I’ve got a brand new combine harvester…

…but you’re not having the key.

I’m so excited I’ve had to wear specially stengthened underwear today.  It’s Easter weekend and a chance to catch up on some stuff that’s been hanging around.  So today (Good Friday) I spent an hour or two reading the instruction manual to my new car.  I’ve had the damn thing for nearly three weeks and have driven it using point and click techniques, without access to luxuries like radio and CD, or heating and cooling, or acceleration and braking.  It’s pretty impressive, but it is not the best gadget I have acquired recently.  That title belongs to a wine related item.  Can you guess what it is?  The photo below is an easy clue.

Come hither mystery item - what art thou?

Yes – it’s a wine cabinet!  To be precise it is a Liebherr Vinothek WK4127 that I managed to order online at the cracking price of £588 from www.kitchenscience.co.uk.  Check them out – they have some great prices on a range of appliances.

Is it a bird, is it a fridge?

As you can see from the picture, I have only just filled it so the temperature has not cooled yet.  The instruction manual says that I should target 10-14 degrees Celsius but I think this is a little too cool.  I am aiming for 14-15 degrees for long term storage of decent wines without raping the planet (merely pillaging).

Now I am drooling….

It took me a while to plan which wines were to go where, and then to transport them from the garage, and other cool nooks and crannies, to the new frigo.  My wine rack, where I plan to keep wines that are drinking now, is latterly looking a little forlorn as a result of the major logistical exercise.  I better get online and order some more bottles then.

Nice rack!  Oh erm, thank you…

In case you are wondering why I have left an empty shelf in the cabinet, I am expecting some 2005 Bordeaux purchased ages ago en primeur, the first of which is a case of Lynch Bages.  I simply can’t wait until the advised date of 2010 to try a bottle of that, so next time you look there will be 11 more bottles in the fridge.

8 Responses to “I’ve got a brand new combine harvester…”

  1. edward Says:

    Bravo,

    I have a Liebherr as well and it’s one of my favourite things, though it does not have a see through door, and lately its become a place for my kids to stick their drawings. One of my greatest problems is remembering where I have put various bottles, after a while new bottles tend to get poked where-ever there is space.

  2. Alastair Bathgate Says:

    Edward
    Good point. It is thoroughly well organised right now, but I can foresee total mayhem in the future. On the plus side I expect to unearth hidden gems that I didn’t even remember existed at some future date.

  3. Confessions of a Wino » Blog Archive » Château Batailley 2004 revisited Says:

    […] retrieving some wines from my garage in preparation for storing them properly I noticed one bottle of Batailley with a slightly protruding cork.  This is often a sign that […]

  4. Confessions of a Wino » Blog Archive » Felton Road Pinot Noir 2007 Says:

    […] no play makes Wino a dull boy so to brighten my spirits I picked out an expensive bottle from the Combine Harvester to end the […]

  5. Confessions of a Wino » Blog Archive » Domaine de la Vougeraie Gevery Chambertin 2007 Says:

    […] The big thing about buying wine in bond is that you are supposed to stash some aside for drinking later.  Especially if, like me, you are fortunate enough to own a Combine Harvester. […]

  6. Confessions of a Wino » Blog Archive » Moulin à Vent, La Salomine, Joseph Burrier, 2009 Says:

    […] 2009, and I thought that was the best I have ever tasted. So I have to make a little room in my Combine Harvester by clearing out a […]

  7. Confessions of a Wino » Blog Archive » Drink up your wines before you die (or they do) Says:

    […] this out to my cost in a recent exploration and dredging of the nether regions of my wine rack and combine harvester. Over a period of at least four weeks, every alternate bottle has been used to clean the sink […]

  8. Confessions of a Wino » Blog Archive » Château Camensac 1996 Says:

    […] I am no expert in these matters but I sense that Château Camensac 1996 will keep a good while longer and I shall probably pop back to Majestic for another couple of bottles to squirrel away in my combine harvester. […]

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