http://www.lesoir.be/1021293/article/vins/actu-vins/2015-10-20/president-polonais-sert-un-vin-12-euros-au-couple-royal
Sorry, the article is in French, but the best part (if you can read it) is how well researched it is, with numerous sommeliers being asked to comment. :D
My reaction was Valmy-approved - it would not have been a scandal if Belgium took a hint from France - thanks to whom noone bothers any more with what kind of wine should be served to French monarchs. :frog:
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons!
Marchons, marchons,
Qu'un vin impur
abreuve nos sillons.
The Belgians went to prison during the Revolution rather than swear to reject monarchy. It obviously means alot to them :(
Also, the price of wine has absolutely no relation to its quality.
Quote from: Solmyr on October 20, 2015, 12:10:20 PM
Also, the price of wine has absolutely no relation to its quality.
Depends on whether you know what the price is.
It's a perfectly good wine. And the price point is quite appropriate for a public function using public money.
Even France is coming around to this - the mayor of Dijon recently sold off a bunch of expensive 1er and grand cru wines.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on October 20, 2015, 12:45:09 PM
It's a perfectly good wine. And the price point is quite appropriate for a public function using public money.
Even France is coming around to this - the mayor of Dijon recently sold off a bunch of expensive 1er and grand cru wines.
:thumbsup:
I quoted you in response to someone on Facebook. You have been described as an upper class NYC wine connoisseur - I hope this is accurate. :P
He might tell you that he can't be upper class because he works for a living. That's what other upper class lawyers on this board say, anyway.
America doesn't have an upper class. We all are middle class. That way everyone gets their taxes cut.
Small remark. Our royal family is German, with Spanish and Italian smitterlings. The Swedish royals are more French than ours. Our current queen is from Polish descent, so our next Monarch will have also some Polack blood
What's wrong with EUR 12 wine? We are talking about using public money. It is very inappropriate if the wine is a lot more expensive than that. Official dinners should never be extravagant.
Well quite. Lidl wine is always beating far more expensive brands in blind taste test.
I had a quick look at Austrian shop Wein & Co. (https://www.weinco.at) and what they have for under €13, and it shows plenty red and whites that have 91 Falstaff points (http://www.wine-searcher.com/critics-22-falstaff+magazin) or better which for me translates to "good enough." :P
So what do you pay for wine? For home drinking I go for "whatever French or Australian red is on offer at around £7". In a restaurant I fall into the "second cheapest" trap, which is apparently where they price their bin ends and bad purchases.
I usually go with Austrian Whites for ~€5.-
If I feel fancy, I might pay 10.- :P
There's a bunch of very decent wines to be had around the €6-€7 price mark around here.
This, one, for example, is my favorite affordable Ribera del Duero:
https://www.vinissimus.com/es/vinos/tinto/detalle_vino.html?id_vino=prorb13
And yes, the first time I sampled it, it was because of Starcraft :blush:
I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:
QuoteThe wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.
However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.
The latter costs £30 a bottle.
Quote from: Brazen on October 21, 2015, 05:33:12 AM
I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:
QuoteThe wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.
However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.
The latter costs £30 a bottle.
£30 for a British sparkling wine?! Is it crazy British taxes on alcohol or what? For that price finding a good crémant or even some champagne should be doable , not 12 € though.
Quote from: Brazen on October 21, 2015, 03:43:20 AM
Well quite. Lidl wine is always beating far more expensive brands in blind taste test.
Quote from: Brazen on October 21, 2015, 03:43:20 AM
Well quite. Lidl wine is always beating far more expensive brands in blind taste test.
Lidl is one of the few stores that I feel the worse for entering. -_-
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on October 21, 2015, 06:58:11 AM
Quote from: Brazen on October 21, 2015, 05:33:12 AM
I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:
QuoteThe wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.
However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.
The latter costs £30 a bottle.
£30 for a British sparkling wine?! Is it crazy British taxes on alcohol or what? For that price finding a good crémant or even some champagne should be doable , not 12 € though.
British taxes on alcohol are applied equally to champagne, prosecco and cava as they are to English sparklers. It's a flat rate per bottle.
