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Old 24-04-2016, 19:53
Pumping Iron
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I'm opening up a bottle of Chateau Margeaux 2003 premier cru tomorrow for a special occasion. I got given it for a wedding present a few years back and just Googled it and had no idea how expensive it was, I've never drank anything close to being this posh before.

Any tips on how to drink it? Is it important to decant it and let it rest first? What are the best ways to pour it? What glasses should I use?

I doubt I'll ever drink such a fine wine again in my lifetime, so I want to do it properly!

Any advice welcome.
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Old 25-04-2016, 10:47
postit
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I haven't had the pleasure, but I believe that any red wine benefits from decanting.

Hope it is all that you wish for.
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Old 25-04-2016, 11:46
barbeler
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I thought that most people now agreed that decanting really isn't necessary.

I thought it only fair to add that the most expensive red wine I've ever tasted was absolutely disgusting.
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Old 25-04-2016, 23:50
Toby LaRhone
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I'm opening up a bottle of Chateau Margeaux 2003 premier cru tomorrow for a special occasion. I got given it for a wedding present a few years back and just Googled it and had no idea how expensive it was, I've never drank anything close to being this posh before.

Any tips on how to drink it? Is it important to decant it and let it rest first? What are the best ways to pour it? What glasses should I use?

I doubt I'll ever drink such a fine wine again in my lifetime, so I want to do it properly!

Any advice welcome.
There's been a wine programme on about 6.30 each evening this week - can't recall the channel.
It's very interesting but rather pretentious with silly prices.
It was suggested that you decant the, mainly red, wine into a decanter with a very large surface area at the base and leave it for around four hours.
Personally, I'd be more concerned about which crisps you choose to accompany it.

A few years back I bought a selection of wines from Majestic Wines and selected several "supermarket" priced wines and several "costly" wines for comparison purposes.
My wife and I then did a proper " blind tasting".
The plonk won every time.
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Old 26-04-2016, 13:53
Pumping Iron
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There's been a wine programme on about 6.30 each evening this week - can't recall the channel.
It's very interesting but rather pretentious with silly prices.
It was suggested that you decant the, mainly red, wine into a decanter with a very large surface area at the base and leave it for around four hours.
Personally, I'd be more concerned about which crisps you choose to accompany it.

A few years back I bought a selection of wines from Majestic Wines and selected several "supermarket" priced wines and several "costly" wines for comparison purposes.
My wife and I then did a proper " blind tasting".
The plonk won every time.
Well it was nice, nicer than my average supermarket wine, but not worth near £400 a bottle.
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Old 26-04-2016, 16:56
newda898
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Well it was nice, nicer than my average supermarket wine, but not worth near £400 a bottle.
Hoow much???

I tend to spend anything from £6 upwards on a bottle, preferably a more expensive one that's on offer, with £10 being the ideal price.

A friend bought a bottle from Savers a few months ago to try it. Which reminds me, I haven't heard from him since....
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Old 26-04-2016, 17:47
Pumping Iron
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Hoow much???

I tend to spend anything from £6 upwards on a bottle, preferably a more expensive one that's on offer, with £10 being the ideal price.

A friend bought a bottle from Savers a few months ago to try it. Which reminds me, I haven't heard from him since....
I don't think I've ever spent more than 20 quid on a bottle before.
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Old 26-04-2016, 19:36
barbeler
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I don't think I've ever spent more than 20 quid on a bottle before.
Apart from as a Christmas present, I don't think I've ever spent more than £5.
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Old 26-04-2016, 23:48
Toby LaRhone
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Well it was nice, nicer than my average supermarket wine, but not worth near £400 a bottle.
"Well it was nice" just doesn't cut the mustard for a supposed £400 bottle.
You're meant to waffle pretentiously and at length about the overwhelming character and body.
It should have been
“profound, mellow and opulent in character”
or maybe have a
“dense yet harmonious herbal character of medium body - smooth yet grippy”
or even
"In the mouth, it is juicy, full-bodied, opulent, and impossible to resist".

"Nice" is my two for a tenner Merlot!
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Old 28-04-2016, 13:13
Pumping Iron
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"Well it was nice" just doesn't cut the mustard for a supposed £400 bottle.
You're meant to waffle pretentiously and at length about the overwhelming character and body.
It should have been
“profound, mellow and opulent in character”
or maybe have a
“dense yet harmonious herbal character of medium body - smooth yet grippy”
or even
"In the mouth, it is juicy, full-bodied, opulent, and impossible to resist".

"Nice" is my two for a tenner Merlot!
This is an actual review I found...

'From the outstanding 2003 vintage and scoring 99/100 Parker points, "Am I being too stingy with the 2003 Chateau Margaux? A wine of extraordinary complexity and intensity, it reveals a deep purple color, a style not unlike the 1990 Margaux (possibly even more concentrated), a velvety texture, and notes of spring flowers interwoven with camphor, melted licorice, creme de cassis, and pain grille. Not a blockbuster, it offers extraordinary intensity as well as a surreal delicacy/lightness. There is riveting freshness to this offering, which tips the scales at a lofty (for this estate) 13.5% alcohol, as well as an alluring sweetness and accessibility'

To me it just tasted of wine
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Old 28-04-2016, 13:21
Jellied Eel
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This is an actual review I found...

interwoven with camphor, melted licorice, creme de cassis, and pain grille

To me it just tasted of wine
So mothballs and a bad day at the dentists? With some black currant, and never really noticed licorice tasting different when melted.

