Clay off clay

Levi Dalton

Levi Dalton
Has anyone tasted clay wines off clay cups?

I'm asking because I suspect goodness as a result.

I have clay (lightly glazed) vessels. Would anyone like to do the experiment with me?

I am completely serious. I'm thinking dinner with amphora wines tasted out of clay cups/vessels.

This is the way it should have been all along. I mean it.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Clay off clayHas anyone tasted clay wines off clay cups?

I'm asking because I suspect goodness as a result.

I have clay (lightly glazed) vessels. Would anyone like to do the experiment with me?

I am completely serious. I'm thinking dinner with amphora wines tasted out of clay cups/vessels.

This is the way it should have been all along. I mean it.

Boue.jpg
My last clay jeebus.

La Tache 62 did great in the clay cup.
Guttarolo's Joha tasted weird though. Clay incompatibility I guess. I have seen some science about this somewhere I can't remember.
 
It's all a big funny until you try it side by side : a glass with wine in it next to a clay cup with the same wine in it.

People so like to make fun.

It's a shame.

You'd think everything had been figured out, the way people act.

How is the terroir of every vineyard on earth? Ready to admit that you don't know the answer? Maybe there are one or two other things we still have to figure out as well.

Don't make being a reactionary seem cool, for god's sake.
 
Seriously now, Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder?) studied and wrote about this 2000 years ago. Since that time it seems that most of the gourmets of all times have considered glass as the best material for wine appreciation...
Yes, I tend to believe that we are not much more clever than the 100 generations of vignerons, winemakers and wine lovers that explored these fields before us.

Clay cup is a fancy way of drinking cider in Créperies Bretonnes in France. And according to my experience, really not the best way to get the "substantifique moelle" of the beverage. Really.

Of course it might be different for clay amphorae wines.

I can't make it to your tasting probably, but I'll try on my side.
 
I have an earthenware pot (akin to a Romertopf). I have not used it in a very long time but it was perfectly nice to cook stews in.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:

...

People so like to make fun.

It's a shame.

...

Actually, it's a blessing. Remarkably, you can still be serious, too.

Tell you what, Ian. For you I propose another experiment: why don't you try eating all those peanuts in the gallery straight out their shells? You are up there enough that you should have plenty of opportunities.
 
originally posted by Brézème:
Seriously now, Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder?) studied and wrote about this 2000 years ago. Since that time it seems that most of the gourmets of all times have considered glass as the best material for wine appreciation...
Yes, I tend to believe that we are not much more clever than the 100 generations of vignerons, winemakers and wine lovers that explored these fields before us.

Clay cup is a fancy way of drinking cider in Créperies Bretonnes in France. And according to my experience, really not the best way to get the "substantifique moelle" of the beverage. Really.

Of course it might be different for clay amphorae wines.

I can't make it to your tasting probably, but I'll try on my side.

You're right. The Riedel Sommelier Series was gifted to as a divine right.

Lots of dumb Japanese people out there drinking off wood. How silly they are.
 
Used to drink georgian reds from clay cups. Still have them somewhere.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:

...

People so like to make fun.

It's a shame.

...

Actually, it's a blessing. Remarkably, you can still be serious, too.

Tell you what, Ian. For you I propose another experiment: why don't you try eating all those peanuts in the gallery straight out their shells? You are up there enough that you should have plenty of opportunities.

See, Levi, I knew you had a sense of humor, recent appearance to the contrary notwithstanding. Well done.
 
I had the opportunity last night to taste Savagnin wines as well as '02 Chateau Musar from clay. I think some other things as well. No doubt, clay shows a different angle. I'm game. Maybe it'll become a new trend in Brooklyn! Retro wine consumption.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
originally posted by Brézème:
Seriously now, Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder?) studied and wrote about this 2000 years ago. Since that time it seems that most of the gourmets of all times have considered glass as the best material for wine appreciation...
Yes, I tend to believe that we are not much more clever than the 100 generations of vignerons, winemakers and wine lovers that explored these fields before us.

Clay cup is a fancy way of drinking cider in Créperies Bretonnes in France. And according to my experience, really not the best way to get the "substantifique moelle" of the beverage. Really.

Of course it might be different for clay amphorae wines.

I can't make it to your tasting probably, but I'll try on my side.

You're right. The Riedel Sommelier Series was gifted to as a divine right.

Lots of dumb Japanese people out there drinking off wood. How silly they are.

Look at what they did with an inert substance like glass; now think of all the fun Riedel could have with different types of clay.

The corners on those wooden cups really throw me off, for some reason.
 
I just keep thinking what a seasonal time it is to be talking about clay. Plenty of terroir and spoof on display at the European clay tennis courts right now.
 
originally posted by Zev Rovine:
I had the opportunity last night to taste Savagnin wines as well as '02 Chateau Musar from clay. I think some other things as well. No doubt, clay shows a different angle. I'm game. Maybe it'll become a new trend in Brooklyn! Retro wine consumption.

I can't believe it isn't already.

I know that tea drinkers are really geeky about their pots and such.

In the absence of any scientific reasons to believe so, I think that the (anecdotal) sensory experiment would be interesting, but not definitive.

I would most definitely attend if I could.
 
originally posted by Zachary Ross:
Clay's less spoofy than hardcourt, no?

Perhaps. But all 'clay courts' are not actually made of clay and the composition of ingredients plus the amount of water can be altered to produce difference results.

Although hardcourt is probably the definition of tennis surface spoof.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:

Although hardcourt is probably the definition of tennis surface spoof.

Huh? Could you define that?

I played for 15 years, nearly every day, on what we fondly called "California Cement". Is it because it's a faster surface? It's not as fast as grass. Definitely was geared towards serve & volley. That's how I played. I could get to the net in 3 steps.

Heck, you want to talk about spoof and it's the oversized racquets that are used now. It's all power from the baseline. With very few exceptions, I see little finesse and artistry in tennis anymore.
 
originally posted by Larry Stein:
originally posted by Rahsaan:

Although hardcourt is probably the definition of tennis surface spoof.

Huh? Could you define that?

I played for 15 years, nearly every day, on what we fondly called "California Cement". Is it because it's a faster surface?

Not just because it's fast, but because it can be so precisely engineered to produce the desired results. Witness the flap about the "Premier Court" hard surface being used at Austin for the Davis Cup tie which was precisely designed to suit Roddick's serve.

I'm not making a normative judgment here, just drawing a parallel with winemakers who engineer their wines to achieve a desired result, i.e. spoof.
 
Ah, you're talking about artificial surfaces. Outdoor hard courts in CA are (were?) some sort of concrete mix. Could be cement, I frankly don't have any idea.

I think that comes closer to clay drinking vessels. I don't believe artificial hard surfaces existed to any great degree in the 60s.
 
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