Was Sam Owen Banned?

[TRF_heineken]

We produce an equal amount of red and white wine. At least that is how it looks like in the Shops.

Grand Cru is a nice wine, if you are going to drink a lot of it. But we certainly have a lot better than that.

@Stormer, I'm a big Pinotage fan. It's a pity that up here we only get what the retailers sell us, (Du Toit's Kloof, Nederburg, KWV, etc). We rarely get boutique wines. But whenever I'm in the Cape I always buy a case of Meerendal Pinotage. It's a Red Wine with a very chocolatey finish.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Ewis, don't cry for me, I am quite happy with my white beer and chocolate though I rarely indulge in sweet things and lean more towards wine in any case while I see myself as a guy who'd rather be having another steak and/or brandy for dessert.

When you say Grand cru, what do you mean exactly? I know we use the term differently and I'm not sure what your meaning'd be precisely?

Like Hein has pointed out and you guessed, yes, white is almost as common as red. I'd say there's probably a 60/40 split but the vast majority of our whites are dry which would be my preference. Most farms would produce somewhere between 3 and 5 whites and 5 to 7 reds. Those who don't produce both are very rare. In SA when we go 'sweet' we usually go red with a Portuguese style port. Mostly when t's warm I (and most Cape Saffas) would drink either beer or a chilled white wine- very popular here. We don't do a large variety in white though; and even then that is dominated by chardonnay. Somethign that is gaining a lot of traction though is our tradinational version of cha,pagne; methode Cap classique. Evenings mostly spirits or reds depending on if it's accompanying meals. Generally speaking of course. Many of us do things.. terrible things to drinks (thankfully mostly not the good stuff though); I'm talking of ice into white wine when it's very hot and Coke and ice into brandy. On the subject of brandy, man, I get interested, any brandy fan needs to come to the Cape and have me accompany him to some choice farms. Brandy and reds we do very well.

Pinotage specifically is a very fun wine and easily accessable; has strong chocolate and coffee notes. Personally I like the ones on the pungent side with banana and guava on the pallet.

EDIT; Those photo's though!

 

[goodNumber10]

For an 18 year old I'm seen as quite a prick with my views on beer

Trust me mate, it's not the view on beers....

 

[Gavin]

Wine is such a fantastic product. Funnily enough I am doing a PhD on ancient wine and studying the origins of alcohol. Quite fascinating

 

[Feicarsinn]

Wine is such a fantastic product. Funnily enough I am doing a PhD on ancient wine and studying the origins of alcohol. Quite fascinating

How on Earth did you get funding for that? No offense obviously, but I've heard that it's very tricky to get phd funding outside of the hard sciences.

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

haha wine that isn't a drink

this is a drink

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Trust me mate, it's not the view on beers....

I'm after you bae, treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen you sexy man.

 

[dasNdanger]

Wine is such a fantastic product. Funnily enough I am doing a PhD on ancient wine and studying the origins of alcohol. Quite fascinating

I agree. It is my drink of choice, mostly because it goes well with so many things - even dessert (depending on variety, of course) - and because out of all the alcohols, wine has more health benefits when used in moderation. It does have a fascinating history, even here in the States. For instance, due to the Phylloxera aphid (imported from America), most European grapes (and I believe all European vines imported to North America) are grafted to American grape rootstock, which produces natural resistance to the aphid. So, that raises the question: which produces the better wine - those grafted, or those naturally rooted? Hmmmm....

haha wine that isn't a drink

this is a drink

I like a good single malt straight (blended whisky for mixers), but I can only take it in small doses for 'special' occasions - like curling up with a good book on a cold winter's night, or when sitting around with friends, chatting. It's not something I'd drink daily like I do with wine at dinnertime, but something that's nice 'for special'. (Also, I prefer the Islay single malts, and here they're fairly expensive so I try to make a bottle last as long as possible.)


das

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

haha wine that isn't a drink

this is a drink

Famous Grouse is awful ****e!

