I feel obliged to have a number of 'bottled' wines in the house, just in case 'bottle' type people turn up.
I recently bought a couple of cases of this J P Chenet Premier Cabernet Sauvignon 2012. I think it cost about €2.40 a bottle.
J P Chenet is a huge company that produces very good tasting wines, but somehow you just know that they are the result of chemical jiggery-pokery. The taste is simply TOO good to be true, and the silly bottle shape suggests that they have something to hide!
I remember tasting a wine once that I'm certain had been vinified with a shovel-load of Plum Jam; there is something similar in taste about this Cabernet above, but it IS delicious.
In the background, behind the Chenet bottle, is my usual everyday wine in a 5 litre plastic 'cubi'. I buy it loose from a nearby small private vineyard, and it costs €1.10 a litre. It is made in as natural a way as possible. The grapes are picked, crushed, and left for a couple of weeks to ferment (no Plum Jam added). The resulting juice is then drawn off, and left to mellow in huge containers. It's as simple as that.
Blending wine is OK, but personally I prefer the natural version. It tastes 'correct', and one knows that it contains nothing but pure grape juice. Not something that can always be said about big company commercial wines.
One of the above wines will probably give you a headache; the other will definitely not. No prizes for guessing which is which.
What do they put in wine? I always have to take anti histemines
ReplyDeleteI don't want to frighten you, but have a look at this list. And these are just the PERMITTED ones! http://whatsinwine.blogspot.fr/p/permitted-wine-additives.html
ReplyDeleteCertain wines have made my tongue "puffy" but my homemade wine (first attempt) has a left a lot to be desired.
ReplyDeleteYou have convinced me to give it another go!
We struggle to find a bottle of wine for under £5 here, the odd ones are £4 ish but I think they could strip pine drawers x
It would be delightful to be able to go to the local vintner and have them draw off a volume.....you are a lucky man Cro.
ReplyDeleteI like their bendy bottles. I buy it in boxes with a plastic bag inside. It is always drinkable. I would hesitate to spend more than a fiver on a bottle of wine as I am a Pleb and wouldn't have the education to appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI can't think why you like their silly 'bendy' bottles. As for being a Pleb'; so am I. That's why I buy the cheap plonk.
DeleteCro, just because they are different. If they did a similar trick with the wine box it would be perfect.
DeleteWe have some nice wineries around us, and their product is good, however, it is more expensive than wine we can get at a local store. Imported Italian wines are cheaper than what I can buy from the entrepreneurs a mile or two away.
ReplyDeleteSo, locally produced wine is more expensive than imports from Italy. That's sounds about right! We have the same situation with imported Lamb from NZ.
DeleteI remember when I was in Madrid for a spell in the mid 80s. Every couple of days we used to walk up to the corer wine shop with an empty plastic one gallon Clorox bottle. All that they had in the tiny shop were two big stainless steel vats with a faucet on each one. One vat labeled red the other labeled white. The vendor claimed it was Tempranillo. The gallon jug would be filled with our selection for the equivalent of about a dollar and a half. Best stuff going.
ReplyDeleteLike M. Silvis when I lived in Spain….back in the 60’s, I remember walking down to the local with my dad. We had a two gallon glass bottle all done up in wicker that they would fill with either white or red. I still have that bottle although the wicker has departed.
ReplyDeleteHow lucky you are to live in a country where this sort of thing is an everyday occurrence.
ReplyDeleteI like a glass off red from time to time. I buy it in Waitrose and the only one I like at the moment is a rioja at bloody £10 a bottle.
ReplyDeleteJeeez; I get 10 litres for that!!!!!
DeleteI don't drink - they all taste the same to me (with lemonade added!) - Phillistine.
ReplyDeleteA few of my neighbours grow grapes. I haven't asked them if they make their own wine. They may just use it for jelly, jam, and juice. Maybe if i had a local winery where i knew all they put in was grapes, i'd show up with my container and have 'em fill it.
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