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The Official Christmas Alcohol Thread

Hugo Rune

Hugo Rune

Vice Admiral
Admiral
Greetings one and all.

Today was the day. Very exciting. I even took company to keep me calm.

Today I went to my favourite Wine Store in London (and yes, that was capitalised) to purchase a few special bottles for the Christmas period.

I was good, the Average Bottle Price wasn't particularly high, but I think I came away with some winners for Christmas/Boxing Day Lunch.

2006 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico (£18.99) - We're having goose this Christmas and matching ANY rich bird with a red wine is a challenge. However, I'm hoping the brightness of the fruit and the acidity will cut through some of the fattiness, and I am reliably informed by my favourite wine critic (Jancis Robinson) that the weight of fruit is there in this little number and should be meaty enough to play with the goose. Very happy with this.

2007 Weingut Johann Donabaum Johann Gruner Veltliner Wachau (£11.99) - We're have seabass on Boxing day and Austrian Gruner is always the way to go for me if I'm looking to keep it bone dry. I have a tendancy of leaning towards German Kabinett Riesling (they don't have their Trocken wines completely down yet, though there are exceptions), but the dish will lack sweetness or spice, and I'm not looking for anything agressive like a Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc. Gruner Veltlier is a grape more people need to be indulging in, so this is my advertisement ;)

1996 Henriot (£48.99) - Henriot is one of my very favourite NV champagnes, and to find a 1996 sitting on the shelf at such a cheap price... I almost wept. 1996 is possibly THE most perfect champagne vintage I've ever had the honour of tasting and on Christmas morning with some eggs benedict and whilst opening presents. Simply can not wait.

NV Sanchez Romate Marismeno Fino (£12.99 for 75cl) - I wanted a decent dry fino sherry to sip here and there over the Christmas period whilst cooking, after a long walk etc. Never tried this but the general reviews are good, so looking forward to tucking into this when I finish my meds.

And now the wild-card. The lady I took wine shopping with me turned out to be a bit of a connoisseur. Much to my delight and surprise. When getting to know a girl I always let THEM choose the first bottle of wine, I find it gives a nice look into their palate (foodwise etc) so I asked her to choose a bottle of wine to purchase for myself for house drinking. She came back with...

2007 Gran Sasso Pecorino Terre de Chieti IGT (£9.99) - What an interesting purchase. Pecorino is a delightfully rustic white grape and frankly I'll try anything from the Vendemmia in Italy. The lady in question spent an age dancing around the Italian white selection and for some time I was desperately worried I was going to end up with some random Pinot Grigio or Soave. And then she started looking at the Pieropan Soaves so my interest level rose dramatically. And after 20 minutes she came back with the above, which online reviews are very positive about. Looking forward to sharing it with her later in the week.

So, who else has purchased a special bottle or two for the Christmas peroid?


Hugo - loves wine shopping, especially at Christmas.
 
My brother, who is a culinary arts student, wants to cook Christmas dinner this year. I, a bartender, was put in charge of inventing some Christmas cocktails.

I haven't decided what to do yet.
 
Cocktail suggestions....
understand, I haven't tried these...don't have all the supplies...

Green Creme de menthe will a splash of cranberry juice....not mixed, let them blend

don't ask me, what do I know.
 
Salt Truck said:
My brother, who is a culinary arts student, wants to cook Christmas dinner this year. I, a bartender, was put in charge of inventing some Christmas cocktails.

I haven't decided what to do yet.
Click to expand...

A pretty safe holiday drink is the International Incident: Amaretto, coffee liqueur, Irish creme liqueur, hazelnut liqueur and vodka. Tastes like Christmas.

(The name stems from that if you go by brand names -- DiSaronno, Kahlua, Baileys, Frangelico and Smirnoff / Stoli / Absolut / what have you -- you've mixed the liquors of five different countries.)
 
^That sounds like it could be tasty.

I was browsing the liquor department last night and noticed Godiva's White Chocolate liqueur. I wanna do something with it because it sounds damn delicious.
 
JKTim said:
Salt Truck said:
My brother, who is a culinary arts student, wants to cook Christmas dinner this year. I, a bartender, was put in charge of inventing some Christmas cocktails.

I haven't decided what to do yet.
Click to expand...

A pretty safe holiday drink is the International Incident: Amaretto, coffee liqueur, Irish creme liqueur, hazelnut liqueur and vodka. Tastes like Christmas.

(The name stems from that if you go by brand names -- DiSaronno, Kahlua, Baileys, Frangelico and Smirnoff / Stoli / Absolut / what have you -- you've mixed the liquors of five different countries.)
Click to expand...

Barkeep, set me up! :drool:
 
I just picked up a case of the Campo Ai Sassi Rosso di Montalcino, to give some to customers as a Christmas present and some to my lovely lady and I to enjoy over the holidays. Nothing better than a nice red beside the fire on a cold winter night.
 
