• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Get yourself down to Aldi pronto - very cheap Claret and "cheap" Normandy butter.

AJB Temple

AJB Temple

Sequoia
Joined
Apr 15, 2019
Messages
7,573
Reaction score
1,081
Aldi have just got in this premium butter made with Brittany cream. It is £2.39 for 250g at the moment and is a bargain. Cheap Aldi basic butter is £1.99. Cheap Waitrose essentials in our village is now £2.35. My wholesale supplier charges £2 (delivered) for basic cooking butter.

This is salted (2% sea salt). I prefer unsalted but I cannot buy good quality Normandy butter for under £3.25 at the moment as this Aldi stuff is virtually identical in look and taste to Isigny which is £3.70. Butter freezes really well. But it now while you can. I am going back tomorrow to buy another 20 blocks.

And....right now they have a stupid offer of £4.99 for this Belle France red Bordeaux 2022. Normally a penny shy of £10. OK, it's not Ch. Palmer or Margaux, but at £5 a bottle it is very drinkable (or saleable...) and you can buy cases of 6 for under £30. I will be picking up more supplies tomorrow before it sells out. Even if you only use it for making Boef Bourgignon, you cannot get wine of this quality at anywhere near this price.

It doesn't say on the bottle what the grapes are, but I happen to know it is 65% Merlot, 25% Cab S & 10% Cabernet Franc. The Merlot part of the blend is mainly oak aged. The rest isn't but don't let that put you off. Bargain. They claim aromas of blackberry, cherry and hint of spice. This is what I call totes b00llocks but it is certainly summer berryish when getting towards warmish.
 
Sorry . Snaps didn't post as I am doing this from iPhone. Will post snaps later when I get home. But you will find them from the names.
 
I've never quite understood why recipes state use unsalted butter then tell you to add salt. I read of some sort of spat about the French refusing to something British and stopped buying French wine. 42 years and counting ...
 
Last edited:
Phil Pascoe said:
I've never quite understood why recipes state unsalted butter then tell yyou to add butter. I read of some sort of spat about the French refusing to something British and stopped buying French wine. 42 years and counting ...
Click to expand...
I think you mean add unsalted butter.

It's because you can then season to taste. For example if you are making risotto, then you may add parmesan or similar, which is quite salty in itself.
 
I think Delia once told me that the salt in the butter burns when you fry with it.
 
Malc2098 said:
I think Delia once told me that the salt in the butter burns when you fry with it.
Click to expand...
The butter will burn long before the salt does. Salt doesn't really burn, but does melt at just over 800C. Butter is molten at 98C and burns at circa 150C so you don't need to fret about salt, whatever Delia said.

Are you thinking of pepper? Not added to butter, but often added far too early on BBQ's. It burns at around 130C and then tastes very bitter.
 
I know I've gone on about how disappointing the food is here, but they do have very good butter. I like the crystalised salt stuff, but my partner doesn't, I get told off when I buy it. Perhaps I should simply buy a second butter dish...

As for the wine, I've yet to find a French red that I really like, certainly not in the plonk range (and actually when I've splashed out a bit). I used to buy from the antipodes back in the UK, but here almost everything is French. They are very protective. Occasionally you'll fine a box of Spanish. If I go to Limoges, the big supermarkets like LeClerc will have a small International section. I can get the one with the kangaroo on the label, I forget its name, and a mass-produced Chianti, something from Chile, but that's about it.

Some French vineyards are grubbing up, because of falling demand (the young drink beer rather than wine) and climate change. What they should be doing is making better wine to compete with the New World. A lot of people here rest on their very tired laurels.
 
I worked with a brilliant trained and qualified French sommelier about 25 years ago. We used to have a short wine tasting for staff on a Thursday after work, and I took in a half bottle of a NZ dessert wine. His knowledge of French wine was off the scale, but at the French border the knowledge ended. I gave him a decent taster (the others had a thimble full), and he said it had to be a Premier Cru Sauternes or Barsac, a Coutet or a Climen. I showed him the bottle and he asked if he could have it to take back to France, as no one at home would believe that any one else could make anything that good. It was a Selak's Noble Rot (now Nobilo) I had bought at the winery for about £7. Even that long ago the forward looking French were importing New World winemakers.
 
You've got me started now! :)
More and more packs of butter are sized at 225g or even 200g. Going from 250 to 200 is equivalent to a 25% price hike.

And French cream. It's all 30% fat. I once, just once, saw some at 35%. If you want double cream, you'll have to smuggle in from the UK.

Actually, there are two sorts of cream, a pouring cream and a whipping cream. But they are both 30% and, despite the nice picture on the front of the carton, it doesn't whip up very well at all, you have to add Chantifix, which I suspect is just cornflour or arrowroot or something like that.

