The best of wines, the worst of wines

Wine with Hillary: An Egyptian wine dry like the desert

Hurrah for spring and with it the resurrection of the weekly wine column! I have finally returned from Egypt, where the wine industry is only just recovering from its nationalization under Nasser in the 60s. To date, there are only four major brands of wine in Egypt: Omar Khayyam, Obelisk, Grand Marquis and Cru de Ptolemees. The first three produce a red and a white varietal; Cru de Ptolemees only produces a white. Of the four brands, the best is the Grand Marquis label, which, if not exciting or delectable, is at worst very drinkable, if a bit bland. General opinion is that the whites and especially the Cru de Ptolemees are not very good. I have not imbibed the Cru de Ptolemees, but from what I hear, I would rather drink the salty desert sand. However, it is best not to dwell on the swill of the past, and instead let me move onto the wine I tried last night.

Wine with Hillary: Have bite with Mad Dog and pop a Kappa

Welcome, oh happy readers. Inspired by this week's spring (or was it summer) weather, I thought that I would try wines with whimsical names. I am sure that you have seen these wines in the shops, and have wondered, perhaps even chuckled about some of them.

Wine with Hillary

The best of wines, the worst of wines

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

April 15, 2005

Before I get to this week's column let me first say a few words about that most basic necessity, the corkscrew. Throughout my years as a wine drinker, I have had the unfortunate experience of having the corkscrew break while opening a bottle on three separate occasions. I have never been so frustrated as at these times; it looks quite bad to one's guests and furthermore, it seriously delays the drinking. Also, the effort required to remove both cork and screw leaves tiny bits of cork in the wine. My advice on how to avoid this situation: don't skimp on a corkscrew. I know that corkscrews may be had for the bargain price of three dollars, but what kind of a bargain is it if you have to buy two or three over the course of a year? I would recommend that instead you take a slight upgrade; there are very strong corkscrews to be had for eight to 12 dollars. They not only have a screw that won't break off mid-uncorking but generally also have the handy foil cutter. I have no problem with the corkscrew on Swiss Army knives. They're sturdy and I can't imagine the Swiss would have designed it with any possibility of breakage. I feel that the expensive "industrial corkscrews" that run 50 dollars or more are unnecessary unless you're opening a restaurant's worth of wine on a daily basis. While you're out shopping for your corkscrew, take three extra dollars with you and buy a real glass with a stem, trust me it makes a difference. Having finished my rant, let us proceed to this week's offerings.

Gramona 2003 Gessami?This is a white blend of several grapes from the Penedes region of Spain. My tasters found it to be sweet but tempered with some bitterness. It has an earthy quality which makes it nice for early spring. Over all we liked it, one taster commented on the fact that "it doesn't make me go blind." One should make sure to keep it chilled. It was drinkable on its own, but I would recommend it with a fresh pasta dish maybe with peas. $12.60 at the N.H. State Liquor Store.

Chateau Bonnet 2001 Bordeaux?My tasters and I all agreed that it was a bland flat taste. It was very watery and led one of my tasters to comment, "Good thing they've learned to make wine with salt water." As you may know, Bordeaux wines are meant to be aged; they're the ones that people buy twenty years before they're ready to drink. The problems with this wine may be attributed to its youth. I was so disappointed, I'm not going to even tell you where to find it.

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