 

[Big Ewis]

We produce an equal amount of red and white wine. At least that is how it looks like in the Shops.

Grand Cru is a nice wine, if you are going to drink a lot of it. But we certainly have a lot better than that.

@Stormer, I'm a big Pinotage fan. It's a pity that up here we only get what the retailers sell us, (Du Toit's Kloof, Nederburg, KWV, etc). We rarely get boutique wines. But whenever I'm in the Cape I always buy a case of Meerendal Pinotage. It's a Red Wine with a very chocolatey finish.

:lol: I just love how you'll insult the living feces out of me on one thread, randomly and unprompted btw, and the very same week, casually answer some post I wrote, somewhere... I'm not angry, but it's just so weird !! And you do it all the time !

stormer: interesting read. And when I say "grand cru", I just mean the general notion of an elite wine, not the specific appellations. You know, some wines get those stamps, or special "protected" tags for staying true to a specific way of production and what not...there's "Grand Cru", "Cru classé", etc...I don't really care or know anything about it...I just like to taste wines, wherever they're from, whatever color they are. Wine tasting and wine conversations turn on the ridiculous very quickly, and can be total snobbery in a split second. I just like to taste a wine, make a few comments, drink and enjoy, hopefully outside with nice weather, and then fk the living shiit out of my date, no I'm kidding that last bit was really just for shock value.

Anyways, hopefully I get to taste some Saffer wine soon and let you know abooot it.

P.S.: never could understand whiskey and whiskey drinkers swearing by it. I understand cultural differences, we must be tolerant of others, maybe they have a point, and all that good stuff but here, I don't buy the whole "there's whiskey, and then there's whiskey". It's enjoyable to have one occasionally, hopefully of a good make, not some of the shiit you find some times, but no way are there as many levels of quality as in wine, and I don't think it's as fine a product when at its maximal quality. Never came close to tasting as many nuances in a whiskey as I have with wine, but that's not the end of the argument, just a thought.

 

[Gavin]

How on Earth did you get funding for that? No offense obviously, but I've heard that it's very tricky to get phd funding outside of the hard sciences.

Well I don't have funding this year, but am applying for it next year. In archaeology and ancient history there has been a massive funding cut because the subjects are not deemed necessary or important compared to the hard sciences as you call them. People seem really interested in wine and alcohol in the ancient world, I am focusing on wine in the Roman world.

 

[Peat]

P.S.: never could understand whiskey and whiskey drinkers swearing by it. I understand cultural differences, we must be tolerant of others, maybe they have a point, and all that good stuff but here, I don't buy the whole "there's whiskey, and then there's whiskey". It's enjoyable to have one occasionally, hopefully of a good make, not some of the shiit you find some times, but no way are there as many levels of quality as in wine, and I don't think it's as fine a product when at its maximal quality. Never came close to tasting as many nuances in a whiskey as I have with wine, but that's not the end of the argument, just a thought.

Practice. I'm the other way when it comes to spotting details, I don't see as many in wine as in whisky, but then I've drunk a lot more whisky than wine. I can't comment on the absolute maximum levels at either, I don't have that kind of money, but the difference between cheap blends vs standard malts vs more pricy malts and blends is noticeable to me in everyday drinking situations. If you drank it more regularly, I feel pretty confident in saying you'd see those differences as well.

 

[Big Ewis]

If you drank it more regularly, I feel pretty confident in saying you'd see those differences as well.

eventually...but my point is rather I really don't think there's all that much to taste in whiskey. People have aggressively replied there certainly was and said whiskey was comparable to any other alcohol in that it had bad, and excellent and everything in between, but I feel like that's just the "illegal leveling" argument. Of course there are different qualities in anything in life, I just think whiskey drinkers make a big deal out of the drink. I haven't had millions of whiskeys, but I haven't had millions of Cointreau/Cognacs either and I feel those latter types of liquors have so much more in them. But here it's a matter of one defending his alcohol and the other defending his side, so it's going to be a silly internet debate.
My point is, I may be wrong, whiskey isn't what some seem to make it out to be.

