All change for Highland trains

https://www.obantimes.co.uk/2023/06/28/all-change-for-highland-trains/

On 28/06/2023 21:09, MB wrote:
> All change for Highland trains
>
> https://www.obantimes.co.uk/2023/06/28/all-change-for-highland-trains/

And also tonight

Corran Ferry
@CorranFerry
·
5h
Due to a technical fault the service is currently suspended.

Someone on Twitter (SNP presumably?) is moaning about the Caledonian
Sleeper using English wine.

MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:
> Someone on Twitter (SNP presumably?) is moaning about the Caledonian
> Sleeper using English wine.

Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!

(Disclaimer - above for comic effect; my experience of English wine dates
to over 30 years ago, but is a genuine reflection of the state then.)

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as Sam.Wilson@ed.ac.uk
Spit the dummy to reply

Sam Wilson <ukr@dummy.wislons.fastmail.co.uk> wrote:
> MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:
>> Someone on Twitter (SNP presumably?) is moaning about the Caledonian
>> Sleeper using English wine.
>
> Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!
>
> (Disclaimer - above for comic effect; my experience of English wine dates
> to over 30 years ago, but is a genuine reflection of the state then.)
>

It's expensive, premium wine now, often served as a superior alternative to
champagne. I remember, a few years ago, when BA offered a choice of two or
three champagnes in long haul Club class, but only First passengers were
also offered English sparkling wine.

https://www.standard.co.uk/reveller/foodanddrink/a-sparkling-success-uk-wines-win-big-at-decanter-world-wine-awards-b1086419.html

MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:
> Someone on Twitter (SNP presumably?) is moaning about the Caledonian
> Sleeper using English wine.
>
>

Would they prefer it to serve Scottish wine?

In message <u7jcen$23i96$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:39:03 on Thu, 29 Jun
2023, Sam Wilson <ukr@dummy.wislons.fastmail.co.uk> remarked:
>> Someone on Twitter (SNP presumably?) is moaning about the Caledonian
>> Sleeper using English wine.
>
>Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!

Is Scottish wine even a thing?

--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
> In message <u7jcen$23i96$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:39:03 on Thu, 29 Jun
> 2023, Sam Wilson <ukr@dummy.wislons.fastmail.co.uk> remarked:
>>> Someone on Twitter (SNP presumably?) is moaning about the Caledonian
>>> Sleeper using English wine.
>>
>> Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!
>
> Is Scottish wine even a thing?
>

Seemingly yes

https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/171427#:~:text=Probably%20the%20most%20famous%20grape,and%20many%20famous%20golf%20courses.

On 29/06/2023 08:39, Sam Wilson wrote:
> Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!

Never touch booze but I am sure I have that English wine gets good
reports now. Most of the fuss about French wine is just snobbery.

Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
> In message <u7jcen$23i96$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:39:03 on Thu, 29 Jun
> 2023, Sam Wilson <ukr@dummy.wislons.fastmail.co.uk> remarked:
>>> Someone on Twitter (SNP presumably?) is moaning about the Caledonian
>>> Sleeper using English wine.
>>
>> Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!
>
> Is Scottish wine even a thing?
>

Scottish Whining certainly is.

GH

Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
> Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
>> In message <u7jcen$23i96$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:39:03 on Thu, 29 Jun
>> 2023, Sam Wilson <ukr@dummy.wislons.fastmail.co.uk> remarked:
>>>> Someone on Twitter (SNP presumably?) is moaning about the Caledonian
>>>> Sleeper using English wine.
>>>
>>> Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!
>>
>> Is Scottish wine even a thing?
>>
>
> Seemingly yes
>
> https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/171427#:~:text=Probably%20the%20most%20famous%20grape,and%20many%20famous%20golf%20courses.

Cairn o’Mohr - a rather desperate pun - produces some good non-grape wines.
I’ve had very good silver birch wine from there, and also very bad silver
birch wine. They don’t seem to have that variety at the moment. I haven’t
tried the other wineries.

So yes, it’s a thing, as Tweed points out, but it’s probably a rather
variable thing.

Sam

--
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Spit the dummy to reply

MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:
> On 29/06/2023 08:39, Sam Wilson wrote:
>> Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!
>
>
> Never touch booze but I am sure I have that English wine gets good
> reports now. Most of the fuss about French wine is just snobbery.

Recliner reports the same (thanks, R!).

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as Sam.Wilson@ed.ac.uk
Spit the dummy to reply

On Thu, 29 Jun 2023 18:01:03 +0100, MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:

>On 29/06/2023 08:39, Sam Wilson wrote:
>> Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!
>
>
>Never touch booze but I am sure I have that English wine gets good
>reports now. Most of the fuss about French wine is just snobbery.
>

Last week, I had lunch in a two-Michelin star restaurant and had the (£175) wine pairing.
https://www.thecloveclub.com/

Sample menu (similar to, but not identical to, what we had):
https://www.thecloveclub.com/api/menu/tasting-menu

The dessert wine was:
https://nyetimber.com/product/cuvee-cherie-vintage-wine-gift-box/

In message <u7kcs0$2726b$1@dont-email.me>, at 16:52:16 on Thu, 29 Jun
2023, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
>Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
>> In message <u7jcen$23i96$1@dont-email.me>, at 07:39:03 on Thu, 29 Jun
>> 2023, Sam Wilson <ukr@dummy.wislons.fastmail.co.uk> remarked:

>>>> Someone on Twitter (SNP presumably?) is moaning about the Caledonian
>>>> Sleeper using English wine.
>>>
>>> Given the quality of English wine that might not be surprising!
>>
>> Is Scottish wine even a thing?
>
>Seemingly yes
>
>https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/171427#:~:text=Probably%20the%
>20most%20famous%20grape,and%20many%20famous%20golf%20courses.

