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Just in time for Christmas, Sainsburys and Secret Sommelier have teamed up to produce a case of 12 Bordeaux with an accompanying podcast by Christopher Burr MW and Ewan Lacey.
Bordeaux, I think, can be the region most in need of explanation to the uninitiated, as its charms occasionally need to be coaxed out. In this world of immediacy, these wines lag behind in the crowd-pleasing stakes, especially when you venture down from the top drawer. But given a lead from someone knowledgeable, I think - unlike some wines which initially please but become repetitive and dull - they can become friends for life.
It would make a great present for someone and is a useful tool for a group of friends who don't go to a wine club but want to have fun with it at home.
Good for Sainsburys to seize the initiative and find quite an innovative approach to wine tasting. But why is the podcast an audio recording not a dvd? I haven't heard it yet but I would have thought there was quite a lot of opportunity for visuals here.
To make it even more appealing, they have included a prize draw to win a trip for two to the Bordeaux Wine School. That would be quite a fun trip, I imagine.
The case can be bought at www.sainsburys.co.uk/wine or buy the wines individually in-store. Many of these wines I have not tasted myself but I do know the "Taste the Difference" ones are very decent examples.
A couple of people asked me what happens when it rains during harvest. As the skies above some of the world's greatest vineyards seem to be dumping unending moisture on the fragile grapes, the questions seems particularly timely.
Water is an important part of the cycle of life. Almost nothing can live without it, and most non aquatic life will drown given too much water. In all things balance, and when it comes to harvesting grapes, less water is better.
Wet bunches of grapes tend to rot. Rot does not add pleasant flavors to wine. Even Nobel Rot (botrytis) which is responsible for the world's great dessert wines is not a good thing for dry wines.
Some grapes tend to have tighter bunches than others, and these are that much more susceptible to rot, since air can not easily get between the berries to dry them out. And air is the key. A few warm windy days following a heavy rain can save a vintage.
Even if the grapes do not rot, they may absorb the water and swell, reducing the intensity of flavors. Picking while it is raining poses a similar danger. Wet grapes add water to your wine.
If a grape swells beyond the skin's ability to contain it, it will burst. Now you have a grape that is exposed to insects and bacteria. The aphorism about bad apples is doubly true for bad grapes. You don't want these grapes in with the rest.
The best defense against the bad grapes, not only those that may have burst, but those that may have been damaged by birds or other animals, is to hand sort. This costly and time consuming procedure is exactly what it sounds like.
Imagine staring at a conveyer belt full of grapes and trying to pick out the bad ones (along with leaves and other non grape materials). Not much fun, incredibly labor intensive and for some wineries difficult or impossible to accomplish.
Even if your grapes survive the rains, the rot, the birds and the bees (ok, yellow jackets) you may have a whole new issue to deal with. Those cloudy cool days kept your grapes from ripening, and now you are faced with the prospect of leaving your grapes out even longer than you intended, just to get that little bit of extra ripening.
The longer your grapes are left out in the field the riper they get to be sure, but also the greater the risk. The later in the season it gets, the greater the chance of frost in some regions, and rain in many others.
Winemakers that find themselves staring at soggy vineyards this week are all posing the same dramatic query. To pick, or not to pick, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler of time to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.
They may not have to chose between life and death, but for some it may be the financial equivalent. To play it safe and make a lesser quality wine, or to take a chance for better quality and profits. Ay, there's the rub.
Whilst in Bordeaux I took the time to speak to Thierry Manoncourt at Chateau Figeac to ask him about his life and how things have changed during his stewardship of the estate since the 1940s - he will be ninety in September this year. The interview will be podcast in the near future (in [...]
California Pinot Noir lovers take note. Wine lovers with a free weekend, listen up. It's Spring, and the wine events are coming fast and furious. It seems like every week there's a new wine tasting to go to. But some are more worth paying attention to than others.
Anderson Valley is known for two things in California, and not coincidentally, it has more or less two major wine tasting events per year. The first, the International Alsace Varietals festival took place a few months ago, and I was sadly prevented from attending.
The second is the annual Pinot Noir Festival, which it looks like I'll also be unable to attend, much to my disappointment. But if you're a fan of Pinot Noir and you don't have plans this coming weekend, I seriously recommend it. It's definitely worth the three hour drive.
