Somelier of The Week Award

[Derek T.]

I have just spent a week travelling, staying in a different hotel every night. Apart from the general torture associated with living out of a suitcase there is the pain of trying to find a decent glass of port to ease ones self into a good nights sleep. I came across a very formal looking Somelier in the restaurant of a 4* coutry house hotel in Yorkshire.

Our conversation went like this:

Derek: Is that Vintage Port you have in that [full] decanter over there?

Somelier: Yes, Sir, it is Vintage Port

Derek: Can you tell me which Vintage Port it is?

Somelier: I am almost certain it is Dow's, Sir

Derek: Do you happen to know which Vintage it is from?

Somelier: No, Sir, sorry

Derek: Can I ask when you decanted it?

Somelier: Very recently, Sir, no more than two weeks ago

Derek: Can I have a pint of Guinness, please?


Aaaaaaaaargh !!!!!

It never fails to amaze me that it is almost impossible to find a Somelier in a UK hotel who knows anything at all about VP.

Derek

[Robert O.]

I travel 2-3 days a week and have long since given up trying to find VP properly served. I stick to the aged tawnies.

That said, I've had two good experiences. The first was with a 1994 Graham's at Aria in Chicago. I have no idea when it was opened or decanted but it was the first VP I ever had and it was delicious. In fact, it was what got me into VP in the first place. I had a dream about it that night.

The second experience I had was also in Chicago. I was sitting out a three hour delay at the airport and saw that they advertised what I think was a 1994 Warre. However, they had mislabled the menu and it turned out to be a 1985 Graham's. They opened the bottle in front of me and because I had such a long wait, I was able to let it sit for a a couple of hours. It was very nice. Probably would have been better a few hours later, but great for a night being stuck on the road.

But I am sure those who came after me got an experience like yours Derek.

Bob

[Todd Pettinger]

At which point Derek's response should have been "Well blimey, since its ruint, I'll give ya a bob for the rest of the bottle then lad."

Am I close at least Derek???

Todd

[Derek T.]

At which point Derek's response should have been "Well blimey, since its ruint, I'll give ya a bob for the rest of the bottle then lad."

Am I close at least Derek???

Todd

Close, Todd, but if I used the word "blimey" in my homeland my entrails would be turned into haggis before I could take the first sip

There would also have to be at least 4 expletives in a sentence that long to allow a Scottish Somelier to understand it - something along the lines of "Fur f*** sake, geez the f***in' thing oor here ya big f***in' Jessie an a'll doon the f***er in one go"

Derek

[Todd Pettinger]

Oh what was I thinking? Blimey is WAY more English than Scottish isn't it??? Bad Todd... BAD Todd! :wall:

[Derek T.]

Blimey is WAY more English than Scottish isn't it???

It's not more English, it just is English. I don't think I have ever used the word or heard it used in conversation by natives north of the border. But, now that I have given you the correct version you can use it when you visit Scotland on holiday

Derek

[Todd Pettinger]

Blimey is WAY more English than Scottish isn't it???

It's not more English, it just is English. I don't think I have ever used the word or heard it used in conversation by natives north of the border. But, now that I have given you the correct version you can use it when you visit Scotland on holiday

Derek

Hmmm, and have my entrails

"turned into hagis before I could take the first sip"

??? Thanks but I'll pass on that one!!!

Note to self: Never take travel tips for visiting *ANYWHERE* but particularly Scotland, from Derek!

[Julian D. A. Wiseman]

Come on, tell us! What vintage was the Guinness?

[Andy Velebil]

"Fur f*** sake, geez the f***in' thing oor here ya big f***in' Jessie an a'll doon the f***er in one go"

Derek

[Alan C.]

Blimey!

Todd, my dear friend,

The only time you ever hear anyone using that word, you will find you are watching that great thespian Dick Van Dyke doing his great Cocker-Knee accent for the delictation of the Americans.
His Lawrence Olivier type performances still bring a tear to my eye.

[Derek T.]

Blimey!

Todd, my dear friend,

The only time you ever hear anyone using that word, you will find you are watching that great thespian Dick Van Dyke doing his great Cocker-Knee accent for the delictation of the Americans.
His Lawrence Olivier type performances still bring a tear to my eye.

To all those who have not visited London, I have to tell you that this isn't true. ALL Londoners talk exactly like Dick Van Dyke - and so does Alan - he even keeps his port under his Apples 'n' Pears

Derek

[Derek T.]

