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Many thanks.

I have been asked to get someone some Chaume or Coteaux du Layon (or other such Loire sweetie) but my knowledge on these is sorely lacking. Can anyone give some advice on producers and vintages (probably looking for wines to be drunk in 5-10 years). Presumably the life of these is measured in decades? All help appreciated.

Sometimes this can be the use of dry ice (and possibly nitrogen??). The dry ice is used to both chase out any oxygen around as well as giving the fruit a little lift. This can often be seen in wines that have just been bottled.

Of all the rums that I have had recently I thought that the Cruzan Single Barrel might fit the bill (although I know lots of you will think that this is sacrilidge). One of the main reasons was that it was only 37.5% ABV and very oaky (probably too much so). Save from that have you thought about the spiced rums. Not something I generally go for but.....

I don't know why I did it but I saw a bottle in my local supermarkert of Havana Club Anejo Reserva at not too much, so I bought it. Wow - what a mistake. Awful stuff and can't wait until the weekend when I can use it in a rum punch. Am I missing something here as I thought that it should be quite nice. If I had to use one word to sum it up I think it would be "industrial".

Mostly neat (no ice) irrespective of quality I have a rum at 50% so I add a dash of water to that one as it is a little harsh. I alos have some cask samples that take a little more water as I recall that they are 68%-73%. Occaisionally make a rum punch

Same here. I knew there was a reason I liked your vibe. I've yet to have a wine from 1961 (with Bordeaux being the way to go of course). And the wines are priced so far out of reach. I need to find some extremely generous friends, and then get them to bestow an act of kindness upon me. An impressive list of wines but to me most of them are far too old - I have gone from liking old wines to those which still have some of their fruit left. As for the 1961s I have been lucky enough to have had a few recently and they (to my mind at least) were over the top and the 1959s are better.

No that is the www and e-mail that I sent it to. Will send again.

Does anyone know anything about this as I have a customer looking for some. I sent an e-mail to the Venezualens (sp?) but no reply yet. Does anyone know of a European importer?

If you think that you might be allergic to Zin have you tried any Primitivos and do you get the same reaction

He denounces ‘English’ wine critics as reactionary, suggesting some ‘would have us go back … to a time when they feel Bordeaux wines were made the way they should be Can someone explain what Parker means by the above? As an aside, being an English merchant, I tend to side with JR on this one, but then again I always have had a suspicion that what RP tastes is different to what I taste!

I see that the Wine Spectator has brought out its review. Whilst I admit that I have not tasted as many wines as they did, I am surprised by the comments and scores on a lot of them. As mentioned earlier this might be due to the difference in styles liked by the US and UK. I would love to hear opinions from anyone else who has tasted the 2003 and also read WS.

Overall picture: St. Emilion/Pomerol - over ripe jammy wines which lack structure balance and some are plain filthy. For one of them my tasting note was "tastes like a cheap LBV port". The fact that Le Pin and Petrus have not made wines (or so I have been told) says a lot. The dry white wines are OK but they are boring. The real problem is the acidity of them. You get some on the front pallet but this and the fruit dies off too quickly at the finish. I suppose that it is one of the problems of adding acid. The sweet wines were BIG. I suppose that it comes down to the particular style you like. Going on the cost of things one of my favourites was Nairac (with 220g/l of sugar). The Medoc is the place to stick to. Unfortunately there are not a huge number of St. Estephes in the UGC as this is where there are supposed to be the best wines. Personally I thought that the best producers came from St. Julien and Margaux but there is quite a lot of variation. I am still confused about the size of the crop. The word is that it is smaller than usual and therefore this is supposed to justify a price rise, but I spoke to some red producers in Pauillac and they said that they were getting 55hl/ha! I know that some were affected but trying to get a straight answer....... As for Gordon's enquiries: Brane Cantenac - quite well structured. sweet red fruit on the nose, with good acidity and firm tannins. medium length with hints of spice. Overall i though that it was OK but could have been better. Dufort Vivens - lighter in colour than the other wines. sweet, overextracted nose, with green tannins showing. Slightly better on the palate but still the hints of green. A dull wine that was on my list to avoid. Prieure Lichine - oak, oak, oak but quite nice otherwise. Almost like orange peel in the mouth with firm (but possibly a little dry??) tannins and a good length. Quite attractive. Unfortunately no real time to look at the 2nds and Cru Bs that weren't there. Of the 3 that really stood out I thought that the Sociando Mallet, Maucaillou and Poujeaux were very good. Behind these I also thought that Greysac and Tour de By were good. The most disappointing wines for me (ignoring the right bank) were Batailley - always easy to sell but green and unbalanced. Langoa Barton - Over extracted. Plummy. Lynch Bages - Boring; no balance or finesse Pichon Comtesse - Over the top Mouton R - see Lynch Bages. I suppose that it boils down to taste. The US may well like the riper, plummy, jammy flavours but they were not to my liking. There were some nice surprises - for example Beychevelle made a really good wine as did Talbot. But I always wonder how much relevance the sample you taste has to the final blend. Am having another tasting at the end of the month where I hope there will be some more Cru Bs - will report back.