Not only is this a gorgeous time of year in the Anderson Valley, but the Pinot Noirs on offer include a few of the better ones in the state. This isn't a huge tasting, and consequently you'll find very few huge wineries there. Instead you'll find a bunch of small, dedicated growers and producers pouring their (mostly) small production wines.
The event includes a technical conference and BBQ on Friday May 16th. One of the guys speaking at the technical conference is John Winthrop Haeger, author of North American Pinot Noir, which is one of the definitive works on the grape. Saturday features the grand tasting and winemaker dinners, and those who choose to stay through Sunday can wander around to the many open houses hosted by the valley's wineries.
Participating wineries include: Baxter Winery, Black Kite Cellars, Breggo Cellars, Brogan Cellars, Cakebread Cellars, Copain Wines, Drew, Elke Vineyards, Foursight Wines, Goldeneye Winery, Greenwood Ridge Vineyards, Gryphon Wines, Handley Cellars, Harmonique, Husch Vineyards, Jim Ball Vineyards, La Crema, Lazy Creek Vineyards, Londer Vineyards, MacPhail Family Wines, Madrigal Vineyards, Navarro Vineyards, Phillips Hill Estates, Philo Ridge Vineyards, Raye's Hill Vineyards & Winery, Roederer Estate, Roessler Cellars, Saintsbury, Scharffenberger Cellars, Standish Wine Company, Toulouse Vineyards, Williams Selyem and Zina Hyde Cunningham Winery.
11th Annual Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival Grand Tasting Saturday, May 17th, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Goldeneye Winery 9200 Highway 128 Philo, CA 95466 707-895-3202
The $85 tickets to the Grand Tasting can (and should) be purchased in advance online. The Friday technical conference will cost you an additional $100 (yes there is wine to taste at this event), and winemaker dinners vary in price.
If you are driving up for the event, I recommend giving yourself a bit of extra time to get there. Perhaps drive up in the morning and have some breakfast before the tasting.
Feb 25th-Mar 18th 2005, Cupertino Outside of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Rhône Valley lie lesser-known regions that provide exciting wines, which often can be obtained at prices that rival or even beat California wines.
This wine was in a flight of 2004s from DRC at the Mornington Peninsula International Pinot Noir Celebration. I wrote about the Echezeaux 10 days ago and someone pointed me to an article on DRC in the Dec/Jan 07 Gourmet Traveller Wine, which gives some indicative pricing. This wine has not been officially released but I may take out a loan to get a bottle or 2 for a benchmark tasting of the future. DRC is not the sort of stuff your average serious pinotfile buys all the time. In fact the Chardonnay Princess reminds me how many lovely Chardonnays I could buy for a single bottle of DRC. But that is why I want to write about it so the Winorama readers can share this very fortunate experience. The nose was very clean, showing pure fruit, mainly of the cherry tree type. The palate was rich with silky sweet red cherry as well that seemed to flow on and on with just a little crescendo of plum on the finish. Over the hour I managed to keep my meagre portion in the glass it revealed some dark cherry and plum. The classic iron fist in a silk glove fruit power and texture combination.
I'm going to buy this wine...because I just think it's terribly cool that a winery would honor one of the greatest jazz vocalists in the history of the genre. (Have you ever heard Ella sing "mack the knife"?!!?)
However, I'm probably not going to drink this Domaine Carneros Sparkling Wine while listening to any jazz, including Ella. Here's why.
I've long believed that even given the range and the diversity of the Jazz genre, the absolutely most appropriate drink to accompany Jazz is something that attacks the senses, throat, palate and body with a Velvet Bite.
No pure wine I've ever consumed possesses this quality.
By "Velvet Bite" I mean, first, that sensation of a subtle sting that warms just as the sting diminishes when the liquid is poured over your palate. You need to feel the relief of the alcohol sting diminishing just as the alcohol also begins to warm the throat and stomach.
There must be a soft clamping down on the palate that does not linger, but also is not escapable. The sensation alerts the senses in a momentary shock like no wine can do, yet fades away, relinquishing its bite in favor of alertness and warmth.
This state, I think, is best suited for listening to Jazz. Bourbon, Whiskey, Scotch and even cognac and armagnac are the proper drinks to pair with Jazz; best suited to provide a velvet bite.
