What are you eating and drinking tonight?

[Bruce Rioja]

Quick few pointers for all lovers of Portuguese wines (Bruce et al esp), I was reading an article the other day and it listed a couple of websites for getting hold of the stuff. I know close to the square root of f*ck all about the produce of Portugal, so I can't offer any pointers as to how good any of these links are, but here they are anyway:

http://www.portugaliawines.co.uk/

http://casaleal.co.uk/

http://www.incewines.co.uk/

All new to me. Enjoy.

Fantastic. Cheers, fella.

[Bruce Rioja]

It was quite sweet. Is it siupposed to be sweet?! There's caster sugar in the recipe, so I guess it is.

I have to say that that's a new one on me, fella.

[Lord Kangana]

Anyway, I am trying out the Douro I purchased today, with some Saucisson Sec, Olives and artichokes..

Hmmm. It certainly has its own style, and I'm not underwhelmed, but.... maybe I should have spent the extra 2 quid on the reserva, though the "full bodied" and 14% put me off rather than the price (the cheaper one was 13% and medium bodied), and given the heat maybe I should have gone white (they have them after all). And it has benefited from a good couple of hours opening. Not giving up on Portugal just yet, might give them another go soon. 6.5, maybe 7 wouldn't be unfair.

I await the wrath of the Portugistats.

[William the White]

Anyway, I am trying out the Douro I purchased today, with some Saucisson Sec, Olives and artichokes..

Hmmm. It certainly has its own style, and I'm not underwhelmed, but.... maybe I should have spent the extra 2 quid on the reserva, though the "full bodied" and 14% put me off rather than the price (the cheaper one was 13% and medium bodied), and given the heat maybe I should have gone white (they have them after all). And it has benefited from a good couple of hours opening. Not giving up on Portugal just yet, might give them another go soon. 6.5, maybe 7 wouldn't be unfair.

I await the wrath of the Portugistats.

hmmm... try the dao next... also medium bodied... What did you pay for the douro?

[Lord Kangana]

£6.99 for this...

http://www.altano.pt/red.asp

Don't get me wrong, its not bad, and not a bad price, but a slight criticism I have of the range Waitrose offered is they all seemed to have eye-watering levels of alcohol and were marked up as full bodied. And, with the odd exception, I'm just not a high alcohol/full bodied red wine drinker.

[TANGODANCER]

Give me the simple life. Al fresco barbecue. Beef and pork sausages, burgers and fried onions with a mayonaise, mustard anc chives sauce, oven bottom barms, jacket potatoes and dwarf tomatoes. All washed down with a couple of Budweisers.
Do nicely for me.

[Lord Kangana]

Whats a dwarf tomato Tango?

[TANGODANCER]

Whats a dwarf tomato Tango?

Dunno, just sounded better then the "baby tomatoes" my daughter quoted. "Little tomatoes" do?

[Lord Kangana]

Depends what price you're paying for them.

[thebish]

Whats a dwarf tomato Tango?

A "Dwarf" tomato is simply a small tomato. whether you call it a "baby" tomato or a "dwarf" tomato (though the term might not be considered pc nowadays if people thought about it) is, I suspect, partly to do with whether you are influenced by those that grow them - who generally call them "dwarf" or those who sell them/buy them/consume them - who generally prefer to call them "baby" - probably simply because "baby" sounds cuddlier than "dwarf" and hence more sellable...

Just about any small version of a larger plant/fruit/vegetable is called a "dwarf" by those that grow them.

so (fall off your chairs I will say this only once!)

Tango is quite right - so leave him alone!!

[Worthy4England]

Whats a dwarf tomato Tango?

A "Dwarf" tomato is simply a small tomato. whether you call it a "baby" tomato or a "dwarf" tomato (though the term might not be considered pc nowadays if people thought about it) is, I suspect, partly to do with whether you are influenced by those that grow them - who generally call them "dwarf" or those who sell them/buy them/consume them - who generally prefer to call them "baby" - probably simply because "baby" sounds cuddlier than "dwarf" and hence more sellable...

Just about any small version of a larger plant/fruit/vegetable is called a "dwarf" by those that grow them.

so (fall off your chairs I will say this only once!)

Tango is quite right - so leave him alone!!

Even with the warning, I still fell off my chair.

[General Mannerheim]

Give me the simple life. Al fresco barbecue. Beef and pork sausages, burgers and fried onions with a mayonaise, mustard anc chives sauce, oven bottom barms, jacket potatoes and dwarf tomatoes. All washed down with a couple of Budweisers.
Do nicely for me.

oven bottom MUFFINS!

Sounds perfect. No dicking about with salad, salmon in newspaper or fancy kebabs! Proper barbie.

Except budweiser tho, yuk.

