Showing posts with label drunk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drunk. Show all posts
Monday, October 11, 2010
A Brief Wine History
The drinking of wine goes back longer than written history. It emerges with civilisation itself from the East.
It was in fact the Romans who brought the first vines to France in about 500BC, and planted in Bordeaux in approximately 50AD. There has been much speculation about the quality of Roman wine which is well documented. It apparently had extraordinary powers of keeping, which suggested that even then it was good. The great vintages were discussed and drunk for longer than seems possible. There are records of a wine made in 121BC being drunk when it was 125 years old.
The most significant move in history was when the Romans took their wines to Gaul. By the time they had withdrawn in the fifth century from what is now France, they had laid the foundations for almost all the greatest vineyards of the modern world. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans were not limited to earthenware and amphora's to store their wines in, they had barrels and bottles not dissimilar to modern containers.
Shakespeare was also a great lover of wine and left some of the most descriptive tasting notes of the 17th century.
Late in the 17th century the cork was discovered. Soon after, it became clear that wine kept in a tightly corked bottle lasted much longer than wine kept in a barrel as it had been, which was likely to go off at any time after the barrel was broached. It was also discovered that wines kept in different sized bottles also aged in a different way, acquiring what is known as bouquet.
The wine trade was booming and Bordeaux wines were being exported all over the world. In fact ships were measured by the number of tonnes of wine they could carry.
In 1855 Napoleon III started the "Fine Wine Index" when he classified a number of wine producing chateaux as belonging to a certain "Growth", numbered 1-5 (1 being the best). He based his decisions on the quality and prices realized by each of the Chateau's wines, over the previous 100 years or so. This 1855 classification has remained the same with just one exception. In 1973 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild was promoted from a second growth to a first growth wine, following vigorous lobbying by the Rothschild family itself. Besides this, nothing has been changed.
In fact, the laws Napoleon put in place in 1855 are vigorously upheld today and are controlled by the Institut d'Origine, and enforced by EC directives.
It was in fact the Romans who brought the first vines to France in about 500BC, and planted in Bordeaux in approximately 50AD. There has been much speculation about the quality of Roman wine which is well documented. It apparently had extraordinary powers of keeping, which suggested that even then it was good. The great vintages were discussed and drunk for longer than seems possible. There are records of a wine made in 121BC being drunk when it was 125 years old.
The most significant move in history was when the Romans took their wines to Gaul. By the time they had withdrawn in the fifth century from what is now France, they had laid the foundations for almost all the greatest vineyards of the modern world. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans were not limited to earthenware and amphora's to store their wines in, they had barrels and bottles not dissimilar to modern containers.
Shakespeare was also a great lover of wine and left some of the most descriptive tasting notes of the 17th century.
Late in the 17th century the cork was discovered. Soon after, it became clear that wine kept in a tightly corked bottle lasted much longer than wine kept in a barrel as it had been, which was likely to go off at any time after the barrel was broached. It was also discovered that wines kept in different sized bottles also aged in a different way, acquiring what is known as bouquet.
The wine trade was booming and Bordeaux wines were being exported all over the world. In fact ships were measured by the number of tonnes of wine they could carry.
In 1855 Napoleon III started the "Fine Wine Index" when he classified a number of wine producing chateaux as belonging to a certain "Growth", numbered 1-5 (1 being the best). He based his decisions on the quality and prices realized by each of the Chateau's wines, over the previous 100 years or so. This 1855 classification has remained the same with just one exception. In 1973 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild was promoted from a second growth to a first growth wine, following vigorous lobbying by the Rothschild family itself. Besides this, nothing has been changed.
In fact, the laws Napoleon put in place in 1855 are vigorously upheld today and are controlled by the Institut d'Origine, and enforced by EC directives.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Day 3
Day 3 of the Ashes and I thought i'd try the "let's get drunk and listen live all night" trick.
Wrong. (There are various ways of staying awake - see my guide at the bottom).