Further, I believe the full affect of pairing the Velvet Bite with Jazz occurs when a shot of any of the above beverages is taken in advance of sipping on a second round of the same. And, how this shot is performed can affect the pleasure of the pairing even more if done right.
The shot, while it should be taken in all at once, should not be targeted at the throat so that it slips down past the palate with minimal contact. On the other hand, taking time to swish the beverage around the palate will also ruin the experience. Rather, the throat should be half to 3/4s closed when the shot enters the mouth. The partially closed throat will promote a slow movement of the bourbon over the palate, followed in quick order by it slowly sliding down the gullet. The technique delivers the bite, but does not sear the palate. And at the same time, a decent amount of alcohol enters the body and the blood stream in relatively quick fashion.
Yes, I'm suggesting that Jazz is best appreciated with a slight buzz. Not a "drunk". But a warm, comfortable, smirk inducing buzz.
It should be noted that after the initial shot of our preferred beverage, the second round can be sipped, and probably enjoyed even more due to the palate, body and mind having been properly prepared by the initial shot.
Wine is simply too week to stand up to the challenging nature of jazz; the subtle, complex and sometimes jolting nature of jazz rhythms require the body to be properly prepared with an anesthesia that both weakens one's grip on convention, yet provides a bite.
It is the time of year for lists. It seems everyone has posted their choices of top or bottom notable events for 2007. In my never ending struggle to be different, and characteristically putting myself on the line, I offer no look back. Instead, I proffer these prognostications.
I have shared my thoughts on future advancements. There is the near certain likelihood that we will see ever more control over everything having to do with growing and making wine. The future is about dialing in character. As well I have glimpsed a future where VineBots revolutionize the vineyard. These are things to come in the long run, but what about in the near future? Here then is my list of what 2008 may offer us.
1) The Internet
This is pretty obvious to someone reading these words on the Internet, but there is more to it than you may think. There has been an ongoing battle behind the scenes regarding who can buy wine from where and have it shipped. Some, backed in large part by the Wine Distributors, want to limit these options. They point to underaged drinking and other red herrings to support their platform of fear. They are losing ground.
More and more wine will be sold over the Internet, and 2008 will be a year of critical mass. I don't mean to imply that more wine will be bought on-line than not, rather I am foretelling a huge rush towards selling on-line. Those already well entrenched will see record sales, those late to the game will be rushing to catch up, and new players will take the center stage (I am even thinking of entering the arena).
Look for big changes at the local level. 2008 may well be the year it becomes common to order your wine on-line from your local store, who will then deliver it for free. As with all Internet businesses it is hard to compete on cost, so it is always better to compete on service.
2) Bye Bye Big Fruit Bombs
Watch for the 2008 harvest to be one where people start talking about terroir and character, and get away from the highly alcoholic wines that have dominated the market for the last few years. There has been a huge amount of press decrying the amount of alcohol in wines, and at least some winemakers are likely to react to the changing sentiment.
Europe is even more likely to market their wines to the US as being food friendly, highly individual wines that emphasize where they were produced.
For the record, I love huge alcoholic, intensely fruity... Zinfandels. I don't look for the same traits in my Cabernet Sauvignon.
3) Baby Steps
The wine vine's genome has been unlocked. While the lay press in particular has been writing about the amazing, and somewhat improbable potential of this, I think most of that potential is still a long way off. The human genome was mapped in 2003, and the world has not dramatically changed, yet.
What we will see this year are the first practical applications being announced. Even these will almost certainly still be at the research stage by the end of the year, but news will be made. Look for disease resistance to be a top priority.
4) The Year of the Container.. or at least the closure.
There is a quiet revolution about to hit our shores. Heavy, expensive, and fragile glass bottles will no longer be the only option for wine lovers. Already we have seen alternative packaging popping up for lesser quality wines, but just as with the screw top, a top producer will take the plunge and change the way we look at packaging.
Speaking of screw tops, they are no longer the only game in town. Nifty new players are starting to make inroads. My favorites of these are the glass enclosure. Sterile, easy to remove and even easier to recycle, there is a lot to be said for them.
And speaking of recycling...
5) Green, Greener, and Greenest
I am hardly going out on a limb to point out that environmental concerns are dramatically changing the market. Organic and Biodynamic are going to be big buzzwords this year.