[TANGODANCER]

Give me the simple life. Al fresco barbecue. Beef and pork sausages, burgers and fried onions with a mayonaise, mustard anc chives sauce, oven bottom barms, jacket potatoes and dwarf tomatoes. All washed down with a couple of Budweisers.
Do nicely for me.

oven bottom MUFFINS!

Sounds perfect. No dicking about with salad, salmon in newspaper or fancy kebabs! Proper barbie.

Except budweiser tho, yuk.

Well, we did have San Miguel as a back up in the beer stakes.

[Lord Kangana]

hmmm... try the dao next... also medium bodied...

Well, I decided that I wasn't go to give up on Portugal just yet, so I tripped off into town and got myself a bottle of Vinho Verde (I also bought an Argentinian Malbec and a Navarra as I was in an extravagant splurging mood ), though I'm not going to to get a chance to drink it until next week, as I start at 6 every morning this week due to the joys of eventing season. One little factlet I didn't know was that Vinho Verde can be both white and red, the verde part referring to the green/youthful style. You learn something new every day. Well you hear it, whether you learn it....

[William the White]

hmmm... try the dao next... also medium bodied...

Well, I decided that I wasn't go to give up on Portugal just yet, so I tripped off into town and got myself a bottle of Vinho Verde (I also bought an Argentinian Malbec and a Navarra as I was in an extravagant splurging mood ), though I'm not going to to get a chance to drink it until next week, as I start at 6 every morning this week due to the joys of eventing season. One little factlet I didn't know was that Vinho Verde can be both white and red, the verde part referring to the green/youthful style. You learn something new every day. Well you hear it, whether you learn it....

In portugal i have vinho verde - pretty well chilled - with sardines... Fresh sardines seem to welcome white - 'green' - medium reds... generous fish those sardines... I also enjoy it as a 'fun' thing - aperitif, sipping wine in the early evening - never found one drier than medium-dry... it will probably have a slightly youthful fizz when you open... Where is it from?

[Lord Kangana]

Its Quinta De Azevedo which, it seems, is from Vila Nova de Gaia.

I've had Vinho Verde before, but that was about 15 years ago. One thing I know, and I think I've remembered, is that like Grune Weltleineter, it can conatin a slight "spritz" on the tongue. I can't remember the reason for this, or indeed why the two share this trait. If I have the time, I may buy some sardines to go with it. Does Bolton fish market still have a resonable choice, and would I be able to pick some up there? Its been about 3 1/2 years since I last used it.

[William the White]

Its Quinta De Azevedo which, it seems, is from Vila Nova de Gaia.

I've had Vinho Verde before, but that was about 15 years ago. One thing I know, and I think I've remembered, is that like Grune Weltleineter, it can conatin a slight "spritz" on the tongue. I can't remember the reason for this, or indeed why the two share this trait. If I have the time, I may buy some sardines to go with it. Does Bolton fish market still have a resonable choice, and would I be able to pick some up there? Its been about 3 1/2 years since I last used it.

Fish market is good, but doesn't always have sardines... Don't know the quinta - Vila Nova de Gaia is opposite Porto on the south bank of the Douro, where most of the port wine houses are situated... I had a just brill meal - four of us - there some two or three years ago... veg soup, fish, creme caramel set menu, including litre carafe of medium douro red (obviously not the best but perfectly drinkable) in a riverside place with about 12 covers, one woman cleaning, one man serving, one man cooking... It cost - I can't believe this, and am sure would not happen now... 48 euros - not each, for four...

So you have a douro vinho verde... enjoy...

[William the White]

I had a really tiring day... came home, went to bed for an hour, that tired... got up... cup of tea... answered some emails... while partner made chicken in black bean sauce, fiery fresh chilli, noodles... very chilled gascon white wine, not quite dry, but fine... a little, very little, shropshire blue...

Oh man, nice...

Then watched BBC4 on opera (thanks to mummy for the heads up on this, excellent tip) - tonight on Puccini's top five - of which I'd seen four and she all five. Offered a whole new take on Puccini as opera's 20th century realist. We both sat there transfixed and wanting our next opera fix... think Opera North are bringing La Boheme to the Lowry again this summer... Must check...

And friend and co-writer, who had given up his season ticket for Megson's last season, though caught several matches after he left, returned to fold and managed to get a seat next to me and my father, newly located to West Stand Lower...

Good day, in the end...

[Lord Kangana]

Vignobles de Gascogne or Producteurs Plaimont, William?

[William the White]

Vignobles de Gascogne or Producteurs Plaimont, William?

Carelessly, did not check beyond a vin de pays from gascony, and thinking i'd give it a go...

I liked - off dry, quite fragrant... £4.49... would not queue for hours to get the next bottle... But would open cheerily enough if offerd to me... Might have been a cote de gascoigne?

What do you make of the region, LK? May well be new to me...