Ahhhh! Caught out on the first one As it is not a member of the Union des Grands Crus and as time was pressing we did not have time to visit Calon Segur. (unless you are referring to Ch. Calon in Montagne St Emilion) However I had some friends out at the same time who were very complementary of the St. Estephe wines (and in particular Montrose). Sorry!

Just back from Bordeaux tasting the 2003 primeurs. Whilst I am not a verbosely poetic jurnalist I would be more than happy to give my thoughts on any wines that you might be interested in.

I'm with you Jim. I also think that if you are going to score out of 100 then the most that any wine should ever get is 99. The only thing that you can ever get 100 out of 100 is math.

I pulled the cork on the Ridge Lyton Springs 1993. I must say that i was disappointed as, to me, it was over the hills or perhaps I like them when they are young, full bodied and vivascious. Unfortunately it was none of these and was coupled with too much flavours that reminded me of volatile acidity. wasn't nasty but not what I expected. Have some left over so will see what it is like this evening.

I've had a truly turd-like day so far so might pop it this evening (if I can gather enough energy to pull the cork) and will let you know the results if the cork is successfully extracted. If today is anything to go by it will probably be corked! Don't you just hate keeping that bottle for years wondering when to drink it only to find out that it's gone.

I seem to have drunk a case of Ridge Geyserville 1993 and left behind 1 bottle. Should this be drunk now or can it last a bit longer?

I believe that you are right. But what about Muscat, which I think is in Iraq?

I would add a caveat to going overboard on the 2003s. A lot of wines will be lacking in acidity and not stand the test of time. I also believe that there will be a lot of harsh tannins in many wines. I will confess to not having had too many 2003s but of the ones that I have had I have not been overly impressed.

Draft Guinness is exactly the same in the keg in Ireland and the U.S.; it's the way it's cared for and how fast it's consumed. Kegs of Guinness in Dublin, for instance, rarely last more than three days after leaving the brewery, so the stuff's just fresh as bejayzus...but as it leaves the brewery, the same beer goes on trucks for local delivery and ships bound for Boston. I heard a story (so not sure if it is true ) from the person who built a Guiness "factory" in Nigeria. They were having all sorts of problems getting the blend to taste like the Irish version and could only resolve it by shipping a tanker or two of Irish Guiness over and dumping that in the tanks. Sounds a bit far fetched but........

Brad, #1 In the UK, the Duty on wine is £1.19 per bottle +17.5% VAT = £1.40 a bottle. This is before VAT on the wine. #7 not if you are flying from the UK. They confiscate everything, nailclippers included. #11 - agree that this is non-sensical. #19 - generally VV means nothing. OK in certain vineyards they will put VV on 35, 50yo etc vines, but it is not a regulated term and therefore can be applied to any wine whether the vines are 3yo or 300yo. The only other one really is #16 wine is always overpriced in restaurants NOT just Michelin starred ones.

is the right bank predominantly Merlot and the left bank predominantly Cab Sauv?

One of my favourite "cheapies" that I sell quite a lot of in the UK is CASA DE LA ERMITA (OAKED) which is from Jumilla (Spain). The 2000 vintage was fantastic and got 90 from Parker. On his website he says that the cost is $12 but I think that the 2001 will have increased in price due to exchange rates. Parker says that the importer is Jorge Ordonez, Fine Estates from Spain, Dedham (MA) tel (781)461-5767. Well worth a look at in my opinion (but one man's meat is another man's poison).