ctgm

Love it!! Do you get Clive Coates' The Vine in the US? I have always found that the tasting notes/scores are much more sensible.

Wasn't there a 151 litre sherry bottle (or is sherry different from wine?) or am I wrong?

I bought one once.........

Can't see why it shouldn't be popular - can you imagine the UK government outcry if this or some alcopop ended up on tap Ed, do you know the actual strenght of the rum/coke mix. Does it work out at about 5% like normal beer?

The last thing you should be is sorry. The kind of barrels is important but in the rum business many of the barrels are used, whiskey- all types and it makes a difference, sherry casks, and a few distillers even go to the expense of using new oak barrels. In the whisky business, almost everyone uses new barrels but that's not so in the rum business. For me (as I suppose that it comes down to personal taste and how many rums you have drunk) I find that the Cruzan Single Barrel is the most oaked rum that I have come across. I find that the American oak gives too much of an oak flavour and that the true characteristics of the rum are slightly masked. That and the fact that it is only 37.5% alc/vol detract from what is otherwise a very easy drinking rum (or possibly that is why it is so easy!)

From a merchant's point of view, I find that these branded wines are both good and bad. They are very good as they tend to be drunk by people who are not really into the ins and outs of wine but just want a bottle. However this at least means they are drinking wine and can be persuaded to try something different/better. The bad bit is that a lot of people seem to be too unsure about their wine knowledge to move away from the big wineries. They tend to flit between the well marketed wines and convince themselves that because it is a big name it has to be good. In the scheme of things everything is pretty small compared to E&J Gallo. I can't remember the figures but they are truly impresive. What is it 1 in 3 bottles drunk in the USA is a Gallo?

It is all well and good putting the 2002 Pavillon Rouge in screw cap bottles, but those customers who bought it en primeur might not be quite so happy! I think that there could have been some prior warning. Pontallier may well be taking a bold step but I do not think that he has taken his customers' views into account - but hey the wine has already been sold!! It will be interesting to see how it does age.

I don't think that this ruling will be applicable to many of the Cru Classe chateaux as hopefully they do not make more than 50hl/ha. It is more the generic wines. The CIVB will be more than happy for those few classified growths making the reputation for Bordeaux, but will be concerned that generic Bordeaux is dragging it back down. I am not sure of the figures but the cru classe make up a tiny proportion of Bordeaux production. I don't know the figures overall but I found on the www the figures for the Medoc Cru Classe - 60 properties - 20% production (which in my mind is a very big percentage) Bourgeois - 341 properties - 53% other cru - 343 props - 16% co-ops - 10 props - 11% Without the cru classes what is Bordeaux? For me if I have to buy a $5 bottle I would never look to Bordeaux but go south to Spain

I have a bottle of rum at 50% alc vol, which I find too strong for me so, like a whisky, I add a dash of water. If you find 40% bottlings too strong, why not add water? Some people prefer to add ice and let it melt to achieve the same affect.

........and higher prices!

Can't really get my head around red wines that have been in cask for 5 years! By the by, I had a white from Priorat for the first time the other day and found that it was superb, but expensive.

A little surprising this one. The nose was dominated by mature Cabernet fruit. If truth be told it seemed older than a 1995. That aside, it was very attractive and promised great things. Full deep colour, led me to think that this was going to be a blockbuster. However the fruit on the body was a little bitter, flat, unexciting and quite short. Not a RP91 point wine at all in my humble opinion. For a wine that promised so much it delivered very little and the person who I was drinking it with (who is, again in my humble opinion, a very good winemaker) thought that it was little better than a cru bourgeois. Perhaps we had a bad bottle or maybe the wine is going through a dormant stage as the vibrancy, balance and elegance was not there.

I am not sure about rum, but in whisky it is the fat which makes the spirit go cloudy.

