Morning: Prepare for a meeting and progress several projects.
Afternoon: Travel to Aldi head office for a meeting, hold meeting, wash and brush up with business partner.
Evening: Go straight from meeting to cricket match. Arrive home 9:30pm.
9:31pm, start thinking about photo.
So. Why a bottle of wine? Well, one of my hobbies is investing in wine. Today, I had a rather exquisite parcel of 2009 Claret and Sauternes delivered to London City Bond for me. This is wine I purchased a couple of years ago, that has finally been bottled, and should be ready to drink in about 10-15 years time, though I will hope to sell most of it before then.
As I can't photograph this wine, here is a bottle that I bought recently. It is a bottle of 1959 Tokaji (pronounced Tohkay) from Hungary. It is made from the Furmint grape, and is a sweet wine.
The Furmint grape is a clever little grape. They begin life with thick skins, but as they ripen the skins become thinner, and transparent. This allows the sun to penetrate the grape and evaporate much of the liquid inside, producing a higher concentration of sugar. Other types of grapes mature to the point of bursting, however, unlike most other grapes, Furmint will grow a second skin which seals it from rot. This allows the grape's natural sugars to become very concentrated.
The grapes are then left on the vine long enough to develop the "noble rot" (Botrytis cinerea) mold which further removes water from the grape and concentrates the sugars further. The grapes then are harvested between October and December and a lovely sweet wine should be the result, that lasts for years and years, with the sugar acting as a natural preservative.
So this bottle of 1959 Tokaji can be interpreted as sweet (Aszu) with the highest level of sweetness (Puttonyos) because 6 is the highest number there is. It is 6 years older than me, and an awful lot sweeter!!
One cold, wet, windy evening this autumn, I plan to buy myself an extra special cheese board, Roquefort, St Marcelin, Farmhouse Cheddar and Cantal to name but a few, and drink this wine with my wonderful wife. If any of my followers will admit to being born in 1959, and can get to East Leake for said opening, they are welcome to join us!!
It's nice too see Sean that apart from photography, music, beer, butterflies, kids, football and cricket we have something in common. Though I suspect you're my master in all. Nice shot
It would be a lie to say I was born in '59, but I do like Tokaji. I do like good wine, but excellent wine is wasted if given to me. Not there yet. If investing in wine, you should come to the Vinmonopolet release of exclusive Bordeaux wines, sold well below market price. Its wild fights over the bottles, but very good deals can be made. Btw, great shot with great light.
Roquefort... mmm. Been there. Admittedly, I visited Societe cheese rather than Roquefort as the tours were cheaper. As for the wine, my vintage is a little younger than yours but that gathering would be fun. Enjoy...
We seem to have learnt much about you over the last couple of photo days...your line of business & interests which I must say are very varied! If I lived near you I would barge in even though I am well before 1959!!! Thank you for the wine information... a very clever grape to grow a second skin or 'fur'. I don't drink much wine these days much preferring a gin & tonic in the evening with my meal.
Enjoy your wine!
I prefer a dry white vine, but I'ld love to join you. UInfortunately I'm 2 years older... Fantastic shot. Great how the dark bottle blends with the dark background
@happypat Thanks Pat, I guess that is what happens when you get to know people. I am actually quite a shy chap, but have decided in recent days that I should open up a bit......I've never been a G+T person, though I do enjoy a Singapore Sling and have been know to mix a mean one.
Goodness, you have such a variety of interests..........the wine one sounds fun!! What a busy day, hope you had a glass of something to relax with!! love how you have highlighted the OK in Tokaji.......great shot!
Is a tokay a port or port like wine Sean? If so - I have a bottle in my cupboard as we speak and I do like a drop of South Aussie port every so often (as I do South Aussie red). Nice contrast and I like the suggestive nature of this shot Sean!
@fannyb I don't know about that, often people who say that just have a diverse set of interests to mine. Thanks for the nice comment. Sorry, still no sign of your camera.
@kellc Hi Kelly, Tokaji is a sweet white wine, though it is more amber in colour than white. It isn't a port, which is made from red grapes and fortified to boost the alcohol content. Your Tokaji would go very well with cheese, or a citrus based dessert that isn't too creamy. Increasingly, wine connoisseurs are drinking sweet wines with spicy food too, but i would drink yours as I suggested. Make sure it is cold, and being v high in residual sugar, if you don't drink the bottle stick the cork back in and stick it back in the fridge, where it will last a while. An interesting little experiment to see how well food and wine can match is to have a sip of the wine before you eat anything. It will taste syriupy and sweet. Then have some blue cheese or "acidic" pudding, and then drink some of the wine. The wine will balance with the food, and the food will find the acidity of the wine and make it taste better. Thanks for your nice comment, it is as always, very much appreciated.
@seanoneill you are right Sean it is much lighter in colour than the other port I have and I will try it with cheese, just not the blue kind, I still cant get over its smell! I will also pop it in the fridge!
Well it certainly looks as if you earned this today! And I appreciated getting the low-down on sweet Hungarian wines. I'm not much of a sweet wine drinker but I imagine I could be persuaded, should I live a little closer and be just that little bit older ;-)
@tulipgirl Thanks Alicia. Lol, I didn't realise you needed to be a certain age to appreciate sweet wine. I guess it helps that I put my teeth in a glass when I drink it ;)) (I don't really!)
@jennywren You just need to try it once with Cheese, especially Blue. A cheap bottle of Muscat from Australia, or Andrew Quady's Black Elysium from any supermarket for about 7 or 8 quid.
Enjoy your wine!