Not comparing whiskey to vodka, but vodka for e.g. also has different tiers of quality but you've basically reached the max quite easily, compared to, say, wine, which has millions of layers and qualities and types. It's fkn potato fermentation ffs. There's good vodka, and there's shiit vodka. That's sort of it. Not saying whiskey is like that, but just putting this out there.
Some products will just always have more depth to them. Chocolate vs caramel.

Say have French liquors penetrated UK customs yet ? Like, if you want to impress you stick out your 15yo Cognac bottle ? I know wine is basically a custom by now, but I was curious about liquors.

 

[Peat]

eventually...but my point is rather I really don't think there's all that much to taste in whiskey. People have aggressively replied there certainly was and said whiskey was comparable to any other alcohol in that it had bad, and excellent and everything in between, but I feel like that's just the "illegal leveling" argument. Of course there are different qualities in anything in life, I just think whiskey drinkers make a big deal out of the drink. I haven't had millions of whiskeys, but I haven't had millions of Cointreau/Cognacs either and I feel those latter types of liquors have so much more in them. But here it's a matter of one defending his alcohol and the other defending his side, so it's going to be a silly internet debate.
My point is, I may be wrong, whiskey isn't what some seem to make it out to be.

Not comparing whiskey to vodka, but vodka for e.g. also has different tiers of quality but you've basically reached the max quite easily, compared to, say, wine, which has millions of layers and qualities and types. It's fkn potato fermentation ffs. There's good vodka, and there's shiit vodka. That's sort of it. Not saying whiskey is like that, but just putting this out there.
Some products will just always have more depth to them. Chocolate vs caramel.

Say have French liquors penetrated UK customs yet ? Like, if you want to impress you stick out your 15yo Cognac bottle ? I know wine is basically a custom by now, but I was curious about liquors.

You get the French spirits and liqueurs in places. Showing off your Cognac is probably a niche thing, certainly compared to how it is in Hip-Hop Culture and China, but some people like it. I don't think I've ever had Cognac, my parents are more Armagnac fans, and I can't really remember the last time I had Calvados. I am a big fan of Cointreau though, although the last time I ordered it the pub was out, and I had a different and even better type of curacao instead. Shame I've forgotten the name.

Tbh, in general, virtually every food trend and type with some claim to quality is somewhere in London (and probably the rest of Britain too).

Out of curiousity, do Cognac/Armagnac appear in many cocktails? Use in cocktails really seems to be driving the spirits sector a lot at the moment. Coktails appear to be the thing... that and bourbon. Mainly due to Mad Men, although bourbon is a very different beast to Scotch, much more accessible, and they are doing some incredible things with it at the moment.

And, well, vodka isn't just potato fermentation. I had a very smooth one a few months back made from milk. But yeah, at the moment Vodka seems to be about making it from crazy new things and adding crazy flavourings. I don't know enough about the top end of vodka to know whether to agree with you, but there is only so much you can do with the basic recipe (although the oak aged vodka I've got is rather interesting).

Whisky though, well, if it doesn't do it for you, then it doesn't do it for you, but there are a crazy amount of things you can do with whisky, and some of them are amazing. And as I said, I've yet to get into the really top quality stuff. But hey, if you don't like it, all the more for me.

Now, excuse me, thinking about all this has made me thirsty... I think I will re-acquaint myself with the cider brandy.

 

[kovana]

Um.. so what happened to my fellow samoan? Did you guys target him specifically?

What happened? He is such a mellow guy.