I am not sure about the yields. Undoubtedly some have been affected by the adverse weather but I was speaking to one producer of a classed growth Margaux and they said that they had in fact made more than last year. Trying toget a straight answer from individual chateau would be impossible as this is one of their reasons for upping the price. I am not sure that the negociants do have a lot of 2001 and 2002. I spoke to one of mine and they did what I did last year in as much as they placed orders when they took them. Their allocations have also been affected by not buying last year. As to buying previous vintages I could not agree more. The Montrose 2003 is going for silly money now. What is it - $1800 a case? I recently had the Montrose 1982 which goes for about $1500 and thought that it was both far from mature and a really superb wine.

Well today he is selling at €360 a bottle Any guesses what it will be tomorrow?

I am laughing even more now. I have been offered Ausone by one of my negociants for 40% more than the release price (1 day after it was released). Negociants are in a priveledged position of being able to buy directly from the chateaux and I feel that this blatant profiteering is slightly unethical. Along with the Ausone, there were many other wines that I had asked for (to be told that they were unavailable) that have magically appeared at hugely inflated prices (which I am sure is not to do with a 2nd tranche being released). Sour grapes? Definitely, but think that along with RP this is not doing the consumer any favours. By the way, the Ausone was being offered at €325 a bottle

I had a good laugh this morning when Ausone 2003 was released I won't tell you the release price (i am sure that most can work backwards) but I would imagine that it will be selling for about £2100-£2200 a case (which is about $3800-4000) Edit: I have seen on a trade exchange that someone is offering it at £2,900 a case (although someone has not met this and bid £2,600)

Not in this country!! Duty and VAT on duty comes to £17.28 per case of 12 or £1.44 a bottle which at current exchange rates of about £1:$1.8 is $2.59 a bottle going to the governmnet. This of course does not take into account the 17.5% VAT on the value of the wine

For some reason, I don't really regard Boddingtons as a macro brew. Its still one of my favorites, though. I believe that Boddington's make over 750,000 barrels a year so I think that it might be a small macro. God knows how much Budweiser (the nasty one) is made.

It will make no difference. Producers will release in trenches (thereby adjusting prices upward as they go) and retailers will mark it up accordingly. Jim, I agree that they will continue to release in tranches. I think that they are doing this more so this year than in past years and the "secondary" market is already in full swing. For example I have already been offered by a Bordeuax negociant, some 2003 Cos at €99 a bottle. Needless to say I will not be taking up the offer. I agree that RP is here to stay and that there is a lot of good wine out there that is not scored but surely the influence over the Bordelais is not good. Sure if any wine gets a huge score the price will go up and up as people try and hunt it down (supply & demand) but certain Bordeaux wines must be at least 20% more expensive due to the points they get which isn't helping anyone apart from the producer. EDIT: P.S. what has happened to the opinion of the wine merchant you buy through. This seems not to count anymore with Bordeaux.

With the recent release of Cos d'Estournel 2003 at €90 a bottle, I am finding that RPs scoring is having a very bad effect on the prices that the consumer has to pay. Cos was one of the wines that RP raved about and as a result it is 40% more expensive than the 2000 vintage. I realise that RP does not set the prices but as soon as the chateaux owners see what he has written they know how much more they can charge. Surely it would be in the consumers best interest if RP released his notes after all the prices had been released.

I agree that some MWs take themselves rather too seriously. There is a feeling amongst older MWs that things are becoming a little debased as many new MWs now go and work for supermarkets who treat their suppliers a little off handishly and tell them to make a wine to the supermarkets formula rather than take what is on offer. I know that the growers can take it or leave it but.... I agree that Jasper Morris is a passionate and a nice bloke to boot. My "favourite" MW is Patrick Grubb (a madeira specialist). Very passionate, unopinionated and charming.

My dad just flew back from Anchorage and brought me a some Lewis Cellars Cabernet. Is this any good - something I have not come across before in the UK. I think that he said that it cost $56 so am hoping that it should be quite a nice drop. Any info appreciated

Cricket is a great game that takes all day: If you watch it, you can drink all day. If you play it, you can drink all day.

I've got a few bottles of Moulin Touchais 86 and I can't remember when last opening a bottle that it was that exciting. Maybe I should re-try.