The French are at it again.... want UK credit rating to be downgraded before theirs

[NMH]

It's hard not to be a snob when faced with the type of people who regularly drink Blossom Hill or a n other generic plonk without ever wishing to try something else.

Your time in Germany sounds like it was a interesting experience and yes i could not agree more, if you dig it, swig it..... so long as it is not Blossom Hill.

Lol! Hey, if it gets them where they want to go.... I guess I can't knock it!
For my own taste I learned about wine and what those flavours were and how they got there. Too many twigs, the early cut grapes, the sour or dry taste of skin and pips....

I like a sweet and/or fruity wine personally, but not tasting like too sugary
For a general wine-with-meal glass, something light and lively that wakes up all of the palette....whether red or white.
A later cut - or even an ('ice-wine') eiswine cultivated from grapes that have frost on them, so the skin taste is frozen in the outer grape.
Then there's honigwine, from the few missed grapes that didn't get cut in the earlier harvest. They'll be purple and mouldy, and the juice drips thick and slow...the sweetness of the insides having fermented on the vine. This makes a lovely desert wine, but of course I still want to taste the character of the grape in all of the above.

Some areas of the World can't come up with all the features, not having much frost in California or some of Australia, Chile or Africa.
With the expanses available, one might wonder why Russian or Chinese wines haven't made it in a big way yet.

 

[ArcticBlue]

Lol! Hey, if it gets them where they want to go.... I guess I can't knock it!
For my own taste I learned about wine and what those flavours were and how they got there. Too many twigs, the early cut grapes, the sour or dry taste of skin and pips....

I like a sweet and/or fruity wine personally, but not tasting like too sugary
For a general wine-with-meal glass, something light and lively that wakes up all of the palette....whether red or white.
A later cut - or even an ('ice-wine') eiswine cultivated from grapes that have frost on them, so the skin taste is frozen in the outer grape.
Then there's honigwine, from the few missed grapes that didn't get cut in the earlier harvest. They'll be purple and mouldy, and the juice drips thick and slow...the sweetness of the insides having fermented on the vine. This makes a lovely desert wine, but of course I still want to taste the character of the grape in all of the above.

Some areas of the World can't come up with all the features, not having much frost in California or some of Australia, Chile or Africa.
With the expanses available, one might wonder why Russian or Chinese wines haven't made it in a big way yet.

I guess I am in the minority when it comes to finding wine production interesting. Although enjoying the wine itself if the most importing thing of course.

Sadly my knowledge of German wine extends a little further than Riesling, oh and Black Tower of course. So what would you recommend as a starting point as a general quaff, and you have a particular favourite "go-to" tipple from the hinterlands?

 

[NMH]

In the past we have had wars of conscience, and wars of taking stands, and wars of defending our lands.

We haven't had a war where we just did it because we would ENJOY it.
Kicking the french arses would surely be a great time, and there'd be no need for a draft.

 

[beorhthelm]

With the expanses available, one might wonder why Russian or Chinese wines haven't made it in a big way yet.

i recall the Chinese are trying to get in to the wine. you have to remember they dont drink much out in that part of the world. iirc they are trying to make it "westernised" with some fancy electrical method to fake aging.

theres far too much snobishness about wine, at the end of the day most people want unpretentious wine. its alcoholic grape juice, as long as it tastes like that they are happy enough. the new world stuff is popular precisly because its ordinary but predicatable, you dont pick a bottle and think its thin and vinegary like you might with a random french.

 

[NMH]

I guess I am in the minority when it comes to finding wine production interesting. Although enjoying the wine itself if the most importing thing of course.

Sadly my knowledge of German wine extends a little further than Riesling, oh and Black Tower of course. So what would you recommend as a starting point as a general quaff, and you have a particular favourite "go-to" tipple from the hinterlands?

So many vineyards to choose from, and I wouldn't be so exclusionary to suggest "a 1976 Querbach Riesling, Oestrich-Winkel Rhine wine or nothing!"
But for myself, the area around the Lorelei, along the banks of the Rhine near Rudesheim are special.

I recently went to a wine-event represented by many Austrian vineyards and featuring of course their Gruner Vetlinern grape produce.
To be honest, I found it difficult to find one I liked, but when there was one that stood out, it was easy to tell. So, I'm loath to select a bottle of their wines now, for risk that it won't appeal to my taste.

I've been happy with wines from Northern California - they had really raised their standards some time ago by learning from Europeans... and their yearning to rival in the marketplace.
The chances are that if a CA wine makes it to Europe and is rated - it's probably pretty decent!

On another note..... when you go to a bar or restaurant and the 'House Wine' is awful, is that to be expected because it's cheaper than what else is on their menu?
Last year I went to a fairly expensive bar-and-restaurant 'Sturehof' in the wealthy 'hip' area of Stockholm city centre and the girl I was with asked me what I thought of her glass of 'house' wine.
Well, It was absolutely dire. An insult to the drinker, and it cost about £9 for a glass of pressed twigs and leaves (imho).
When I mentioned to a friend recently that I found their choice of housewine disgusting, he said it should be expected of a housewine since it's going to be the cheapest available!

Now - for my money, an establishment ought to represent themselves better than that and select a reasonable wine if they are calling it their house wine.

 

[User removed 4]

A few years back an x British Brussels worker said part of the reason Britain is looked on so badly by the EU is when we see new laws/rules/treaties we automatically go through them & say this won't work or this is a bad idea, it would be better if you did this.. The rest of the EU just says 'great idea' & later, as the details are worked out, they say 'No don't like that' or just ignore the rules & carry on to suit themselves. Also you are quite right, the Germans & the French probably both want us on side to counteract the other. Many areas of France are 'No go areas' for Germans where the locals will spit at their cars & even throw stones at them (I have a friend who lives in one such town). I'm convinced that with French politician it's a case of 'keep your enemies closer', which is why they are in bed with the Germans.

Pity they weren't so aggressive in 1940!!

 

[terryberry1]

Nuke the French

 

[NMH]

i recall the Chinese are trying to get in to the wine. you have to remember they dont drink much out in that part of the world. iirc they are trying to make it "westernised" with some fancy electrical method to fake aging.

theres far too much snobishness about wine, at the end of the day most people want unpretentious wine. its alcoholic grape juice, as long as it tastes like that they are happy enough. the new world stuff is popular precisly because its ordinary but predicatable, you dont pick a bottle and think its thin and vinegary like you might with a random french.

Exactly.
I think the frogs have long thought themselves the apex of cullinary expertise, so they tend to imagine their cuisine and their wine has to be tres expensive - so when you pick a random bottle of french wine you are taking the chance that a £15 one is what that company regards as their cheapest, and it's shite.

 

[Nibble]

Lets not forget the French only came up with their sauces and wines to mask the revolting taste of their rotten meat. I like France, some lovely regions it's just a pity it's so full of French (unts.