But such is wine. To me, it's nice or not nice and I've had plenty of cheap wines that were more drinkable than expensive ones. But that's just marketing
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Old 28-04-2016, 14:28
Jambo_c
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To me it just tasted of wine
This is what I'm like with wine. I really struggle to get the different flavours which is strange because I can pick up all the different subtle flavours in different beers but wine is just wine to me (unless it's really awful and just tastes like vinegar!). Maybe it's because I'm just not that bothered about wine, I'd never choose to drink it apart from sometimes doing a wine-flight with a tasting menu which I actually find quite good because I like seeing how the wine works with the food. If given the choice though I'd rather do a beer-flight but there's not that many restaurants that do that, there definitely should be more.
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Old 28-04-2016, 20:53
degsyhufc
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I tend to drink two types of wine. Chenin Blanc (favourite) or Pinot Grigio.

The most descriptive I can get is that they're either dryer or sweeter and also the fruitiness. I do sometimes get a more appley flavour in some of them.

I'm not sure how more descriptive you need to be really.
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Old 28-04-2016, 23:49
Toby LaRhone
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Let's face it, it's either "Ooh!" or "Hmm".
And either can be £5 a bottle.
I like my white "crisp, dry but fruity".
I like my red "very red and meaty".
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Old 30-04-2016, 15:25
barbeler
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My local off-licence will sell three bottles of Premier Estates for a tenner. The Sauvignon Blanc is the equal of any others I've tasted, but just on occasions, I find it actually too flavoursome (if that makes sense) and I mix it with whatever is the cheapest dry white wine I can find. Premier Estates includes nearly all of the major varieties in the range and the only one I'm not so keen on is the Merlot, although I'm not really all that fond of that grape anyway. I always ignore anything by Gallo or Blossom Hill.
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Old 30-04-2016, 19:05
alan29
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People used to decant reds slowly to keep any sediment in the bottle. Have a look at your bottle, it shouldn't need decanting.
Uncork it an hour or so before you drink it and have it at room temperature.
Yum.
Edit ..... Just noticed you've already had it. Rarity makes it expensive.
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Old 01-05-2016, 10:31
cdtaylor_nats
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To be fair to the wine, we don't know how well it was stored since it was a present.
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Old 01-05-2016, 13:33
dellzincht
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To be fair to the wine, we don't know how well it was stored since it was a present.
If someone spent 400 quid on it you'd expect them to know how to store it properly.

I only drink one type of wine and that's Tempranillo.
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Old 02-05-2016, 01:33
evil c
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To be fair to the wine, we don't know how well it was stored since it was a present.
Exactly what I've been thinking. Waiting at least another 7 years before opening it would've been better too, if stored correctly.
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Old 02-05-2016, 10:24
Pumping Iron
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If someone spent 400 quid on it you'd expect them to know how to store it properly.

I only drink one type of wine and that's Tempranillo.
The wine was kept in the dark and stored at a relatively constant temperature. My friend who gave it wouldn't have paid anywhere near £400, as they are fine wine merchants and will buy in bulk, straight from the vineyard, often before the wine has even been produced.
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Old 04-05-2016, 11:34
Glawster2002
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Hoow much???

I tend to spend anything from £6 upwards on a bottle, preferably a more expensive one that's on offer, with £10 being the ideal price.

A friend bought a bottle from Savers a few months ago to try it. Which reminds me, I haven't heard from him since....
I always use the principle Malcolm Gluck, the wine critic, uses...

It isn't how much the wine costs that matters, it is whether you are happy with the price you paid for the wine when you drink it.

It is often said the best value supermarket wine is usually priced between £6.00 - £10.00.
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Old 04-05-2016, 12:10
Jambo_c
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I always use the principle Malcolm Gluck, the wine critic, uses...

It isn't how much the wine costs that matters, it is whether you are happy with the price you paid for the wine when you drink it.

It is often said the best value supermarket wine is usually priced between £6.00 - £10.00.
That pretty much applies to anything, although especially food and drink. Strangely (to me) some people seem to think that if something is expensive (or more expensive than "normal") then it's automatically a rip off.

I'm firmly in the camp that if you really enjoy something then what it costs doesn't really matter. Last week a mate of mine called me completely bonkers for paying £9.95 for a 330ml bottle of beer (telling me how many bottles of Pedigree he could get for that) but the beer incredibly good, every single mouthful was an absolute joy so for me it was money well spent as i got a lot of enjoyment from it.
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Old 04-05-2016, 15:07
Roger_Peters
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In my personal experience, decanting benefits all red wine I have ever had.
Cheap and not cheap red wine.
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Old 04-05-2016, 18:11
postit
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I cut out the middleman and decant red wine directly - sip by sip
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