Come on, tell us! What vintage was the Guinness?

It was very fresh, I'd say late 2006 or early 2007, probably the latter.

Hmmm, and have my entrails turned into haggis before I could take the first sip

??? Thanks but I'll pass on that one!!!

Note to self: Never take travel tips for visiting *ANYWHERE* but particularly Scotland, from Derek!

Don't worry Todd, we don't do this to tourists and we only feed that particular brand of haggis to Englishmen

Derek

[Andy Velebil]

Just to help those understand...courtesy of Todds English to American translator.

blimey: expl. A nice mild expletive, blimey is (in terms of rudeness) on a par with "wow" or "my goodness". It was originally part of the phrase "cor blimey", which was apparently a contraction of "god blind me" which was in turn an abbreviated version of "may god blind me if it is not so". To prevent alarm, though, it's worth saying that I've used this word a number of times and so far god has made no attempt whatsoever to blind me, whether what I was saying was true or not. Nowadays "cor blimey" is much rarer, but still used.

bob: n. Before the UK's currency system was decimalised in 1972 (or was it '71) and became simply "pounds and pence", we had "pounds, shillings and pence". Like all crappy Imperial measures there wasn't ten or a hundred of anything in anything and good riddance to the lot of it. A bob was a Shilling, and these days it's still vaguely recognised as meaning five pence. Only vaguely, though.

[Julian D. A. Wiseman]

Before the UK's currency system was decimalised in 1972 (or was it '71) and became simply "pounds and pence", we had "pounds, shillings and pence". Like all crappy Imperial measures there wasn't ten or a hundred of anything in anything and good riddance to the lot of it. A bob was a Shilling, and these days it's still vaguely recognised as meaning five pence. Only vaguely, though.

Four farthings to the penny; twelve pennies to the shilling; twenty shillings to the pound. Because each of these ‘columns’ operated in a different base, mental arithmetic was hugely easier. The column working modulo 12 didn’t get muddled with the column modulo 20. A much more human-friendly system, replaced with something easier for and requiring electronic calculators.

[Moses Botbol]

Never had a good experience with VP's at restaraunts. Most do not even know to decant them, never mind the open shelf life. Tawnies are the way to go if dining out.

I went to WD50 in NYC last week and they had an excellent selection of Madeira and Sherry.

Restaraunts should carry Madeira instead of port, serving it correct is a no brainer.

[Julian D. A. Wiseman]

WD50? Not obviously on the wine list on the web.

[Moses Botbol]

WD50? Not obviously on the wine list on the web.

Ya, I suprised to see a few Madeiras on the shelf.

[Scott Anaya]

This experience reminded me of a post I was going to do a few weeks back, but I kept getting knocked off the site and unable to post for a while. Maybe this is more of a topic of discussion or comment that i'd like to see the Trade take on in a future newsletter.

I could see the benefit of the Trade Association taking on an education program to train restaraunts and bars in proper storage, decanting, serving, and storing "by-the-glass" bottles properly. Maybe they train the trainers so that importers pass along this knowledge to distributors to bars, etc... Maybe an "owners" manual can be created for every case of Port.

I mean we all know the trick of decanting a bottle, storing half of it in a 375mL bottle in the fridge for keeping it fresh, why don't professional wine serving establishments?

I hate sending back bad glasses of Port (but I do) because I know all that will do is perpetuate the fact that Port that does not sell quickly and goes bad is a profit killer. I think establishments that have attempted to stock Port have likely been burned in this manner and many other places just don't know how to effectively stock Port.

[Julian D. A. Wiseman]

Vintage port is a difficult wine to serve. It must be opened in advance, and then consumed within a very small number of days. Deep down, VP is highly unsuitable for restaurants. I don’t order it there, and think that it is typically a waste of a worthwhile bottle. I’m in favour of encouraging restaurateurs to serve sherry, or Madeira, or even to have a decent collection of malts. VP is round peg that just doesn’t fit in a restaurant’s square-shaped hole.

[Moses Botbol]

I would be happy to just have wine (red, white, port, etc...) served at the correct temperature. Red's are piss warm, whites are as cold as canned beer, and we all know how port is represented...

They immediately pour out half the bottle into the glasses, and hardly have a decantor ready...