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Really BA? [wine dispensers in IAD lounge]

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Old Aug 15, 2018, 6:35 am
  #31  
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Originally Posted by xPositor
Very true. I always find small local rugby clubs (i.e. of the village / small-town sized variety) serve the best draught Guinness. By the looks of it they'll empty a fresh barrel of an evening. Fizzy Guinness in a bottle is - IMO - simply disgusting.
I would normally keep well clear of this subject, but I know why this works: most breweries to something like a rugby club will deliver just a few barrels to a rugby club on a Thursday or so, The beer would have been charged into the barrels a few days beforehand, few breweries have a lot of space. The barrel then generally sits in a cellar for a few days to settle, and then around midday the bar person would connect in all the tubing into the bar system and hope they get it all to work before the bar starts being used at 15:00 hrs or whatever. It would be rare for a barrel to last even a week in that situation, 90% plus of consumption being made within a few hours of opening the barrel. I suspect also that urban pubs with high throughput and not much storage would also be well placed for draught products.
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 6:53 am
  #32  
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In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I should admit to having a glass of ‘boxed’ Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc/Semillon on the table beside me. Now’t wrong with it, in a daytime glug sort of way.
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 7:08 am
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by Ancient Observer
Many years ago, a large UK Corporate had the technology to fill plastic bags of a variety of sizes with wine. There were lots of options about how to sell/display/dispense the wine. It reduced "corkage" to zero. The wine tasted the same from the plastic bag as it did from a bottle. (Blind tasting).
Unsurprisingly, given the snobbishness about wine, the project never took off.

I used to be held captive by wine snobbishness. No longer. I have been liberated from my captivity.

I now drink Kiwi Sauv. Blanc, brought over to the UK in giant vats and bottled here. With screw caps.

(Unless someone offers me Puligny Montrachet or Lynch Bages/its equivalent - as BA used to)
In regards to the effect of wine snobbery, the Trader Joe's grocery chain in the US started selling a wine that became informally known as "Two Buck Chuck" (from the winery's name, Charles Shaw, and its original $1.99 per bottle price). I understood that Franzia, which had bought the rights to the Charles Shaw name and produced the wines, chose to use corks rather than screw caps, which were coming into vogue at that time, specifically to appeal to wine snobs to make the wine appear more elegant than it really was.

This link traces the history of Two Buck Chuck. It's an interesting soap opera tale of wine producing, bad business decisions, a messy divorce, and the concrete monetary value of a name: https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nati...-chuck-history
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 7:50 am
  #34  
 
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Ridiculous...the only thing that should matter is if the wine is drinkable or not. I guess if someone can complain about something like this, everything else in their life must be perfect.
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 8:35 am
  #35  
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Originally Posted by fredc84
Ridiculous...the only thing that should matter is if the wine is drinkable or not. I guess if someone can complain about something like this, everything else in their life must be perfect.
when you pay thousands for tickets, you expect certain level. I do expect a decent bottle of wine when I travel. The comment about perfect life is rather rude but I will put it on the basket with people say things without really thinking
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 9:06 am
  #36  
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Bonhams restaurant in Mayfair uses an Enomatic machine which looks pretty fancy. So it's definitely not always mediocre wines in dispensers.

"The aim of our list is to offer a good selection of well-made interesting and affordable wines which complement Tom Kemble’s food. Many of the wines have come from our regular sales here in New Bond Street and we are constantly on the look out to buy in one-off parcels of exciting and rarely available wines. These can be served by the glass or 50cl carafe thanks to the two Enomatic machines we have installed and we hope you will take this chance to try some legendary wines"

https://www.enomatic.co.uk/
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 9:13 am
  #37  
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Originally Posted by lwildernorva
In regards to the effect of wine snobbery, the Trader Joe's grocery chain in the US started selling a wine that became informally known as "Two Buck Chuck" (from the winery's name, Charles Shaw, and its original $1.99 per bottle price). I understood that Franzia, which had bought the rights to the Charles Shaw name and produced the wines, chose to use corks rather than screw caps, which were coming into vogue at that time, specifically to appeal to wine snobs to make the wine appear more elegant than it really was.

This link traces the history of Two Buck Chuck. It's an interesting soap opera tale of wine producing, bad business decisions, a messy divorce, and the concrete monetary value of a name: https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nati...-chuck-history
Ah, good old "Two Buck Chuck".....and one fine day some years ago I approached the bar at the Continental Airlines Presidents Club at LAX and found that the complimentary house red wine was this very same vino from Charles Shaw. I had purchased a bottle in the past from Trader Joe's and so I ordered a glass at the club. It was still truly awful......
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 9:22 am
  #38  
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Originally Posted by DeathSlam
Bonhams restaurant in Mayfair uses an Enomatic machine which looks pretty fancy. So it's definitely not always mediocre wines in dispensers.

"The aim of our list is to offer a good selection of well-made interesting and affordable wines which complement Tom Kemble’s food. Many of the wines have come from our regular sales here in New Bond Street and we are constantly on the look out to buy in one-off parcels of exciting and rarely available wines. These can be served by the glass or 50cl carafe thanks to the two Enomatic machines we have installed and we hope you will take this chance to try some legendary wines"

https://www.enomatic.co.uk/
If you're into weird wine dispensers, Coravin is worth a look - uses a microneedle to pour wine without removing the cork, and the cork reseals afterwards. Used by Petrus when you order Petrus.
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 9:29 am
  #39  
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Originally Posted by high.and.above
when you pay thousands for tickets, you expect certain level. I do expect a decent bottle of wine when I travel.
What was the wine like? Any good?
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 9:31 am
  #40  
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Complaining about this is really scraping the barrel. ��
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 9:38 am
  #41  
 
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really? this is complaint worthy?
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 9:46 am
  #42  
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Originally Posted by ilcannone
really? this is complaint worthy?
this is flyer talk remember.

somene is complaining about a bread bun in another thread ...
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 10:03 am
  #43  
 
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Originally Posted by UKtravelbear
somene is complaining about a bread bun in another thread ...
This thread, on the other hand, is getting very kegs-istential.
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 10:13 am
  #44  
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Originally Posted by DVT
If you're into weird wine dispensers, Coravin is worth a look - uses a microneedle to pour wine without removing the cork, and the cork reseals afterwards. Used by Petrus when you order Petrus.
I think I'm unlikely ever to try Petrus unless someone buys it for me. Given it's £2k/bottle retail it's outside my price bracket even for 125mL.
At home I have a single unit dispenser. I.e. 1 bottle at a time.
It's important (IMO) to have temperature controlled dispensers for both red and white wines.
To get back to the OPs photo those lounge dispensers did not look as if they had temperature control.
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Old Aug 15, 2018, 11:09 am
  #45  
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Originally Posted by KARFA
What was the wine like? Any good?
I don't know, I went to the Concorde dining and had an excellent Pino Noir. I was thinking about trying it but the presentation was so unappealing that I decided better not
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