Arthurs Anecdotes
To get a sense of Arthur's personality read through his stories, occasionally there's a tip worth reading.
A number of weeks ago my friends and I had dinner with two different red Burgundies. One was a 1987 Volnay Clos des Chênes and the other a 1985 Corton, and what surprised me was that neither wine showed any sign of aging. They were still a rich, red colour, with no yellowy, browning at the edges, (the most obvious sign of aging). Both wines required a considerable amount of time to open up and had a lot of life, suggesting that we had probably looked at them at least 5 years too early.
Remember you can buy young Burgundies, drink them young and you will enjoy them. You can also buy young Burgundies, store them correctly and you will enjoy them in many years to come.
Each year, when I make the Christmas pudding, I simply add the sediment from a bottle of Crusted Port to the pudding and allow it to mature. Add brandy to the pudding when serving it and it tastes divine.
If you shake a bottle of whisky up and then leave it to stand, the older the whisky, the longer the bubbles take to reach the surface.
Add a sugar cube to your Champagne, a dash of Grand Marnier - we call it a rocket and you'll fly to the moon. We can't guarantee the return journey, but we recommend a Prairie Oyster to cure your hang over. See our Classic Cocktail book for the ingredients.
When you look at vineyards on slopes, the best wines always come from the middle of the slope. The top of the slope usually has the ripest grapes, but with the least acidity and the grapes from the bottom section have more acidity and less sugar. The middle grapes will be the most balanced.
In Germany the Rheingau area is often referred to as being the producer of the King of German wines. The Mosel produces excellent wines too. The Nahe River flows directly between the two areas and wine from this region is always a good, safe bet. In not so good vintages, the Nahe Wines (Windesheimer) take the best characteristics of the Mosel and in very good vintages they take the best characteristics of the Rheingau wines.
Waste not want not; in all the little vineyards in Europe the villagers gather up all the leaves, stems, pips, skins and all, and distil this into wine brandy. What's more they don't pay any tax on it either!
Many Chateaux line the ends of their rows of vines with roses, not for the vineyard to look pretty, but to protect the flowering vines. Any blight will first be attracted to the roses. The grower can see any damage to the roses immediately and take the necessary steps to protect the flowering of the wine buds: no flowering - no grapes.
What I like to drink most is wine that belongs to others. - Diogenes
