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Drinking wine


Teamedup
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I cannot remember the last time I sat and drank a glass of wine on it's own rather than being an appero or with a meal. I just do not sit and drink wine like that usually.

 

However I know a lot of brits who do, so for those of you that do, do you drink the same wines as a social drink as you do with your food.

 

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No, usually only with meals.   Can't see any reason to drink it any other time.  I hadn't really thought of it, but you're right, it's a very British thing to reach for the wine bottle at every opportunity! 

It goes well with French food, but for any other time, gimme a BEER!

Am I the only one who doesn't enjoy Champagne?  It just tastes very bitter to me.

I think I mentioned this somewhere else, so sorry if I'm repeating myself...... I read in a wine mag recently that 40% of drinking-age French people never drink wine.   So no worries about integration if you're not a fan! 

 

 

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We distuingish between quaffing wines and sipping wines.  Quaffing wines are lighter and more straightforward we drink them on their own and with meals.  Sippers usually are heavier and more complex and strictly for meals.  Good old Chenet vin de table is a typical quaffer.
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For those interested in visits to wineries, tastings and the like there is a new wine group being set up for everybody, French included, in the St Cyprien area of 24, through the auspices of Association Culturelle Internationale du Perigord (ACIP).

First lot of visits being lined up for the new year, just looking for the vineyards that do lunch as well.

Further details from [email protected] 

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Haven't drunk wine on it's own for ages, not since the early days of wine bars in London. What strange places and funny habit it all was, looking back !

From Provence where times, as in hour of the day, just as in any region of France tends to depict the tipple. Coffee, beer, pastis (and more often than not in the 04 region, it was 51 and not Ricard, which appears to be more popular in most regions) a little ballon (not a bluddy big brandy size glass, so popular among the....... !!) Through to the Doo Don where for instance, beer was a little more popular than Pastis, not taking in to account, the workers early tipple to give them a "quick shot" before work !!through here, to our part of Brittany, where beer is more the tipple than a pastis. Prices change of course to what is the most popular choice from region to region.

Getting back to TU's original post, no, we do not drink it away from the dinner table, well very rarely anyway and sorry, have no real desire to drink quaffable wine a anytime (in another post, there is talk of primeurs and I have to be honest, we too have found too many ordinary or even bad ones to even bother too much with them now) but will partake of it in restos, as the option can be all too often, rather expensive otherwise !!

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I can drink red wine on its own and often do but only within an hour of supper ) whilst cooking) or after. I don't quaff the stuff all day !

I never have liked don't like spirits ( too syrupy) or white wine. If I drink lager, I have to have a pee every minutes ( too much information , I know

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[quote]I can drink red wine on its own and often do but only within an hour of supper ) whilst cooking) or after. I don't quaff the stuff all day ! I never have liked don't like spirits ( too syrupy) or whi...[/quote]

Coming from a different time and culture than the UK or France, we are used to the 'Cocktail Hour'. The only time we drink during the day is if we are having lunch out and then it is a Kir before and wine with. However, an hour or so before our evening meal we do drink. I have always drunk scotch and water and my wife drinks Bordeaux usually. We will usually have two or three before dinner. After dinner, we couldn't care less about having more.

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The reason I drink wine and not Ricard(actually not keen on aniseed in a drink) say, is because I discovered a long time ago that mixing grain and grape should not be a frequent occurrence for my stomach !

When in France I have a Kir or Pineau before a meal, then wine. (Nowadays red is more often my choice) I love a gin & tonic but not when I am having wine later.....I like lager, but too gassy before a meal.

If I want a nightcap I reach for the Eddu (rye whiskey from Plomelin) it's 'sipping whiskey' Sleep like a log
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just to slightly change the thread.

after buying a house this year, and having the builders start, and putting plans in motion for a permanent move, the other half has picked now to tell me that she prefers new world wine, and will it be okay to have the odd trip to calais  to stock up !

oh dear, just when you think things are going okay.

good advice on the grape and grain thing, my dad told me that when i was young, and its certainly true.

as for when to drink wine, remember "the sun is always somewhere over the yardarm somewhere in the empire ".

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[quote]just to slightly change the thread. after buying a house this year, and having the builders start, and putting plans in motion for a permanent move, the other half has picked now to tell me that she ...[/quote]

**as for when to drink wine, remember "the sun is always somewhere over the yardarm somewhere in the empire ".**

A wise man, indeed!

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Back to the original question.  Some of the wines I drink are certainly not to be drunk without food (to my taste of course) - too sweet (but great with foie gras or dessert), too much tanin (but excellent with beef or venison).  Others (the majority) are quite OK as quoffing or sipping wines
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We will drink wine with our meals at weekends  - but there are also times when I've had a particually stressful day at work and I come home and will open a bottle of something light - usually a dry white or a rose and havea glass to relax before getting on with the cooking etc. We don't usually finish the wine with the meal so will often have a glass over the next couple of evenings.
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as for when to drink wine, remember "the sun is always somewhere over the yardarm somewhere in the empire ".

Absolutely, but never before sundown?  Which isn't very practical in Europe in the summer so we always say 5 o'clock, can't drink during the day anymore, it kills me.  I love a kir as an apero, preferably 2 or 3.  Or even better a kir royale using cheap bog standard bubbly.  And I almost cannot cook without a glass in my hand, the two definitely go together.  Regular days we'll drink the same wine before as we would with the meal.  When we're entertaining we'd discriminate. 

Someone mentions new world wines?  Ugh, I often feel I'm waging a one woman war against them.  But the worst part is, the best value for money French or, especially, Italian wines are not so readily available in Britain, so it's the Aussies and various others that now dominate the cheaper end of the market. 

