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Don't know what prices you guys have to pay in tax but the cost price (or rather the one a very close supplier gets) of Veuve is about €17. I am sure that there are different prices for different companies. Then mark-up, shipping and tax makes up the rest.

once came across a white made by a relative that I took to Bordeaux with me to show them what the Brits could do. Remember that the owner of Domaine de Chevalier was lucky to taste this 1987 (in about 1993) and he refused to believe that it came from England as he thought that it was far too good. Can't remember the cepages involved but I know that the vines have been grubbed up which is a shame. I had one of the bottles last year and at the ripe old age of 15 it was still surprisingly good. The most highly decorated wine is Nyetimber and as Britcook says wins many awards. I seem to remember that it one best sparkling wine in the world or some such other Decanter run tasting. (Funny thing is that it is run by an American).

No wine should ever get 100 out of 100. Giving an anology, you can get 100 out of 100 in science but not in art. As wine is art how can it be perfect?

I'll go with Ed on this and say that the 15yo is definitely worth a try.

Craig, I know where you are coming from on this. A few years back we were caught up in all this with Luce 1995. We had started of buying it at £180 a case but a few hundred cases later (and about 4 months) we were paying over £340. And about 6 months further down the line we bought a few bottle at £600 a case! By this stage everything had got way out of hand and all interest in Luce was re-directed.

I think that the reason is that wines are now being made for more immediate consumption. If a wine was made in the "old style" many would need 10 years before they were ready for drinking. This is not a problem for some of the "big" boys (and in particualr Bordeaux/Burgundy) but the cheaper to mid range of wines are made to drink young.

Jim, I am always fascinated by your dinner with friends and the wide variety of wines that you try. I do have one question about the Chablis: what is the aroma of rain water?

Totally agree and this is a very very common practice in France (even out in restaurants) where parents use water (instead of sprite/ginger ale) As an aside, I very often put water in my wine. It was a habit I picked up when I worked in France. When you get your free pichet of wine with your 50 franc menu, it is sometimes so nasty that the only way that it becomes palatable is by adding water. If it was good enough for the locals it was good enough for me. Still do it (more subtley though) when I get served a filthy glass of wine!

coming from the UK, I really can't agree with this and wine consumption in the 18-24 category is very healthy. Sure not many people go to a pub and ask for a glass of wine but restaurants and home consumption is very healthy. Working in the UK wine trade I can assure you that we are not in a quandry. I would admit that our customers are generally not in the 18-24 range but then our wines are a little high end for them. Perhaps the article when mentioning the wine trade is talking about the big players (Orlando, Penfolds, Gallo, etc etc) who try and target particular age groups and are not seeing sales as expected. Perhaps this could be down to the quality of their product! have to agree with malcomjolley in saying that it is a silly article. whenever statistics are quoted in articles like this, I always wonder how they got them and personally think that they are a 100% complete waste of time. what do they do? Stand in a high street (I think that is a Mall in US speak) and stop people for a questionaire? As to few people being born liking wine. That is true. However as far as I remember I was born not liking, beer, vodka, gin, alcopops, whisky etc etc. PS Who is Kathleen Burk anyway?

I am not sure if freezing the wine has as much effect as thought. Sure it is not good for the wine as it will "damage" its structure - wine is a living thing. I should qunatify that as being as long as it is very lightly frozen rather than becoming a complete ice cube. The reason being is that most wines have already been reduced to near freezing point to stabalise the tartrates.

Kristian, Please can you let us know hoy you and the Mrs get on with finding some rums. I am about to book some flights to Barbados (for March next year) and would like to find some decent rums when I am out there. C

If you manage to get to Oban there is a bar there which has about 400 whiskies (if memory serves me right) The owner always said that he used to have a bottle of malt containing cheap blended whisky for those who ordered it to be mixed (I think even with water).

thinking about it my post was a load of bollocks really! I enjoy mixing my rum as well usually in a rum punch or mojito. Chris Cognac - when you think you are a pirate are you sure it is the rum making you think that?

Some of my favourites are: Glenlivet 18yo, Longmorn 15yo, laphroaig 15yo, Macallan 18yo, Bruichladdich 15/17yo, Bowmore 15yo, Balvenie 15yo, Glenfarclas 15yo, Lagavulin 16yo etc etc Should be able to pick all these up fairly easily with the exception of the Macallan 18yo and which is in serious short supply. Lagavulin 16yo can sometimes be in short supply as well.