I should have drunk coffee!
I started so well, two small bottles of beer, my homemade spicy crab linguine (recipe to follow another day unless you request it!) and a glass or two of white wine. Nothing too heavy, felt good and ready to listen to the cricket or track it down on the web. I felt good until my friend Pierre knocked on the door.
Pierre is from Northern France but spent one year in Brisbane, Australia. He speaks good English with an Australian accent. Bizarre but actually quite cool! Anyhow, he knew of my plight to watch cricket and believed he knew of a bar in La Rochelle that would be showing it.
Great I thought..
Five bars later and after sinking eight pints of 'wife beater' (Stella Artois), I found myself sitting in an Irish bar talking to a drunk landlord (owner of the bar) called George. By this time, I didn't even know what I was doing let alone remember to watch the cricket. After showing him my tricks including levitation and finding the card, I was paraletic..
Day 3 of the Ashes and I thought i'd try the "let's get drunk and listen live all night" trick.
Wrong. (There are various ways of staying awake - see my guide at the bottom).
I should have drunk coffee!
I started so well, two small bottles of beer, my homemade spicy crab linguine (recipe to follow another day unless you request it!) and a glass or two of white wine. Nothing too heavy, felt good and ready to listen to the cricket or track it down on the web. I felt good until my friend Pierre knocked on the door.
Pierre is from Northern France but spent one year in Brisbane, Australia. He speaks good English with an Australian accent. Bizarre but actually quite cool! Anyhow, he knew of my plight to watch cricket and believed he knew of a bar in La Rochelle that would be showing it.
Great I thought..
Five bars later and after sinking eight pints of 'wife beater' (Stella Artois), I found myself sitting in an Irish bar talking to a drunk landlord (owner of the bar) called George. By this time, I didn't even know what I was doing let alone remember to watch the cricket. After showing him my tricks including levitation and finding the card, I was paraletic..
Arrived home at half past two in the morning...Looked up Radio Five live on the web - only available to UK residents..Dug out my old radio and tuned it in on LW...Finally, I was going to do it. I was going to actually listen to some live Cricket..I heard Geoffrey Boycott, great, finally...
Passed out.
Missed the lot again.
Anyhow, back to cricket..
Can we win the ashes now after last nights show?
Yes.
We can win it but we need this early defeat to open our eyes. Maybe England believed that they deserved to win because of last years heroics, maybe they were too big for their boots, maybe Australia are just more determined to win it than England.
One thing is for sure, until Flintoff starts to 'out-captain' Ponting, we won't win. It is now resting on one mans shoulders, he is big enough to do this, come on Freddie, let's have it.
I think this should be the kick up the backside they need. .
Staying awake to watch the cricket (from Sky Sports site):-
1. Sleep - Get as much sleep as possible the night before.
2. Drink coffee intermittently - Have a cup at 2—3 am and a short 15 min nap. Use an alarm to wake-up to avoid ‘deep sleep’ kicking in. Walk around for a few minutes. Wash your face with cold water. Repeat at around 4-5 am.
3. Drink coffee continuously - Alternatively, have as much of this coffee as you are used to! But by not having naps you will be less able to stay awake the next day.
4. Avoid sugar - Unlike caffeine, sugar is not very effective in combating sleepiness.
5. Drink low sugar energy drinks - These are an effective substitute for those that don’t drink coffee.
6. Avoid heavy meals -There are no diets or foods that are particularly good at promoting alertness, but avoid ‘heavy’ and fatty meals in the small hours — they can cause bad indigestion.
7. Steer clear of alcohol - Alcohol worsens sleepiness: it is impossible to stay awake throughout the night and drink more than small amounts of alcohol.
8. Keep the lights on - The darker the room, the more likelihood you’ll nod off.
9. Stay warm - Your body naturally becomes cooler in the middle of the night.
Alternatively, watch tomorrow's blog for my next efforts.
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