M

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My wife and I (Judy - or Phoenix when as she used to be when she could be bothered with this forum) have drunk at least a bottle of wine every day for the last 25 years. (EACH !!!)

We are now middle aged, not very fit but very happy.

Normally we will have a scotch, Campari, Kir or beer when we finish work - afternoon for Phoenix and anytime for me (!) and ALWAYS wine with dinner, which we eat in the evening.

A 'nightcap' before bed.

As to types of wine : depends on what we are eating - plonk with spagbol and Chablis with Lobster Thermidor!. Always muscadet with cold shellfish and a decent Medoc, CDP or Burgundy with a bit of game. A nice Chateau Filhot or Broustet with Foie Gras or Creme Brulee !!

We go against the (French) grain with the cheese (Roquefort or Mont D'Or) - it must be port, not Sauternes or Barsac.

We still find outstanding wines in France for £2 to £3 a bottle (you do need to LOOK for them).

As for our livers (Miki) - long gone. 

At the end of the day: we think wine should be compulsory with both lunch and dinner.

Alfa.

 

PS. Ray B drinks scotch out of a half pint mug !!  AWESOME !

 

 

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[quote]My wife and I (Judy - or Phoenix when as she used to be when she could be bothered with this forum) have drunk at least a bottle of wine every day for the last 25 years. (EACH !!!) We are now middl...[/quote]

Sorry Alfa but I find that a bit of a p*** take for all those that have lost their lives to drink related illnesses.

I have lost too many friends through liver and alcohol related problems and you quoting ridiculous amounts of intake at me, show a very childish mentality. There are huge problems in France alone as regards wine related health problems.

Take a look at all the known heavy drinkers and one comes to mind immediately at the present time, George Best, not so sure he will be laughing like you are at the moment but if you are anything like the drinker you say you are and your liver has gone, then indeed you would be dead, it is that simple. As for Ray and a half pint of whisky, it might explain many of his posts at least ! And I would have thought with his problems he would at least spare a thought for the hospitals who are full of cases that are emergencies and not self inflicted health problems related to alcohol.

"...and ALWAYS wine with dinner, which we eat in the evening"

So when else is dinner eaten then ?

And as for going against the grain regarding what to drink with Roquefort, that is pretty much an old thing now, many French have long discovered Port to go with that specific cheese and the old way of taking a good quality sweet wine is not anywhere near as hard and fast as it once was.

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I used to drink a lot (bottle a night plus) but age, diabetes and the feeling that a coypu has been nesting in my mouth has made me change my ways, so that now I have a 3-drink maximum - they can be anything, of any size. So today that has been 2 pints of Fuller's London Pride at lunchtime and a glass of wine with a ruby this evening.

I also use wine boxes a lot, as they may not be as good quality as bottles but they don't encourage bingeing. I wouldn't impose this regime on anyone, but I do have a friend who has serious liver problems at the moment, which makes you think. I certainly feel better for it if a drink is something you have because you enjoy it.

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OOOOPS !!!

I seem to have annoyed the ubiquitous Miki again.

My reply (Miki) was not meant to be taken seriously (I haven't been taken seriously for a couple of decades !!!)

Dick Smith, as always, is far more erudite than I and his posting is far more pertinent than mine.

(He also shares my taste in beer - Fuller's London Pride -beautiful !)

Also Miki,  Ray B is a good friend and my comment was something of a 'message' to him and I'm really sorry that you think you know enough about him to make derogatory comments when I'm quite sure you don't.

I'd have him on 'my side' any day.

Mark. (A somewhat bemused and pxxxxd off Alfa).

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I've just had another look at a retort to my original posting and a question has arisen ................

Is an aperitif ( a whisky perhaps, or a Campari maybe), PLUS a bottle of wine and a nightcap each day a ridiculous consumption ?

I have to say that after 25 years of this regime my liver IS actually still working magnificently - maybe because it's used to this input and maybe because I don't 'binge' drink - the input is always the same, day in - day out.

I always thought I was a moderate and sensible drinker (my doctor agrees - bless her) so what do YOU all think and what do you all drink ?

You've got me terrified now Miki !- I'm thinking serious alco - or worse - someone with a life, god forbid. (god with a small g)

Mark.

 

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If my memory serves (which it may not) I think the UK recommended amount of achohol consumption is 14 units a week for a woman and 21 for a man. 1 measure of spirits, half a pint of beer, I glass of wine, all measure I unit. An average wine bottle has 6 glasses so you are having at least 8 units per day - 56 per week, more than double your 'UK guideline recommended allowance'.I'm sure you could 'google' the Uk wisdom and get a better answer.

I mentioned that I could sink a bottle of wine an evening to our practice nurse and she didn't bat an eye lid, said it was quite common but to cut down if I could, actually I find alcohol really puts on weight (no wonder, wine by the bottle is fairly calorific )and I am trying to lose a few pounds.

So I have broken myself of that habit....most of the time
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[quote]I used to drink a lot (bottle a night plus) but age, diabetes and the feeling that a coypu has been nesting in my mouth has made me change my ways, so that now I have a 3-drink maximum - they can be a...[/quote]

Dick,

You do know just how to get to someone, you know very well my tipple is a pint of Pride and anyway, I thought you were a Youngs man ? Either way I am stuck with cats *** out here, the French have offered me every kind of beer as a soother and nothing comes very close, not too bad but not a nice pint of Pride. It's what one is brought up on I guess, my locals were both Fuller Smith and Turner gaffs and then you go and mention a ruby to rub it in further!

What do you miss most about France when in England ? and then I can kep mentioning that to make us all square, what say ye !!

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