French wine is always in a bottle with a cork. They turn their noses up at screwtops. I tried to point out to my French friends that the screwtop is actually better, less spoillage, but I don't think they believed me.
 
I wish I knew how to distinguish between the various notes in a wine. I've been to a couple of wine tasting sessions in Virginia, but the hosts were more interested in selling their inventory than educating the class. Instead, I rely on small samples from wine that has been decanting and selecting with what tastes good at the moment. At the last wine tasting, I felt like Philip Glenister in this Gordons Gin advert:


@Steve Maskery, the wine with the kangaroo is likely Yellow Tail. We like the Shiraz from Yellow Tail and Lindeman's (Bin 65), and do not shy away from the screw top.
 
For me a lot of French wine at the lower price point, while very pleasant to drink, taste etc is guaranteed to give me a broken nights sleep. As I type this at 04.06am I have been awake since 3am and only slept fitfully before that.
 
Ah yes, Yellow Tail. Not seen Lindeman's or anything else Aussie since we got here. I did find a bottle of (French) Sauvignon in Aldi once, in a plastic bottle (I didn't realise the bottle was plastic until I put it on the conveyor belt, by which time it was too late to put it back) . It was excellent, a ringer for Oyster Bay, at half the price.
 
Steve Maskery said:
French wine is always in a bottle with a cork. They turn their noses up at screwtops. I tried to point out to my French friends that the screwtop is actually better, less spoillage, but I don't think they believed me.
Click to expand...
This is because you are not necessarily right Steve :unsure: Producers can have issues with screw caps and failures do occur as they are relatively fragile. Concern about thread torque or skirt crimp or liner seating isn’t a thing with corks as they either go in or they don't. Then we have the (at least) three grades of natural cork to contend with. And multiple types of synthetic cork, including those made from sugar cane rather than plastic compound. And other new materials that emulate natural cork and don't have neck air issues. And the bottling environment (maybe vacuum). And intended life of the wine vs premox expectations.

I've listened to more aficionados bore on about this subject than I care to recall. 🤣

I was just suggesting a very good deal on what is in any case a cheap French wine folks. This is similar in quality to Bordeaux wines selling in waityrosy or markyspencer at £15-£18. Decent but not by any means high end. It's a cheap French red at half price and typical of a Bordeaux. Ye pays yer money and....
 
Phil Pascoe said:
I've never quite understood why recipes state use unsalted butter then tell you to add salt. I read of some sort of spat about the French refusing to something British and stopped buying French wine. 42 years and counting ...
Click to expand...
I am the same, not knowingly bought anything french since they used mad cow disease for long term protectionism
 
In which case Aldi's Primitivo is great value at £6.99 - used to be £5.99 when I first started buying it. From Puglia. They don't always have it in stock but is worth buying when they do. I moved onto Primitivo after my Rioja phase. :cool: I also think the Lidl wine boxes of Shiraz are great value at £18 for 3 litres. Highly drinkable and very convenient for cooking purposes too.
 
My nephew owns an online wine company and when he visits he usually brings a bottle. We saved the most recent one for Christmas Day, I opened it with great flourish, all six of us agreed it was the worst wine we had drunk for years, retail was £48 . I am happy to stick to sub ten quid stuff from Aldi and Lidl 🙂
 
I'm inclined to agree. Years ago in my flush years, I had a large cellar and used to buy en primeur. As "values" rose, my willingness to drink this money diminished. Wine production and quality has improved no end these days and although very cheap wines are all tax, duty and marketing costs, there are some very decent wines at reasonable prices and the gap between cheap and expensive in terms of quality is no longer the gulf it once was. Even the wine journalists have woken up to this.
 
I think you will find value. It must be the Lidl Shiraz not the (smaller) Aldi box. The Aldi one is not good imo.
 
It's an age thing Steve. We moved on from France due to the mad cows. :cool:
 
I've never been to a French winery, but will tour wineries along the Rhône Valley this year on my next restocking trip. I made two trips to Verona, and now it's time for something new. My truck will hold about 80 six-bottle cases, and I plan on returning with a full load.

The wineries I visited in Italy were interesting. I expected to see large wooden vats in huge warehouses. Instead there were dozens of tall stainless steel columns with a different wine in each. I can't remember how much wine was in each column, but I think it was over 1,000 liters for each.

The locals would bring glass and plastic containers for regular refills, with sizes that varied from 1 to 15 liters. Flat bed carts were available near the parking lot to make moving the containers easier. New bottles and jugs were also available for purchase if needed. Each column had a spigot for filling small bottles and taking tasting samples. For the larger containers, each column had a hose and a nozzle similar to those at petrol stations.
 