Hugo Rune said:
So, who else has purchased a special bottle or two for the Christmas period?
Click to expand...

Well, I don't know one end of a wine bottle from another. But I did pick up a bottle of Bulleit bourbon--a very nice, and surprisingly affordable whiskey that has recently been beating small-batch bourbons like Knob Creek in competitions. It has a distinctive taste, due in part to its high rye content, and mixes very well.
 
The traditional Christmas drink for the "adults" at all our family functions was:

* eggnog
* whipped cream (usually Cool Whip)
* Peppermint Schnapps

I'm thinking of trying it out for the first time, but SPOCKED hates nearly all those ingredients :lol:
 
Rangifer said:
Hugo Rune said:
So, who else has purchased a special bottle or two for the Christmas period?
Click to expand...

Well, I don't know one end of a wine bottle from another. But I did pick up a bottle of Bulleit bourbon--a very nice, and surprisingly affordable whiskey that has recently been beating small-batch bourbons like Knob Creek in competitions. It has a distinctive taste, due in part to its high rye content, and mixes very well.
Click to expand...
I've been drinking this for the past 3-4 years. Wonderfully moreish bourbon which thankfully doesn't play the sweetness card too much. Fantastic value too over here at £18, and brilliant on its own or as a mixer (my preferred bourbon mixer in fact). I've been trying to sing the praises of this brand for some time, especially to the Jack Daniel's group. Though for the neat drink I do prefer me some Woodford's.


Hugo - Nice to find a bourbonite on here :)
 
I picked up up two bottles of an '01 BV Georges de Latour for this season. One for my birthday this week, and one for around Christmas.
 
Hugo Rune said:
I've been trying to sing the praises of this brand for some time, especially to the Jack Daniel's group.
Click to expand...

You don't have to convince me. Jack Daniel's tastes like gasoline, with a hint of banana. They call it "sippin' whiskey" because if you take more than a sip, you'll puke it up.

Though for the neat drink I do prefer me some Woodford's.
Click to expand...

Woodford's is very nice, too. But you know--I actually prefer Wild Turkey, partly for the taste, but mostly for sentimental reasons.

Hugo - Nice to find a bourbonite on here :)
Click to expand...

Likewise!
 
Well, I couldn't help myself this afternoon and found myself in another wine store... and £25 light I came away with:

2006 Murdoch James Martinborough Blue Rock Cabernet Franc (£14.99) - I love Cab Franc, a really overlooked grape variety on the whole, and this just looked like a winner. The North Island of New Zealand is producing some wonderfully ripe Cabernet Sauvignons and Shiraz's these days, so to see a grape that needs a whole lot less ripening than those two put in as a single varietal got me a little excited. It was the shop owners favourite sub £20 wine of the year and almost didn't sell it to me as he had to break his final case - the case of 12 bottles he admitted he wanted to buy for himself after the Christmas rush

2007 Terredora Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Bianco (£10.99) - another italian white, another almost unheard of grape variety, this time Caprettona grown on the slopes of Mt Vesuvius. Really looking forward to the minerality of this and its austerity. Again, hopefully a winner.

Come on Holdfast, you must have picked up something for Christmas by now...


Hugo - thinks he will stop buying now. Maybe
 
Salt Truck said:
I was browsing the liquor department last night and noticed Godiva's White Chocolate liqueur. I wanna do something with it because it sounds damn delicious.
Click to expand...

I like a nice chocolate martini made with Godiva Chocolate Liqueur. I wonder how it would taste with the white chocolate version?

Hugo Rune said:
Hugo - Nice to find a bourbonite on here :)
Click to expand...

Bourbon is my winter alcohol of choice. I do like the Bulleit and usually have Maker's Mark, Knob Creek and Michters on hand as well.
 
^ Gin goes with a surprising number of things. I remember I loved a coffee martini I tried. It should have been horrendous, but it was really quite good, in an unusual sort of way.

I always buy a few bottles of Baileys when shops begin the Christmas price war (I just cannot get enough of the damn thing). Tesco were doing the litre bottle for £8 - previously over £17.
Naturally, they were out of stock by the time I got there. I wonder why... :lol:
 
Captain Intrepid said:
What Would Santa Do? said:
Salt Truck said:
I was browsing the liquor department last night and noticed Godiva's White Chocolate liqueur. I wanna do something with it because it sounds damn delicious.
Click to expand...

I like a nice chocolate martini made with Godiva Chocolate Liqueur. I wonder how it would taste with the white chocolate version?
Click to expand...

Chocolate and gin? That seems like an odd combination...
Click to expand...
Chocolate martinis are typically made with vodka, not gin.
 
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