 

[gaston le gaff]

As far as whisky goes i never drank it until a few years ago, i went to the heritage place in Edinborugh and taste several different types and realised that there is a massive difference between different malts. I now have a collection of malts both single and blended, and built on it all the time although the good ones are expensive, Japanese whiskies surprised me by their quality and there are some very good ones on the market, the Irish malts are not too shabby neither, although i drink about only about 1/2 bottle a year my friends and guests do apprieciate when you tell them to choose a bottle to sample from the collection. The peaty oily whiskies like Laphroaig are my favouites, but most people who taste those first tender to not like them. I think like lots of things, the older you get the better you palate becomes and your taste buds develope, well for me it seems to be like that.

 

[Patchey]

Well next time you're here I can garuntee you a sub â'¬5 pint.

Well that would be swell!

 

[Big Ewis]

Peat: I don't know if they use Cognac and that kinda stuff in cocktails, but here's my answer: I don't give a shiit if they do, and I sure bet they do. And you're exactly right about brainless hip hop "artists" and their diamond-incrusted Cognac bottles or the Chinese.
Armagnac, hah, my grandpa's region.
I'm not anti-whiskey or dislike it really, again, I'm just curious as to its legitimacy when compared to other types of potentially "deeper", more complex alcohols. I guess I'll have to get back to trying different ones and assessing again, as this is based off memory.

I could start another "stubborn" topic right now with a snap of the fingers: tea will never be as complex or deep in taste as coffee. yes there are different qualities in tea but it doesn't measure up to coffee's calibers...(oh shiit...my palms are sweaty now....).

Um.. so what happened to my fellow samoan? Did you guys target him specifically?

What happened? He is such a mellow guy.

yes, we targeted him specifically. We all got together, plotted malevolently and insidiously to the soundtrack of babies crying in the background, and decided we would target him specifically while rubbing our hands together and laughing hysterically, out of control, with large spots of light in our faces with counter-shadow angles for a more dramatic effect. He did absolutely nothing out of his own initiative, it was really just, to be perfectly honest, our collective evil that was the cause of Samoan's temporary discharge. In fact, I believe as he got banned, seven angels fell from the Heavens for their hearts had been pierced by human cupidity and gratuitous aversion, weeping softly on the way down with their heads bent to the side over their shoulders, mourning the forlorn fate of an innocence, so pure, violated so unjustly.

It should be said we still to this day, regret nothing, and all wear our malicious smiles as we recall our deed, and the infernal fires still inhabit our demonic eyes with fervor. Unbending, unforgiven fervor.


MUAAAAAHAHAAAAAAAHAAAAA !!!!!!!!!


....erhmm....sorry.

 

[dasNdanger]

Absinthe...now there's a drink for ya.


das

 

[Peat]

Peat: I don't know if they use Cognac and that kinda stuff in cocktails, but here's my answer: I don't give a shiit if they do, and I sure bet they do. And you're exactly right about brainless hip hop "artists" and their diamond-incrusted Cognac bottles or the Chinese.
Armagnac, hah, my grandpa's region.
I'm not anti-whiskey or dislike it really, again, I'm just curious as to its legitimacy when compared to other types of potentially "deeper", more complex alcohols. I guess I'll have to get back to trying different ones and assessing again, as this is based off memory.

If you want a full comparison of different drinks, then go find a top end barman, or a professor of distilling or brewing, or a big industry insider or something. Me, I read a lot of alcohol sector news and drink a lot of spirits, but I'm far from a expert.

My take though is that whisky is a very complex drink with an incredible number of variations. There is a huge number of possible decisions to make in making whisky which will make a whisky taste different and which will show up in the drink. The complexities and variations will only grow with the innovation going on in the sector; the promotion of different ways of doing it (i.e. Scottish single grains, Irish single pot stills, rye whiskies, expressions using sherry casks (kinda old tbh, but a very interesting one), unaged 'moonshine' style whiskies). If you're not getting it, well, not everyone gets everything. I still don't get wine really, but I acknowledge the objective argument for its quality.

p.s. if you don't like cocktails, then you're weird.