"The bottles had an attractive label with a warrior Scotsman on the
front, but also said quite clearly that it was a 'Wine of Chile'. The
back label explained that the wine was bottled in the UK for St.
Andrew's Distillers."

and:

"first vintage was available in 2015, but deemed 'undrinkable' by some
critics, due primarily to some winemaking issues. However, Trotter was
pleased, because he was able to prove that winegrapes can be grown in
Scotland and used to produce wine. He plans to continue in his efforts
to produce a solid-quality Scottish wine."

There's a semi-commercial winery - established by the Little Chef
millionaire - not far south of me (which produces tolerable if a bit
overpriced mainly white wines) and I have a grapevine in my garden. Last
year was the first which produced grapes sweet enough to consider making
wine from.

About one bucket of grapes, might make around three bottles of wine if
coaxed sufficiently. Sounds like a challenge!
--
Roland Perry

On 29/06/2023 20:12, Sam Wilson wrote:
> So yes, it’s a thing, as Tweed points out, but it’s probably a rather
> variable thing.

But the wine connoisseurs like variation. Many countries with good
climates can produce perfect grapes (and so wine) year after year but
they prefer the ones with variable climate because they can write and
talk endlessly about which year is the best.

MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:
> On 29/06/2023 20:12, Sam Wilson wrote:
>> So yes, it’s a thing, as Tweed points out, but it’s probably a rather
>> variable thing.
>
>
> But the wine connoisseurs like variation. Many countries with good
> climates can produce perfect grapes (and so wine) year after year but
> they prefer the ones with variable climate because they can write and
> talk endlessly about which year is the best.

:-)

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as Sam.Wilson@ed.ac.uk
Spit the dummy to reply

According to MB <MB@nospam.net>:
>On 29/06/2023 20:12, Sam Wilson wrote:
>> So yes, it’s a thing, as Tweed points out, but it’s probably a rather
>> variable thing.
>
>But the wine connoisseurs like variation. Many countries with good
>climates can produce perfect grapes (and so wine) year after year but
>they prefer the ones with variable climate because they can write and
>talk endlessly about which year is the best.

Some of us like trying wine made near where we live. They've been
making wine near my home in central New York since the 1860s, most of
which is terrible, but across the border near Niagara Falls some
Canadian wineries make wine that is consistently good.

--
Regards,
John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

In message <u7nkgt$18al$1@gal.iecc.com>, at 22:21:17 on Fri, 30 Jun
2023, John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> remarked:
>According to MB <MB@nospam.net>:
>>On 29/06/2023 20:12, Sam Wilson wrote:
>>> So yes, it’s a thing, as Tweed points out, but it’s probably a rather
>>> variable thing.
>>
>>But the wine connoisseurs like variation. Many countries with good
>>climates can produce perfect grapes (and so wine) year after year but
>>they prefer the ones with variable climate because they can write and
>>talk endlessly about which year is the best.
>
>Some of us like trying wine made near where we live. They've been
>making wine near my home in central New York since the 1860s, most of
>which is terrible, but across the border near Niagara Falls some
>Canadian wineries make wine that is consistently good.

Mindful that most wineries don't just process grapes grown within a few
hundred yards.

Just like the sugar beet factories in Norfolk and Suffolk process crops
grown in Cambridgeshire (but for historical reasons the sugar beet
factory next to the railway line at Queen Adelaide closed several years
ago, and the site is now used mainly for storing trains which no-one has
yet reconciled themselves are only ever going to be sold as scrap).
--
Roland Perry

According to Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk>:
>>Some of us like trying wine made near where we live. They've been
>>making wine near my home in central New York since the 1860s, most of
>>which is terrible, but across the border near Niagara Falls some
>>Canadian wineries make wine that is consistently good.
>
>Mindful that most wineries don't just process grapes grown within a few
>hundred yards.

In Ontario the VQA requires that the wines with geographic
appellations, which is basically all of them, are made from grapes
from that area. So the Niagara-on-the-Lake Merlot I have was made from
grapes grown there. The winery says they're from the winery's own
vineyards and I see no reason to disbelieve them.

Here in the US wine from an American Viticultural Area (AVA), e.g.
Cayuga Lake where I live, has to be 75% from local grapes. I gather
it's common for the rest to be thompson seedless, an inexpensive table
grape that makes bland blending wine.

Then there's Manischewitz which is owned by Gallo, made near here in
Canandaigua (pronounced "Canandaigua") but I couldn't tell you what
continent the grapes are from. Maybe not even what planet. It also
contains corn syrup.
--
Regards,
John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

On Wed, 28 Jun 2023 21:09:14 +0100, MB <MB@nospam.net> wrote:

>All change for Highland trains
>https://www.obantimes.co.uk/2023/06/28/all-change-for-highland-trains/

Why was there no referendum? I would have voted for Serco.