The reason that they are as expensive as champagne is that they are just as good at that price point, if not better. I don't think there's an English sparkling wine that can challenge Krug or Cristal but at the £20-£30 level, I'd pick Chapel Down, Camel or Ridgeview over bland Moet, Lanson or Hendrick any day.
Quote from: Brazen on October 21, 2015, 05:33:12 AM
I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:
QuoteThe wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.
However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.
The latter costs £30 a bottle.
:hmm:
Quote from: Gups on October 21, 2015, 10:57:40 AM
British taxes on alcohol are applied equally to champagne, prosecco and cava as they are to English sparklers. It's a flat rate per bottle.
So a 20 pound bottle gets taxed the same as a 100 pound bottle? :huh:
There is duty payable, about £2 per bottle according to strength, and VAT at 20% is also levied.
Quote from: Brazen on October 21, 2015, 05:33:12 AM
I just checked what wine was served at the Queen's banquet for Xi Jinping:
QuoteThe wine list featured French and South African choices, as well as 1977 Warre's Vintage Port.
However, nurturers of Britain's nascent wine industry with an eye on an emerging market, where appreciation of wine is a status symbol, might hope that senior communist party palettes will have been tickled by the Ridgeview Grosvenor 2009, a sparking English wine originating in West Sussex.
The latter costs £30 a bottle.
It makes sense to choose a domestic champion, even on the pricey side, for a significant public occasion.
Warre's 77 seems a bit on the extravagant side.
Quote from: Brazen on October 21, 2015, 04:58:17 AM
So what do you pay for wine?
Typically 10-25 US but I lay a few down at the 30-60 range (Brunello, vintage port, 1er Chablis and the like). Can't bring myself to go much higher.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on October 20, 2015, 04:50:49 PM
America doesn't have an upper class. We all are middle class. That way everyone gets their taxes cut.
:D
I lost that argument in this country. :(
Quote from: Brazen on October 21, 2015, 04:58:17 AM
So what do you pay for wine? For home drinking I go for "whatever French or Australian red is on offer at around £7". In a restaurant I fall into the "second cheapest" trap, which is apparently where they price their bin ends and bad purchases.
I have a pretty broad range. You can pick up some nice wines in the 15-20 dollar range that you wouldn't worry about serving to guests. But I like to have a few cases in the 40-80 range for evenings that I want to spoil myself or when guests who particularly enjoy wine drop by. I recently opened a nice $75 bottle for a certain Danish fellow and he seemed to like it. :)
My last order with the Wine Society. Mix of £5-8 bottles for mid-week and some nice Bordeaux and Rioja for special occasions or when I don't have to share. I also buy about 4 cases a year of Rhone and Bordeaux en primeur for cellaring at the £20-50 a bottle price point.
VCP Rising Stars for Drinking Now Case £79.00 1 Case of 6 £79.00
LC15414 VCP Claret A Case £129.00 1 Case of 6 £129.00
IT20451 The Society's Barbera d'Asti Superiore 2013 £6.00 6 Bottle £36.00
FC26221 Pinot Noir Vin de France Jacques Depagneux 2011 £5.75 6 Bottle £34.50
IT18991 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Vigna Corvino 2013 £6.95 6 Bottle £41.70
SP10421 The Society's Southern Spanish Red Jumilla 2014 £5.25 6 Bottle £31.50
NZ7801 Te Pa Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014 £59.50 1 Case of 6 £59.50
CB4071 Ch de Pitray Cabernet Franc 2011 Castillon £11.95 3 Bottle £35.85
SP9721 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva Rioja 2005 £19.50 3 Bottle £58.50
PW4321 The Societys Exhibition Douro 2011 £13.50 2 Bottle £27.00
FC27121 Pinot Noir Puy de Dome, Cave Saint-Verny 2013 £7.25 3 Bottle £21.75
SG2031 The Society's Exhibition English Sparkling Wine 2013 £20.00 3 Bottle £60.00
SG321 Cremant d'Alsace Cuvee Julien, Dopff au Moulin £11.50 3 Bottle £34.50