Confessions of a Wino

My mate Paul gave me a bottle of wine and told me that it is never wise to look a gift horse in the mouth.  So let’s take a glance at its teeth then!

(more…)

It seems my one man Twitter war against Virgin Trains is becoming a misnomer.  Twitter is getting ever fuller of people who are fed up of the poor customer service.  “At least their trains run on time” I hear you cry, and you have a point.  But the buffet is awful, the carriages always stink of toilets, the seats are uncomfortable, the seat reservation system rarely works, you will puke up if you try to use a laptop or read a book for more than 20 minutes (on a swaying Pendolino), and the pricing and peak hours policies are bizarre and unfathomable.

So, it is excellent to be able to highlight a company at the other end of the customer service spectrum.  My occasional orders are not going to make  Sunday Times Wine Club (Laithwaites) most valuable customer roster, but when I do see a deal I snap it up.  It does a super range of well priced en-primeur offers amongst other tempting goodies.

I always order in confidence because of their “no-quibble” guarantee and have always been very happy with the way any bad bottles are dealt with. 

But, I stretched this philosophy to what I though might be the limit recently.  I rang to report that three bottles in a mixed 2007 en-primeur Chianti case looked suspect.  The corks were protruding from the bottle in a way that suggested overheating.  I’ve opened enough bottles in my life to know this is not generally a good sign.

Shall I open one to see if it is drinkable?  I asked the polite girl on the end of the phone.  Maybe you would like me to return them?  Perhaps I should email you a photo?

None of the above were acceptable.  Instead, having checked the stocks, and regretfully informed me that the particular wine was no longer available, she merely asked what I would like as a replacement (or refund).  I suggested that a similar 2007 Chianti of her choice would be just fine.  She promised to consult the Fine Wine Advisers and get three bottles posted to me pronto. (See what I did there?)

That was all yesterday and today I received a confirmation that 3 bottles of Felsina Berardenga are on the way.  I can’t tell you how surprised, shocked and pleased I am.

Do you know Wino Sapien?  A doctor from Perth with excess intelligence and wit and more wine expertise than me.  You should read his blog.

I’ve been getting to know him a little too well.  We may both be deep into mid life crises, since we agreed to play postal chess.  No, not internet, nor even email chess.  Postal.  SNAIL MAIL!  The game has been going for nigh on 6 months and this is the rather paltry progress made in some varation of Queen’s gambit declined, that I don’t understand.

Slow, I know, but outrageous fun in an English eccentric sort of way.

Black to move – will you offer him any help?  Maybe he has already posted.  Such is the speed of 1970′s technology. If you want to laugh along, I dare say Ed might keep you up to date occasionally as well.  If you are into Chess I advise you to look away or be horrified.  You have been warned.

Normal wine service will be resumed soon…

I must be honest and say that I don’t buy much wine from Virgin.  However, I have a legacy account which costs me £20 per month that I will probably never cancel and here is why.

Close your eyes and go and do your wine shopping at your favourite retailer (I like The Wine Society, Majestic, Naked Wines, BBR and a few others including independent shops both bricks and clicks).  A few months later, simply remember that you have been paying some dosh to Virgin and go and look at your account.

I just did this and discovered that I had £300!  This comprised £220 of my money plus £80 that Virgin had kindly added as part of their Wine Bank programme.

Next, click on the Champagne pages and you will find very reasonably priced branded champagne.  The prices even compare favourably with the supermarkets and that is before you account for the implicit 25% discount from the Wine Bank “interest”.

I selected a 12 bottle mix of Mumm, Taittinger, Roederer and my personal favourite brand, Perrier-Jouet.  They are arguably not going to set the world on fire but it makes quite a pleasant drink at about £18 per bottle and will impress your friends no end.

For friends you are not so keen on, maybe you should stock up with Freixenet.

The business card for Lucy’s carries the tagline “share in the experience”.  Oh dear, looks like I’m washing up again…

(more…)

No time for a picture, but you can see the 2006 at Majestic, even though at the time of writing it is the 2007 vintage on sale.

It is a Bordeaux style blend and, having just returned from the home of wine, I wanted to say that this is a gorgeous slurp and much better than any classic Bordeaux I tasted at a similar price, albeit a bit higher in alcohol than I would prefer (14.5%).

If you can still find the 2006 I highly recommend it.  It is drinking well now.  I paid £12.49.  Majestic have the 07 at £12.99.  I think that may be due to Gordon’s wee tax policy.  Any chance the new coalition will reduce wine tax?  Don’t take the piss…

Following a recent explosion of new technology at BBR, I am delighted to see that the Wine Society has finally taken a giant leap out of the 19th century and launched a blog:  Society Grapevine.

Social networking is a crucial way of building relationships with ones customers.  The Society has unique access, presence, reach and expertise that makes for interesting and useful material.  Well done!

Shame there is no iPhone app yet though…

My day job takes me to some very ugly places.  1960′s office buildings in Longbridge, Liverpool and Lewisham.  Soulless serviced office space in Southend, Slough and St Helens purporting to be “modern” but with more of a sense of Alcatraz than alacrity.

So it was an extremely pleasant surprise to be involved with an event at the BT Tower in London.

I have been taking the words haute cuisine a little too literally of late following a towering meal at 40:30 on the 39th floor of the gherkin last year, and this year (review yet to be published) Galvin @ Windows on the 28th floor of the Park Lane Hilton.

But there are few monuments, iconic buildings, national treasures, beautiful landmarks, and yet vital pieces of communication infrastructure that match this one.

(more…)

Seems I am not the only one complaining about wine temperature in restaurants.  I’ve just read this interesting article in the Ottawa Citizen.  Rightly moaning about red wines left on an open shelf for “decoration”.  I hope the writer meant 20° Celsius, not Fahrenheit.  I know Canadians are tougher than most but 12 below freezing is a pretty cool ambient temperature for a restaurant.

Maybe they should join my Facebook Wine At Right Temperature Campaign.

It is reassuring, in a Savile Row tailor sense, to see that after 311 years of tradition, Berry Bros & Rudd is innovating.  There has been a technology EXPLOSION recently with a well constructed and very readable blog, a whizzy website and now an iPhone app.

As an iPhone addict, who gets frustrated at not even being able to delete an email whilst on the tube, it is refreshing to see that the app is available offline.

It’s a must-have for wine geeks.  For example, if you want to check the retail price of an overpriced bottle in Gaucho Grill, you can do so discreetly, under the table, and then argue righteously and indignantly with the waiter about how you object to being fleeced by a two bit South American theme park (that happens to serve great steaks).

Then again, BBR has a disappointing range of Argentineans – a mere nine wines (compared to 190 champagnes and 391 clarets).  And if you actually want to order a wine you have to go to the BBR website – but this is a small complaint that I feel sure they will resolve in good time.  Hopefully not another 311 years.