Do some tastings of Rhone valley wines in advance Mike. Some are really great and some are feeble and thin. Several radically different styles. Some fab restaurants in the area as well, especially if you get as far up as Lyon.
 
Thanks, Adrian. There are a couple of stores here with large selections of French wines. One I am looking forward to tasting is the white Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but I have not found any on the shelves.

I'll start in Lyon and work my way down to Avignon, with many stops along the way. For my first trip in the area, I'll likely spend a week visiting, tasting, and buying before returning home.
 
Sark butter is the best! It's almost orange.

I've largely tried to cut out butter to keep the old cholesterol down a bit, but can't resist when I'm in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
 
NickM said:
Sark butter is the best! It's almost orange.

I've largely tried to cut out butter to keep the old cholesterol down a bit, but can't resist when I'm in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
Click to expand...
Can you get me some for £2.35 / 250g ? I agree it is fantastic, but basically unobtainium. I think there is only one producer. I've occasionally seen it in a specialist suppplier on line for about £4.75. :oops:
 
Last edited:
AJB Temple said:
Can you get me some for £2.35 / 500g ? I agree it is fantastic, but basically unobtainium. I think there is only one producer. I've occasionally seen it in a specialist suppplier on line for about £4.75. :oops:
Click to expand...
No!

I have seen Guernsey butter in Waitrose, but that was several years ago and I've no idea what the price was or if they still sell it there (I very rarely shop there).

I think I've only seen Sark butter in Sark, although it's probably possible to get it in Guernsey.

It wouldn't be cheap though!
 
Mike said:
@Steve Maskery, the wine with the kangaroo is likely Yellow Tail. We like the Shiraz from Yellow Tail and Lindeman's (Bin 65), and do not shy away from the screw top.
Click to expand...

I regularly buy Yellow Tail Jammy Red Roo. Sub £7, a bit sweet but doesn't leave me with any after effects and I enjoy it. I got a bottle of apparently near equivalent for Christmas more than three times the price and not as palatable. I've had the Yellow Tail Shiraz as well and that's OK.
However I'm a complete novice, not interested in labels, just buy what I like.
 
NickM said:
No!

I have seen Guernsey butter in Waitrose, but that was several years ago and I've no idea what the price was or if they still sell it there (I very rarely shop there).

I think I've only seen Sark butter in Sark, although it's probably possible to get it in Guernsey.

It wouldn't be cheap though!
Click to expand...
Waitrose used to sell good speciality butter at sensible prices. Even their most basic 'essentials' butter is now 50p more expensive than indistinguishably similar at other local lidlaldi supermarkets, ie nearly 30% more. And for basic Normandy butter such as President they are £3 (used to be £1.75 during covid), £3.25 for a not very special Guernsey product and and eye watering £3.75 for Lescure, which I can buy for £2.85 elsewhere. It's blatant price gouging. I use a lot of butter but I don't use Waitrose much any more. They have become a rip off but without the former quality differential. :mad::devilish:
 
Well, I bought 40 packs of butter today and put them in the freezer. Also 10 further boxes of the wine.

They had a kitchen stuff set of new stock in today. One item was a hot chocolate / warm milk maker. They had on offer for £19.99. This is a stainless steel jug with an electric whisk built in, that is heated on a small induction platform. I've got no intention of using it for hot chocolate, but plan to experiment with it as a sauce / gravy warmer in our little restaurant. You can get pro versions (that are bigger and better frankly) but they are £££ compared with £.
 
You must be your local Aldi's best customer Adrian, I'd be asking for bulk discount.
We often shop at Aldi but I was dragged out to Tesco yesterday and was shocked at some of the price differences for products not marked as "price matched". Doesn't help when I'm a reluctant shopper and get grumpy if we can't just get in and out asap. :unsure: Put me in a tool shop and my mood changes miraculously though. :ROFLMAO:
 
Yes, I like tool shops as well. Not often allowed 🤣

The wine will mainly be used for events. I drank one bottle just to try it.

I'm intrigued by the hot chocolate thing. Its got one of those frothers in the stainless steel jug and looks like a wire whisk sat on a little spigot. There is nothing driving it but it still spins like a mad thing when you press the froth button. As it's an induction machine the spinner must be driven by magnets somehow. However, it's usefulness as a sauce jug may be limited as there does not appear to be a way to hold liquids at temperature - it just switches off.
 
Aldi, as per original post. I bought the entire remaining stock of French cream butter that they had in Tonbridge when I went back for more. They had no more out back. A friend of mine had wanted 40 packs as well. No doubt it will come in again. I also bought their remaining stock of truffle butter (smaller blocks - 100g) that they had in as a Christmas special. They were selling these for a totally ludicrous 18 pence each to get rid of them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top