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Wine you Don't Care to Drink


Elissa

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A friend came over yesterday who sensibly (I suppose) drinks Scotch before dinner, wine with food and (otherwise I'm guessing) beer. He knows I prefer Bubbles to Bud in the Afternoon and thoughtfully brought a bottle of champagne. He had a Scotch. I did my best to be gracious about White Star, but in fact I don't see much point to drinking the stuff.

This morning I used it to poach eggs, which worked okay. What do you do with bad wines?

Edited by lissome (log)

Drinking when we are not thirsty and making love at all seasons: That is all there is to distinguish us from the other Animals.

-Beaumarchais

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Drink 'em fast. They still contain alcohol, and therefore should be honored and respected. Then move on to the good stuff.

By the way -- I believe that common wisdom, as I've read it here, provides that one should not drink scotch or other hard spirits before eating because they numb the tongue.

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If the bottle isn't open yet, give it to someone else.

If it is open, pour the contents into a Zip-Loc bag, freeze, and use in cooking whenever.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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I believe that common wisdom, as I've read it here, provides that one should not drink scotch or other hard spirits before eating because they numb the tongue.

Have we done a thread on that? If not let's.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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I believe that common wisdom, as I've read it here, provides that one should not drink scotch or other hard spirits before eating because they numb the tongue.

Have we done a thread on that? If not let's.

A "What's the Best Thing to Do with a Numb Tongue?" thread?

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If the bottle isn't open yet, give it to someone else.

depends if they know anything about wine and whether they are likely to open it when you are there.

sometimes has to be kept for a larger gathering when many a bottle is open, thus giving you a chance to distance yourself from it.

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Keep it until you've already had a few and you know that if you open a good bottle then it'll be wasted. Of course, that requires the presence of mind not to get into the "I've got shome good shtuff *hic* we should have becaush *hic* you're my besht friendsh" mindset.

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Keep it until you've already had a few and you know that if you open a good bottle then it'll be wasted.  Of course, that requires the presence of mind not to get into the "I've got shome good shtuff *hic* we should have becaush *hic* you're my besht friendsh" mindset.

Happen to you too?

Firefly Restaurant

Washington, DC

Not the body of a man from earth, not the face of the one you love

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I have a wine geek friend who has a collection of "decoy" wines. Whenever he gets a random bottle as a gift, he stocks it away until he has one of his big house parties. The he'll put out several decoy bottles and a few good bottles. People who don't care what they're drinking gravitate towards the decoy bottles because they recognize them, and the people who do care know to look for the better stuff.

Tammy's Tastings

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eGullet Foodblogs #1 and #2
Dinner for 40

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Save all poor-quality wine and, when you've accumulated 50 or so bottles, blend them into a special cuvee.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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I regularly drink Gallo, Masson, etc., which may be considered "bad wines."

But I pay no mind, and very little money.

I can't think of a wine that was so bad I gave it away ( :blink: ) or poured it out ( :shock: ).

You all can donate your bad wines to the NeroW Scholarship Fund.

Noise is music. All else is food.

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Oh beans. for the exact same money or maybe a few dollars more you could have Aubry NV. You might float around your room like a butterfly, or fall in love with the next person that comes your way (even if it were a cat). In any event, I cannot anticipate such reaction from sugary old White Star. I am a dumper. I dump dump dump bad wine. However I do enjoy FG's suggestion about freezing zip locks of undesirable wine, but with the voracity of my 82 year old father's freezer cleaning ( and we all reside together) I cannot fathom such a method lasting in my house. Sometimes he throws away perfectly good meat, yet hangs onto the moldiest of tomatoes. I do not get any of it. I suppose I have cast the fear of God in my friends; most are terrified to buy wine for me and know I will bring it anyway, better & cheaper. My friends provide other nuances and pleasures such as poetry & feminist treatises. My dear friend saves bottles in his fridge for weeks on end then finally dumps in one big purge. Vodka is alcohol that is consistent and resistant to the trials of time. Wine is something else. I would never dump vodka. :wub:

over it

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Oh beans. for the exact same money or maybe a few dollars more you could have Aubry NV.

Doubt that is available within the draconian, stuffy liquor laws of Ohio for purchase. :angry: Understand now why I enjoy White Star as an economical choice in champagne? :raz:

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If its red, put it in a very cold fridge

If its white put it in the freezer and then drown it with cassis

You can try to improve your red with cassis as well or with any other fruit Snaps.

Andre Suidan

I was taught to finish what I order.

Life taught me to order what I enjoy.

The art of living taught me to take my time and enjoy.

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You can try to improve your red with cassis as well or with any other fruit Snaps.

I am not sure if there is any truth in it (but I am sure someone knows) that certain European wine producers used to rinse their casks with cassis to add a bit of flavo(u)r

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You can try to improve your red with cassis as well or with any other fruit Snaps.

I am not sure if there is any truth in it (but I am sure someone knows) that certain European wine producers used to rinse their casks with cassis to add a bit of flavo(u)r

Drowing a confession about that would be a neat trick.

"Fixing" the wine is gaining popularity.

Merlot wines appear with ananas aromas [ oak chips ] and Cabernet feels amazingly sweet yet considered a dry in the lab.

Andre Suidan

I was taught to finish what I order.

Life taught me to order what I enjoy.

The art of living taught me to take my time and enjoy.

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Oh beans. for the exact same money or maybe a few dollars more you could have Aubry NV.

Doubt that is available within the draconian, stuffy liquor laws of Ohio for purchase. :angry: Understand now why I enjoy White Star as an economical choice in champagne? :raz:

Actually no. Why drink bad Champagne when there are perfectly good sparking wines available from a long list of locations? Most of them are cheaper and better than White Star.

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You can try to improve your red with cassis as well or with any other fruit Snaps.

I am not sure if there is any truth in it (but I am sure someone knows) that certain European wine producers used to rinse their casks with cassis to add a bit of flavo(u)r

A sad but true story. I have heard stories from Burgundy of adding it right to the wine.

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Actually no. Why drink bad Champagne when there are perfectly good sparking wines available from a long list of locations? Most of them are cheaper and better than White Star.

Taste is subjective. I like White Star. The times we have opened a bottle of champagne and it usually isn't White Star, but I don't agree that it is classified as "bad." As I know many that may never actually purchase or enjoy real champagne beyond Tott's/Korbel. Now sparkling wine, well, those are different occasions -- we tend to purchase Argyle or J.

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Actually no. Why drink bad Champagne when there are perfectly good sparking wines available from a long list of locations? Most of them are cheaper and better than White Star.

Egly-Ouriet, Turgy, hell Billecart-Salmon, as well as countless others make better champagne for less money than white star.

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Egly-Ouriet, Turgy, hell Billecart-Salmon, as well as countless others make better champagne for less money than white star.

:sad: I don't doubt it, however all the yummy stuff is not for sale in ol oHIo. Can't drive over to Pittsburgh either, their laws are even more restrictive in selection, particularlly anything French. [boo!] :angry:

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