BristolUK

Just had a flashback of drinking something called Hirondelle back in the early 70s too.

Novocastrian

Well put. I wanted to buy FIL a case of Chateau Myrat, but I could only afford one bottle.

Novocastrian

Very difficult to Swallow that one.

caretaker

In a cafe in Montreal one morning I saw an old geezer with Van Dyke beard and beret enjoying a glass of red with his breakfast bacon and eggs. I'll do it, but not at the same time as I'm drinking coffee. I'll put the coffee on now and get that out of the way.

BristolUK

If I'd not previously googled to check the name I wouldn't have "got" that one.

BristolUK

Probably Ribena.

caretaker

I think I bought Black Tower because I liked the bottles, but don't want it or Blue Nun now.The advertising business got wise and wines became popular by virtue of being drinkable and having a catchy ad Piat d'Or sold an ocean of wine by giving the illusion that drinking it would somehow make you worldly, the same way Novo's chianti in a basket made him hip and my Mateus showed I was clued in the same way, empties with candles stuck in them offering mute testimony to our hipness. Hirondelle had good ads.

Pizzawheel

My recent 4L box of Bodacious Red was surprisingly good; I bought it at an introductory offer and now it's up to full price I'm thinking hard about whether it's worth it.

Had some nice aussie white last night too.

caretaker

I've had a few bottles of Bodacious and think it's ok for the price but like the blended Unreserved and others like Skinny Girl the character of the wine is kind of hard to pin down. Bodacious is a bit sweet as well which adds a few points of mass appeal and probably facilitates pairing with a wider variety of dishes than wines with a more sharply defined terroire. [snickers into his G&T]

Novocastrian

Excuse me? I do remember that UK hippies back in the sixties stuck candles in their empty Mateus Rose bottles, but I can't imagine that they didn't pour the contents down the drain first.

Pizzawheel

I have a candle in a maggi sauce bottle, because I'm so hip, I like totally get irony in like an ironic way. Innit.

The Bodacious surprised me because I've always avoided "girls night out" and shite like that til now.

caretaker

I like the Maggi bottle, iconic shape and you're first!
A lot of Brits confuse irony with sarcasm. Nothing wrong with these "indie" blended wines, and as I said some of them pair very easily. I think I'll put a bottle of my Wild Goose wine in the fridge and sink it in honour of Harper getting the boot.

Pizzawheel

That'll be vintage by now!

I have a bottle of bicentenary bordeaux I got in France in the last eighties for a couple of quid. Screen printed bottle obviously not intended to be "put down".

I dread to think what that'll be like, but I'll keep it just so I can say I've got a personally cellared 30-year old wine in the cabinet.

caretaker

I have to check but I think the Chardonnay might be 2010 or 2011, my sister drank my Gewurz and replaced it with a 2012, not amused.

dave_j

So you have this dinner party.
You're a pratt so you go out and buy an expensive wine to impress your guests.
Your best friend brings a bottle of crap.
He fills a glass with your expensive red, downs it in one and grimaces.
Was it worth it?