Colo(u)r: Deep ruby, with no browining of the edges although they are noticably lighter. Nose: Cedar and pencil shavings with a good amount of fruit. Reminds me a little of a take away curry (not sure you get those State side). Slight VA on the nose but attractive none the less. Palate: Medium bodied with firm acidity, especially on the finish. The fruit is slightly masked by the acidity which is a shame. The cedar, pencil shavings is carried through from the nose and enhanced by a smoky, spiciness. Finish: good length but it is mainly the acidity that is carrying the fruit. Overall opinion is one of slight disappointment. The acidity is too high for me (although I am sure that many would like it). Would I buy it? Probably not but then I am never the biggest fan of Gran Reservas.

I have to agree with Ed on this. However it is said that once a spirit is bottled it will not change but as Ed said there will have been some oxidation. Also alcohol will evaporate at a different rate to the remaining liquid so I would imagine that there will be a slightly lower % and therefore a little softer. Not sure if this makes a big difference or not (ED - any thoughts?) Apparently there is only one spirit that will mature in the bottle - Chartreuse. In my limited experience (as a.I do not drink much and don't come across old stuff very often) they do become softer and more rounded with age. There is definitely a premium to pay for the older bottlings but do not know whether this is due to a better spirit being made in the old days or whether it is down to aging.

I'm not sure but think that one of the reasons it might not have been moentione here is that a lot of the posters like a good rum that is drunk by itself rather than mixed.

You'll be surprised. A few years back I had to buy 10 cases of Margaux 1963 for my then japanese bosses. I tried to tell them that it was one of the worst vintages around but they were adamant that they wanted it. Possibly it was for a party of someone born in 1963 (which would be very popular this year as I have sold quite a few 1973s). I suppose that they wanted a big name at a cheap price, although this was $65 a bottle before tax.

Mark, Did you put the 1949 Auxey-Duresses rouge thru the Wine Clip

All that I have heard is that some of the grapes were getting burnt on the vine. Presumably this would affect those cepages with thinner skins (but am happy if someone can put me right). If this is the case then I would imagine that there is not a huge amount of acid about. Time, I suppose, will tell. I might be going to Girardin in 3 weeks time - if so I will try and get a straight answer re: 2003. If I can't make either my colleague or a good friend also in the wine trade (who is a great pinotphile) will be going so will get a report.

Mark, agree with you there. I recently tasted some of his 2002s (although would have liked to taste a few more!!) Savigny Les Beaune Les Vermots Dessous Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravieres Saint Aubin 1er Cru en Remilly Meursault Les Narvaux Pul Mon Vieilles Vignes Chass Mon 1er Cru Morgeot Pul Mon 1er Cru Folatieres Corton Charlemagne Had the 2002 Rully sometime after this tasting and thought that it was really good. Must agree with you that the Corton C was absolutly fantastic. Not a great fan of his Meursaults (or rather I should say that I prefer other producers). Liked the Vieilles Vignes but preferred the Folatieres, as it had richer fruit with a better structure and balance. Having said that the Folatieres is about 30% more expensive! Apart from that they were all good apart from (TO MY TASTES) the Saint Aubin which whilst not bad was a little unexciting. I hear that there are still plenty of stocks of the 2001 vintage around, due to cancelled orders from the US as they decided to hang out for the 2002. Therefore if you want large quantities of the '02 it is more than likely that you will have to take some '01! Not sure if this it true but....

(a) does it matter if it works? If people are happy with what they have bought all well and good. The power of the mind to convince might lead to someone enjoying their wine more - which is a good thing. (b) just because science can't prove or disporve the Wine Clip's claims doesn't mean that they are untrue. © you are all a bunch of sceptics

Mayhaw Man, Judging by your grammer, have you had too much of the Irish?

Ed, out of interest, when this dark rum became light, was a sediment thrown in the bottle? It is slightly intriguing your case, as surely a dark rum is natural and no colur is needed to be added. Are you sure someone wasn't helping themselves to it and then adding water to top up the bottle !!!

If you want a good single malt, Macallan 10yo is quite a good place to start. If you like something a bit heavier then Ardbeg 10yo is a good peaty Islay. One of my favourites is Laphroaig 15yo, which whilst being a typical Islay is not too iodiney or peaty. Each single malt scotch is so different, I think that the suggestion of going for miniatures is an excellent piece of advice. Then at least you can get some sort of idea which region you prefer.