Let me stick my neck out here and just say to watch out for these terms. Taking care of the land and paying attention to sustainability are important. Ignoring the technical advances of the last 100 years and burying cows heads at the full moon are not as important.
If you like the wine, then by all means support their efforts, but don't fall for hype, and certainly don't settle for less out of green guilt.
Carbon footprint is a term you will hear more in 2008, and one of my favorite ways for a winery to do this (besides geothermal cooling/heating , which only I seem to know about) is to start selling their wines in plastic bottles. Plastic is lighter, cost less to ship, uses less fossil fuels to ship, and it doesn't break as easily.
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And there you have it. My list may be half as many items as most lists these days, but there is more than enough there for you to ruminate over for the year to come. As always I welcome comments, criticism, and above all, investors that want to back my harebrained schemes.
When I taste young Bordeaux from top estates such as 1, I often wonder which could be the next 1, 1 or 1. The later three vintages at Latour are some of the greatest red wines ever produced, and they certainly are reference points for the château itself.
I get a lot of press releases but don’t often publish them here as I don’t usually find an angle to blog about. But a release this morning by the Center for Wine Origins and Office of Champagne caught my eye for it’s use of a YouTube video:
As a longtime wine lover, I agree with the objectives of this group in protecting their place names but I wonder if the average American consumer really would understand the group’s message. Would consumers buy less Andre or Korbel if those producers were forced to remove the word “champagne” from their labels? Are consumers of American “sherry” or “port” really looking for the real deal from Spain or Portugal?
I doubt it.
Back when American producers were using European place names to label their wine blends there was a clear point of difference between a Napa Valley “burgundy” and Pinot Noir from the French region. Now there is less difference in the bottle outside of a handful of the finest vineyards.
So is this distinction still relevant in today’s market or is it just semantics?
Women Wine Writers on the Web has an interesting library of links to women's wine newsletters, blogs, books and more. Definitely a recommended stop. And Jack and Joanne over at Fork & Bottle have a resource site with links to the best books, websites and wine maps. To find wines you're reading about at a shop near you, try WineSearcher. This free service will show you which stores have your target wine in stock, along with the price and ordering options. (A paid upgrade provides even more information.) Don't have the time to read wine blogs? But you'd like to...
Hemingway is alleged to have said, "The rich are different from you and me." That may or may not be, but I can assure you they hang out differently. I managed to locate some photos of the Hotel Caruso in Ravello, to which I referred in a post that I published a few days ago. As spectacular as the pictures are, I'm not sure they do justice to the beauty and majesty of the place. The Caruso is the type of resort hotel where the surroundings often outclass the guests,...
Beautiful aromas of green apple, fennel and mineral follow through to a full body, with bright acidity and a clean, lively and refreshing finish. Drink now. 4,165 cases made.
If you?re interested in designing your own custom wine cellar there are a number of options available to you. The best news is that there are wine cellar designs for everyone from the avid do-it-yourselfer to the complete woodworking novice.
There are modular wine racks that are available in different grains and finishes, with the least expensive generally being a wood such as pine. Most modular wine rack dealers will offer other materials such as red cedar or finished wood as well. Of course you can always save some money and finish the wood yourself if you desire a particular type of finish or color for your wine cellar racks.
There are many wine racking companies that offer crown molding and skirting pieces so that you can easily combine different styles of wine cellar racking materials and types. This approach can yield some very unique custom wine cellar designs.
There are built in glass racks that are made to fit snugly within a rack system. A good place for one of these individual units would be above the table top piece mentioned above. This would add to the ambience as well as functionality of your custom modular wine racking system.
If you want something a little different than the traditional wood wine cellar racks, there are attractive metal trellis rack pieces that are very economical, yet stylish. These tend to look classier than the wood modular wine racking pieces, especially for placement in bar areas that will be viewed by visitors.
If you would like to add a table area to your wine cellar while increasing the storage capacity of your cellar at the same time, a wine bin table may be the best addition to your modular racking system. There are taller, wine tasting tables that hold just over 100 bottles or about 180 bottles of wine, and there are shorter wine rack tables that hold more than 200 wine bottles in case bins.
There are many online dealers and manufacturers of wine cellar racking pieces that also offer custom computer design services to help you achieve the exact wine cellar layout that you have in mine. With many of these professional services you can then have the plans sent to you and decide if you will build them yourself or have someone else build them for you.
