Bordeaux 2000 tasting at Charteris Wine Society

Another Charteris wine tasting this time on the theme of 2000 Bordeaux. A couple of members had bought two mixed cases from The Wine Society a while ago and now we get to taste.

• Chateau Doisy Daene Sec. Barsac. 2007 (sic)
• Chateau Clos Sainte-Anne. Pomerol. 2000
• Chateau Lucie. Saint-Emilion. 2000
• Chateau Belair. Saint-Emilion. 2000
• Chateau Belgrave Haut-Medoc. 2000
• Chateau Lafon-Rochet. Saint-Estephe. 2000
• Chateau Langoa Barton. Saint-Julien. 2000
• Chateau Durfort-Vivens. Margaux. 2000

Again I shall spare you my notes but I think my palate was on good form as my scribbles seemed to accord with the general view. As is usual the wines were presented in order of price / expected quality and lived up to that sequencing.

My favourites were the Sainte-Anne - probably because of the Merlot - and the Belgrave - it may not be the very best of the evening but it tickled my palate.

We got one bottle that had bad cork taint. There are people who lack confidence to send back corked wine. A couple of times, in restaurants, we have used an off bottle to educate a less experienced waiter by getting them to sniff the old and replacement bottles (in the glass). With this crowd and this intensity of TCA that was hardly necessary.

A very interesting canter round both left and right banks ably presented by Bill Nippress.

Pasqua in Puglia 2010: Carovigno Easter parade

The usual start of year trip to Trullo Azzurro to open up for the season. This time it coincided with Easter and the first BA flight of the year on 1st April.

We shared the flight with our new acquaintances and fellow Puglian home owners Colin and Sheila. We met them back in January at the Puglian wine dinner at Enoteca Turi.


Mary, Colin and Sheila in their garden

Colin and Sheila's local town, Carovigno, has a full monty Easter parade: Blessed Virgin Mary statue carried on poles, ditto for Joseph and the Baby Jesus, marching band and a hotly contested, flag twirling competition called Nzegna.


Carovigno flag twirling

All the men of the area compete and take it very seriously. They have to look their best and, judging by the spiky hairdo's, sales of gel must have rocketed in the run up to Easter.


Carovigno marching bands

As a consequence of all the men twirling flags the band are predominantly made up of girls belting out the soundtrack.

For photos of the parade see Flickr. Enjoy.