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Brad, as I read this thread, this was at the back of my mind. However are you sure that there were "some" bad barrels rather than the entire cellar walls that were affected. I believe that they were rebuilt but can't remember. Apparently a first growth chateau just down the road had the same problem but kept it very quiet and rebuilt the entire cellar.

Worst rum in the world - Bundaberg Over Proof.

JohnL, Thanks for the reply. Thinking about it I suppose US wines tend to be more expensive here due to the fact that they are shipped in smaller quantities. Sure you get "well" priced Mondavi, Fetzer, Gallo etc etc that are shipped in large quantities but the niche wines are expensive. For example Ridge zinfandels, my favourite US wine, retail for about GB£20. That includes 17.5% sales tax and GB£1.48 duty (including sales tax). The last time I bought from the UK agent was the 1999 Geyserville back in 2001 and it cost me (trade price) GB£145 excluding all taxes per case 12/75. Anyway back to the big man. I too have noticed recently that Spain is featuring heavily, and because I stock some relatively unknown ones, his scores can be helpful with my customers. I offer a returns policy on any wine that people do not like as a reassurance to the advice that i give. However I think that if RP notes accompany the wine (yes, as a merchant I do use his notes as a selling aid) then my customers are happier! As to favouring US wines. I was thinking that RP writes as he tastes. He is American and I presume that a lot of his formative drinking wines were American and therefore he likes then a lot and therefore scores them well (no bias involved).

Don't know about the Pommard but the Meursault is very good and definitely worth a punt.

remember having 2 barrels of Port Morant 23yo. One was a lot better than the other. The bad one had picked up too much wood. My boss refused my advice of bottling separately and blended the 2 together, ruining the good one butmaking the less good one better.

One thing I always think about when reading Parker's mag is "how good are the American wines"? American wine is not vastly widespread in this country (UK) because they tend to be more expensive than other wine producing countries (and nothing to do with their taste), so your thoughts would be appreciated. Reading the WA there are hundreds of US wines that score 90+ and plenty score 95+. It always seems to me that American wines get higher scores than other wines of the world. Is this because they are "better" or is their a certain patriotism or marketig purpose (on the WA's behalf) for this? Or is it my imagination?

Last time I went there I had the duck cooked in its own fat, which I soaked up with the bread provided. i wouldn't recommend this as I was very ill the next day.

RonC - you shouldn't alway listen to French sommeliers. While there are undoubtedly plenty of good ones, I find that there are plentywho have a rather inflated opinion of their knowledge which i think comes down to them thinking that because France makes (some of) the best wine in the world, it is natural that the French should be more in touch with wnie than the rest of the world. No offence meant to be given to your friend. From personal experience, I am with Andre on this one. I don't put my reds in the fridge but when I haven't finished a bottle of white I will just put it in the fridge and it seems to be good for a day or two afterwards. With reds, I leave them in a relatively warm place (or rather my wife puts them by the cooker!) and I find that if I do not use the Vacuvin then they are more oxidised than if I did use it. I do find wines from the Rhone seem to be able to last better than others. I have a declassified Gigondas that gets better after 2 days and when I had a dinner party I actually opened it the night before. I presume that the more heavy bodied the wine the longer it will remain unoxidised or is this rubbish? I rarely find Pinot very nice to drink the day after.

To be fair, I don't think (or at least hope not) that peple on this board laugh at other people to make them fell intimidated. i think that it is aimed at those people who are supremely confident with a little knowledge, when rather than being a little more reserved, they sprout forth rubbish. I don't think that the twit who doesn't ask the question should be "laughed" at either, as these people need encouragement to emerge from their shell. As someone who works in the wine/spirit trade, I am much more interested talking to someone who has little or no knowledge but is wanting to learn than the person who thinks that they know it all (and usually doesn't).

I have no affiliation with either and happy to drink good wine from any country in the world, but I do think that the tasting was farily meaningless, especialy with the reds. 1973 was a very good vintage for red and white in california. 1973 white burgundy is OK but nothing special and for red bordeaux it was dreadful.

Some from some of my customers: "It comes from the Bodegas region of Spain" "Can we have a claret next time as we don't like Bordeaux" "The white burgundy purchased has been, i regret a bit of disappointment for me. It's [a] a chardonnay not as good as the Pouilly Fume I buy" When in a restaurant, a waitress came up and said "We only have 2 Chateubriand left so you may wish to reserve them". Another waitress comes along a few minutes later and asks us how many bottles Chateuabriand we want. A customer asking about a wine he has, when asked what it was replied - 1986 Ch. Talbot Cordier Coté à Ouvrier.

Agree 100%

Think that this is probably a beetle or other small termite of some kind. Remember this happening in the cellar i used to work in when one of these things bored straight through a barrel half way up. I went along topping up all the ullage (a weekly job) and after putting in a couple of litres when it should only have been a few cl i realised there was a problem. As the bottle was racked, I can't see the cork drying out being a problem.

I thought that one of the attractions of joining the Royal Navy was its rum ration of 1/2 pint a day. http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:FA8-H...um+ration&hl=en

I am always a little sceptical of these super-prmium products be it rum, vodka, gin etc etc. This is compounded when they put it in a fancy bottle. Me, I would rather spend the money on the contents and not the bottle.

I have seen RPs notes on the Mouton 1990. I have only tasted this once and that was in 1991 out of the barrel where I recall that it was drinking pretty damn well then with absolutely no hint of hardness. Not sure it was ever hard.

Not really, Keith, but only because the yeast strains introduced to the milk are what give cheeses unique flavors. So the analogy doesn't work. Specific grapes are used to make specific wine. ← As are the yeasts used to make the wines. ← In my mind yeasts are one of the most important factors. About 10 years ago there was a propensity to use the R2 strain, and this to me, gave a uniformity of tastes to a lot of wines - which was a shame. The best yeast is that found naturally occuring in the vineyards but this does require more work than packeted R2. I used to work with a wine maker who was doing a lot of expirements alongside bakers, to try and get a yeast that would best.

I agree about the % being marketed the way it is. Looks like the cellar workers/master have been helping themselves and topping the barrel up with water.

I think that they have (at least) two vodkas Ruski Standart and Ruski Platinum.

Has anyone had this and does anyone know anything about Ruski Vodka? I cn't find any information and I can't even find who makes it!!

Cotat and Bourgeois are as you say not "undiscovered" and are well represented. Think that Lemain-P used to be a baker and took over from his father. It was a friends choice to see (I share shipping with his company to lessen overheads and stock holdings). but the Alphonse Mellot, Jean-Paul Picard and Roger Moreux may be worth a look! Many thanks.

Hear that Ernie Els is quite decent. Having said that you should be able to get it for neare $70 than $80. And what about Cliff Richard's wine?

Unfortunately this is well represented in the UK by Fields who are owned by berry Bros! Think now that we might have filled our appointments Gitton Bardin Crochet, Daniel and Lucien Delaporte Lemain-Pouillot Tissier Will confess to not knowing a lot about the last 2 so if anyone has thoughts.....

I am off to Sancerre next week, and have quite a full appointment list but I think that I could slip a couple of people in. Just wondering whether there were any properties that are "undiscovered" that really should be visited. Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Danimal, Thanks for that. It is slightly unfortunate for those in the US that label approval is so expensive that a lot of top bottlings never make it their! The authorities don't really seem to know what they are doing over this one. Ours in the UK bring other petty rules out but it doesn't disuade importers. At the present I have no intention at all of exporting to USA. Leave that sort of game to the big boys.