With all of the wine cellar design options available to you, there are many ways to accomplish the perfect wine cellar design for you and your situation. There are many wine enthusiasts online communities and the like where you can find others interested in the same things that you are and maybe gain some other ideas about wine cellars and the design aspect of creating your own wine cellar.
I have been drinking quite a lot of 1996 Penfolds 407 recently and maybe that colours my impression of this wine, but I drank it young and loved it, and now I like it even better. An outstanding wine with plenty of years to go. I don’t taste wines blind generally and I don’t care to. I even read other people’s tasting notes before reviewing but I still manage to form my own opinion. I could give you a dozen reasons for not tasting blind and I am sure advocates of blind tasting could give me a dozen reasons why I should! Be that as it may I’ll stick to my guns for now. ‘That’s me in the corner.That’s me in the spotlight…I thought that I heard you laughing.’ I already know I am out of step with many on this wine but so be it.
Full red purple. Aromas of blackcurrant pastille, licorice, tobacco, dried herbs, mint and delicate spicy cedar vanilla oak. On the palate medium to full bodied with blackcurrant, tobacco, star anise, coffee and some gamey earthy flavours. Tight and compact with firm fine grained tannins and clean fresh acidity. Finishes dry and long with blackcurrant and tobacco flavours. A brilliant wine, one for the long haul, and one I am most certainly going to purchase for the cellar.
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Today was the Culinary Showcase of IACP. Like any trade show, you have your big ass sponsors whose money subsidizes the whole shebang and get to fete the attendees, thus solidifying their market share, and you get little gems like… Gourmet Sardinia: These products make my heart race. Imported by chef Elfisio Farris who wrote the [...]
Merlot lovers, rejoice! A new documentary film made in response to the post-Sideways Merlot backlash (read more on that here) is about to debut. That's right, Merlove, made by Napa filmmaker Rudy McClain, is set to screen Tuesday, May 27th at COPIA in Napa. The film apparently includes footage of renowned Merlot makers from...
This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.
The difference in perception of this wine and the Dulka Cabernet we just covered is quite huge - the wine makers from Fru?ka Gora do seem to know how to add some magic to their wines and add a special touch to it (OK, it costs twice as much, but is well worth it!).
Score: 5/10 Price: 240 RSD (?3) Retailer: Widely available in Serbia and Montenegro
I took a walk in a quiet place. In it, there were many souls from ancient times. They were from Greece and Italy, Sumeria and Egypt, Persia and Etruria. The voices were silent but the souls were coming through loud and clear, on a Friday afternoon on the eastern edge of Central Park.
I had just interviewed a gentleman about his life, his book and things Italian. But we didn?t quite make a connection. How could you do anything in 15 minutes, except perhaps to size each other up like two bulls in a ring? Not that it was that kind of encounter. I left feeling the need to reconnect with my roots, so I hopped on a subway and headed back a couple of thousand years, to interview the ancient ones.
Q. What were the wines like when you were living?
A. They were dark and musky, and warm. They tasted a little like sour water sometimes and at other times sweet like rose petals.
Q. Who made the wine in your community?
A. We had families who passed the trade down from generation to generation. There were families, like in Chaldea, who had been working with the grape for hundreds of years.
Q. Who among you were the first to taste wine?
The fellow in profile speaks
A. When we first tasted it, it came about by accident. One of the servants had left a vase of grapes lying around in a cool dark place and forgot about it. Several weeks later one of the porters was walking around and smelled this sweet odor. He had it brought up to the dining area and we all took bites out of this fruit we knew, but it tasted very different this time. And the juice in the bottom of the vase we all took sips of. This was something we had never experienced before. So we instructed the porters to pick more grapes and let them sit in the basement in the same manner. That was the first time we had seen it.
Q. How did the news of this travel?
A. Slowly at first, but after 400-500 years pretty much everybody in the known world had an idea of the transformative powers of the grape.
Q. And the merchants, how did they fit in?
A. At first, it was seen as a religious ritual, so the merchants stayed away. A tribe of women eventually wound their way through the empire, setting up trade with the Egyptians.
Q. Many times we hear that the Greeks brought wine culture to Italy. Who knows about that in this room?
An Etruscan princess answers
A. We had already started with the grape before the Greeks arrived. We had been going on for several hundred years. What the Greeks did was to bring some new grape types with them, but not superior to the ones we had been cultivating for 500 years.
