Can you taste the difference?

Would you buy this wine? It costs £7.99


This price is WELL above the average of around £4 per bottle in this country. If you are willing to spend double that amount there are only 2 main reasons:

1. You are a "wine connoisseur" and know what you are buying and regularly spend this much
2. You are buying for a special occasion; a party, a gift, a really special treat
   

I found it on the shelves of a local shop. Barossa Shiraz is world famous. Whether you know about the red earth, the climate, the issues of water shortages or anything else at all about the region, you have probably heard of "Barossa Shiraz".

Now, you wouldn't expect it to be cheap - generally speaking, if you've heard of the region (Chablis, Rioja, Bordeaux, ...) the wine isn't cheap, but it is Australia after all, not ... FRANCE, that place where all good wines are really expensive. Anyway, do the French even make Shiraz?

2006? Should be good. Not too old. Time to check out some more clues.

What about this one, at the bottom?


St. Hallett? Many will not have heard about this producer, but there is actually a name on here that can be checked out. If you know anything about Barossa then the name of St. Hallett should ring bells. Old Block? Faith Shiraz? If you search for the name you'll find this is a top producer with a great track record.

£7.99 for one of the best known names in the region? Cool!

If I bring this home to my husband or wife, or bring it to that dinner party on Saturday, they'll be really impressed.

But wait! What's that? At the top?


Sainsbury's?

You want me to spend twice the national average on a bottle of wine, and when I bring it to the dinner party, despite it being a well liked grape, despite the well known region and the world-class producer, it says "Sainsbury's" on the front label?

Erm ...

• You could say that if I say I wouldn't buy it I'm being snobbish.
• You could on the other hand, argue that if I'm spending this much money, a guarantee from a trusted brand like Sainsbury's would encourage me to try it.
• On the other hand, with all the choices available, do I want this name on there?
• Or, are they using their buying power to get a great deal?

There is no easy answer, but these wines run all the way up to £12.99 for an Amarone and more and I am told that they are not easy to convince customers to buy (this is from the shop floor).

I know what I think, but what do you think? Premium wines (good ones at that), at reasonable prices, but constrained by the fact that it carries a non-premium label.

Would you buy it?

Multiple Personality Issues

I'll announce the details about the actual project in due course, but I am starting a new blog elsewhere so that I can cover some of the topics that I expressly forbade myself from covering on this blog.

My intention here was always just to "talk wine", not drink it, sell it or even make money from it. There were few places to get some of these thoughts and I believed that I could have some fun putting my own point of view out there to see what happened.

I never expected it to get all that far, and really it was as much an experiment that would allow me to join the "blogging conversation" as much as it was my contribution to the "wine conversation".

Now, I feel well and truly captivate by blogging. It makes a major difference to my life, where I make plans according to the time available for blog reading and posting. It opens doors to conversations with wine professionals in the UK and around the world. It even gives me excuses to plan exciting events.

I have always had more than one blog, having started a local interest blog right at the beginning of the adventure (now largely untouched), and also contributing to several others.

However, I will now have two personal wine blogs, both of which are important to me. The question is whether I will have to develop a full blown multiple personality trait to allow me to separate one from the other, or whether one will eventually win out over the other?

I will have to wait and see. I hope both turn out to have a role to play, however small. I trust you will forgive me if I split my attention between the two, and also stick with me while I find my feet blogging "over there" about things I have tried hard not to cover here in the time (almost 2 years) that this blog has been going.

More details soon.

List of Irish Wine Blogs

You may have noticed that among the updates to the blogroll I made a few days ago I also separated out the wine blogs that are written in Ireland.

The list is as comprehensive as I can make it (for the blogs anyway, plenty of retail sites), which is saying something as it only contains 4 entries [updated; there are now a few more; check below for the latest list]

• Bubble Brothers


• Irish Wine Contemplations


• Irish Wine Course


• On the Grapevine


• Robert Francis Wine


• Simon Tyrrell


• Sour Grapes

Simon Tyrrell's blog seems to be fairly intermittent and I only started following it recently, but I do recommend you check out the others that are all in my feed reader already.

If you know of any more out there, please do let me know as Ireland does need more blogs like these to develop and nurture the Irish wine culture.

Last updated: 22/07/2008

Searching for wine on this site

If you are a regular visitor to this site you may have noticed a recent change (other than the update to my list of UK wine blogs). This latest addition can be found at the top right of the page.

I have mentioned AbleGrape.com on this site before a few times, but now I must really thank them for listening to customer feedback and offering an amazing service for wine bloggers. They are now offering a free 'widget' that allows you to search their database of wine related information straight from this, or any other, blog.

I should give the site a proper review, but that will have to wait. However, if you are looking for ANY wine related information, give it a try - whether just to see where your blog or wine appears in the results, or if you are doing research and studying, I really do recommend it.

List of UK Wine Blogs

I have updated this list a lot from the time this page was published.

For the latest list of UK Wine Blogs, visit The Wine Conversation UK Wine Blog List

Your views on Wine Experts

Andrew Jefford has issued a request for views regarding:

"whether the palates of professional wine buyers, sommeliers and wine critics are ‘too developed’."

This is for an article in Decanter, so get on down to his site and leave him some thoughts on the world of wine reviews, wine buying and even wine service.

I have left my initial thoughts on his site (still pending comment moderation at this time), and I think readers of this blog, many of you bloggers and trade professionals yourselves, will have your own views. Why not have them published in Decanter?

Wine & Pork

Off to eat Pork and drink wines from Alsace - here's a taster

[UPDATE: Click here for a picture of the centrepiece of the meal. Warning, not for vegetarians!]

Aperitif

Rolly Gassmann Pinot Auxerrois Moenchreben de Rohrschwihr 1997
+1 of the gewurz

Langoustines

Trimbach Riesling CFE 1995
Leon Beyer Riesling Comtes D’Eguisheim 2000
Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg Cuvee Ste Catherine 1997
ZH Riesling Clos Hauserer 1994

Foie Gras

Schlumberger Gewurz Princes Abbes 2000
Zind Humbrecht Gewurz 1998
Hugel Gewurz Tradition 1997
ZH Gewurz Clos Windsbuhl 1989
Trimbach Gewurz SDR 1998

Suckling Pig

Trimbach TPG Reserve Personelle 1998
ZH TPG Clos Jebsal 1997.
ZH TPG, Clos St.Urbain, Rangen, 2002

Hugel Riesling VT 1964
Hugel Riesling VT 1976
Hugel TPG VT 1976

Contemplation of pudding

ZH Clos Windsbuhl TPG VT 1990
ZH Riesling Brand VT 1990

Pudding

Albert Mann Pinot Gris Hengst SGN 1994
Rolly Gassman Gewurtz SGN 1997