Confessions of a Wino

I met Rob McIntosh in Manchester, the night before the UEFA Cup Final (Rangers lost 2-0).  Piccadilly Gardens was packed and all the pubs were overflowing with friendly but very pissed Glaswegians.  Fortunately, the Scots had not found the Northern Quarter, an eclectic mix of trendy, funky, bohemian bars, clubs, clothes shops and arty establishments.  Rob had spotted the old fish market earlier and a bar/resto on the other side of High Street confusingly named The Northern Quarter.

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In deepest Evian-les-Bains I found one of the best wine shops ever.  La Cave à Paul had such a wide range of Armagnacs going back to the year dot.  But they had none from 1964 (year of my birth), so I settled for second best 1966 (last time England won the World Cup).

And when I got home I discovered that I had also (sort of) unknowingly bought some duty free Armagnac by Sempé (we flew from Geneva, Switzerland).  It was time for a taste test.  But hang on!  There is more complication because I had also invested in Riedel glasses.  The Cognac glass is a small tulip (on the left of the photo below), whereas a traditional Cognac or Armagnac glass is a bowl (shown on the right).  An interesting experiment was to ensue…. 

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Following my recent post on which glasses to drink from I was asked about glass “maintenance”.

There is a supposed cardinal rule with fine wine glasses that you should never use soap.  I ignore this, but do so with care.

Here’s a few practical tips for keeping your wine glasses in tip top condition.

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There is a lot of chat in the wine press about the importance of drinking wine from the right glass.  For example, if you have read anything by Robert Parker you will know of his undying affection for Riedel glasses.

Riedel has stolen a march on other stemware manufacturers everywhere by producing several ranges of glasses where within each range, different glasses are specifically designed for different varietals and even specific wines.  This panders perfectly to the ceremony afforded to wine by the pretentious.

Sadly that includes me and I think Riedel glasses are great too, but the problem is the range is so massive, it’s impossible to own them all so what is the essential selection?

So this post is my recommendation for a simple range of wine glasses that will last you through every occasion.

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I’ve been waiting for this to happen so I can blog about it.  I opened a bottle of Clos de Marquis 2001 (after dutifully fridging it for half an hour) only to find it was corked.

Fortunately I had another bottle so opened that and joy of joys - it was perfect.  So what was the difference?

Both bottles are shown in the picture below-  which do you think was corked?

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I’ve just been looking at www.wineintro.com where there is chart suggesting that white wine should be served between 5 and 11 degrees Celsius, and red wine between 12 and 18 degrees (depending on type).  Nearly every wine website and book gives pretty much this advice.

So why does almost every bar/resto serve wine at the wrong temperature then?  Here’s why…

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