Q. It seems Ancient Romans loved wine. Poems were written about it, buildings and temples were erected in honor of the god of the grapes.
A. That all is true, but keep in mind we had very little to eat and drink. We were often sick and food went bad quickly. Wine kept, and it kept us well and our bellies full. And it made us happy.
Q. Did the grape have anything to do with the expansion of the Empire(s)?
A. Other than it went where man went? Of course when we conquered Gaul or the Huns or the Britons, we would plant vines and keep the local people collected and subdued. Wine had a part to play in the civilizing factor of the wild tribes.
Q. Last Question. If you were around today, what kind of wine would you like to see? What would you make?
An older Roman answers
A. Listen, I would round up some of my soldiers and head to Toscanium and set that land straight. I?d bring them back to the Jovian roots and light a bloody fire under their feet. And by all the power of Jupiter, we?d bring them back to the flame of truth and all that is holy about the miracle the gods have sent down from the heavens in giving us grape with which to make this precious wine. Anyone caught disrespecting the gift of the gods would be crucified and struck down, their family sent into exile. To go against the Divine Immortals is the worst sin one could commit against the pantheon that rules our ancient souls.
Tait The Ball Buster 2005 $15 Wine Label says: G’day Mates, I don’t know what aromas and flavors you’ll find when you try this wine - wine appreciation is so subjective and often too pretentious for my liking. I make my wines the way i like them - big, thick, juicy an deep in color. I wanted to [...]
A magnificent Malbec! It picked up a trophy at the inaugural Wines of Argentina Awards held in Mendoza in 2007, having wowed the international panel of judges - included among them wine expert Jancis Robinson, who gave it an impressive 17 out of 20. This mulberry and spice-flavoured red wine was made by Herve Fabre, who was originally involved in the Bordeaux wine trade, before he and his wife fell in love with Argentina and moved there to establish a boutique winery. Herve's experience in producing top quality wines shines through in this tremendously rich, silky-smooth wine. Ripe blackberry and bramble aromas merge seamlessly with spicy oak and vanilla flavours. Full bodied, yet seriously smooth and warming. This 89 Parker point wine is sure to survive for many years to come. Definitely a wine to enjoy with fine food ... try it with rare roast beef or a juicy steak.
"Wonderfully succulent, rich berry fruit with hints of spice box." (Parker). A must-have wine from this superb estate, once provider of the second wine of Cos d'Estournel. "Blackberries ... herbs ... hints of spices." (Wine Spectator)
Tecnorati
This wine was in a flight of 2004s from DRC at the Mornington Peninsula International Pinot Noir Celebration. I wrote about the Echezeaux 10 days ago and someone pointed me to an article on DRC in the Dec/Jan 07 Gourmet Traveller Wine, which gives some indicative pricing. This wine has not been officially released but I may take out a loan to get a bottle or 2 for a benchmark tasting of the future. DRC is not the sort of stuff your average serious pinotfile buys all the time. In fact the Chardonnay Princess reminds me how many lovely Chardonnays I could buy for a single bottle of DRC. But that is why I want to write about it so the Winorama readers can share this very fortunate experience. The nose was very clean, showing pure fruit, mainly of the cherry tree type. The palate was rich with silky sweet red cherry as well that seemed to flow on and on with just a little crescendo of plum on the finish. Over the hour I managed to keep my meagre portion in the glass it revealed some dark cherry and plum. The classic iron fist in a silk glove fruit power and texture combination. 
I have been drinking quite a lot of 1996 Penfolds 407 recently and maybe that colours my impression of this wine, but I drank it young and loved it, and now I like it even better. An outstanding wine with plenty of years to go. I don’t taste wines blind generally and I don’t care to. I even read other people’s tasting notes before reviewing but I still manage to form my own opinion. I could give you a dozen reasons for not tasting blind and I am sure advocates of blind tasting could give me a dozen reasons why I should! Be that as it may I’ll stick to my guns for now. ‘That’s me in the corner.That’s me in the spotlight…I thought that I heard you laughing.’ I already know I am out of step with many on this wine but so be it.
This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.
Q. What were the wines like when you were living?
The fellow in profile speaks
An Etruscan princess answers
An older Roman answers