'd be very interested in coming too. I've never been there, but heard many good things.

Ricotta and spinach gnocchi Mash it up with sugar and a bit of cinnamon and eat it with a spoon.

Excuse me while I drool. This is one of the best dishes ever. I got ya covered Sam. "Discordant but exhilarating" is Elizabeth David's description -- which is spot on. There are some other things you can do with finochietti - stuff a pork shoulder with it (S & P & garlic as well) and get a very nice porchetta.

The food in Tan Dinh is nice, but it really isn't Vietnamese in any meaningful sense. Lac Hong in the 16e (rue Lauriston) is pretty good, but the last time I was there it was sub-par and the old guy who used to run it was no longer in evidence. Worth checking out -- really delicate fresh flavours; impeccable cooking.

I think I had this in Palermo's vucciria market, but without the ricotta and caciocavallo. The vendor stood next to a large propane cylinder topped with a burner and what looked like an inverted hubcap (the Sicilian wok?). He slid a few very thin slices of some kind of meat (parlo un po, ma non siciliano) into a pool of hot fat, then scooped it onto a hard roll. A half lemon was squeezed over the meat, and I sucked it down. If my wife wasn't already wandering off toward a rack of leather goods, I would've eaten a few more. Jim Exactly -- this is generally called 'panino con milza' which is generally spleen and with a bit of lung sometimes. I have never heard the word 'vesteddi' used in this context (and Google only lists articles about that particular restaurant with that word. Traditionally this is served on a sesame seed bun (the Arab influence) and Sicilians claim this is the ORIGIN OF THE SESAME SEED BUN for fast food. You can get it all over Palermo, especially at a place called Antica foccaceria di San Francesco in front of the church of the same name. There they have it simmering in a big vat with an inch thick layer of saturated fat on the top, that they occasionally mix back into the juice. The two cheeses are quite correct as well. It's really good. There are some pictures on this page here

When I have some cold roast chicken, I often take of all the skin that is left and fry it until it is crispy, and then eat it all myself (S & P and hot sauce sometimes) while I take all of the meat off the bones for the rest of my family. I guess this means I am a bad person.

I just came back from Rome and there were NO white truffles displayed in the shops that normally have them. Additionally a couple of restaurants that were serving them were charging 75 euros for the tagliatelle with tartufi. (as opposed to about 45 which is the normal price). Given that they are probably of lower quality than normal, I decided against my normal plate or two and bought some better wine instead.

It means 'Five Oaks' -- I would guess it is the name of the vineyard.

Molettieri. Is that the Cinque Querce? What year? I like some Taurasi a lot.

Well, it will probably make the cork pop out What do you mean by "living thing": do you mean yeast or bacteria or...? Bill, I thought your point about long-term fluctuations was very interesting. Sounds plausible too. Do you think it is because of the temperature changes directly, or because it creates a very slow air flow through the cork?

There are a couple of general guidelines: extreme heat is worse than extreme cold -- as long as it doesn't actually freeze. Optimum is 10-15 C. (about 50 - 60F) fluctuations are worst of all -- particularly regular daily fluctuations, because the expansion and contraction of the air causes the cork to leak and fail. prolonged mild heat will just accelerate the aging of the wine. very low humidity will cause the cork to dry out; very high humidity is ok for the wine, but bad for the label. Note that these are rules for wine sealed with a natural cork. I guess some of these don't apply so much if it has a synthetic closure. So in your case it's probably ok. The (a) basic rule of aging is that at 20C it ages twice as fast as at 10 C, and at 30 C twice as fast again. But this misses the point, because at the higher temperatures, different reactions will take place.

Nobu opens at 6 (I think). You can sit at the bar and have a couple of dishes quite quickly.

Rather than just standing by your assertion, could you please justify it? In particular why is it different from perceptual testing of audio or optical products? And why is it different from testing pharmaceutical products on humans where there are many uncontrolled variables? Or do you feel that objective testing of these things is also impossible? I think perhaps there is a confusion between the subjective question: does it improve the taste ?, and the objective question: does it make a detectable change?

There is a FTA report regarding MHD and its effect on hard water and scale control. The report states that based on visual inspections, MHD does prevent corosion and erosion. The US Navy and other fed agencies employ its use. Much about MHD remains a mystery and I'd be hard pressed to believe that the government would conduct a test about magnetic wine I am aware of one report that was subsequently withdrawn. If there is another could you provide a pointer to it? The one that was withdrawn is discussed on the page Magnetic scams. This may be the one you are referring to.

One of the reasons I am sceptical is that there is a long history of 'quackery' in the use of magnets, see Water pseudoscience Now I think there is still a lot we don't understand, even about water, and when it has big complicated molecules like tannins moving around, and we know they do polymerize in a way that is still not clear, ... So I still have an open mind. It might be a real effect. It might not. The only way to find out is to do a proper test. The obvious person to do it is the wineclip and the fact that he isn't going to do it, and clearly doesn't care makes me much more sceptical.

I think this is a fair point. I don't think there is that much difference between the two cases. In both cases it is marketing 'puff'. At least the Riedel stuff does actually do something -- convey the liquid to your lips. And they look nice.

May I make a suggestion for a test protocol that I personally would find convincing. This is quite similar to slkinsey's suggestion. For each wine the contestant has three glasses -- one unclipped, one clipped and one which is randomly either clipped or unclipped depending on a flipped coin (traditionally labelled A B and X). You flip the coins and pour the wines and write down what they are. Then you LEAVE THE ROOM. No-one who knows the answer should be in the room when the testing is going on. The contestant has to write down whether he thinks the X glass is the same as A (unclipped) or B (clipped). No description is necessary , no tasting notes. Do this with 10 wines. Then you go back in and mark them. If the contestant gets 9 out of 10 right then there is only a 5% chance this happened by chance. (Or do it with 5 in which case he needs 5 out of 5).

I came her after the post started. Please be acurate when making reference to my interests. I would like to know what our "radical claim" is? from your web site: The Wine Clip is a unique, patent-pending innovation that miraculously makes wine softer, smoother and more desirable. Simply attach The Wine Clip on the neck of your wine bottle and pour. You'll instantly experience a smoother, less tanic taste and enhanced bouquet similar to that of wines which are aged for years in professional cellars. The action of the wine passing through the magnetic field breaks up the wine's natural tannins creating a smoother, more refined flavor that is unmistakable. It's as if the wine was aged for several years! New Wine Drinkers: Avoid the bitter taste found in untreated wines. Specifically the claim that the magnetic field 'breaks up tannins' seems radical to me (I am not a chemist). Some of the other claims seem a tad controversial as well.