TagCloud:
Wine Ebooks:
| | The Complete Grape Growers Guide. |  | | A Complete Guide For Growing Grapes. Converts Very Well At A Reasonable Price! Growing Grapes And Making Wine Is A Very Popular Topic Right Now.
| | | |
| | Fool-Proof Wine Values. | | | Learn How To Easily Find Wines Of $50 Quality For $10 Or Less. Impress Friends With Your Expanded Wine Knowledge. Eliminate Your Dependence On Wine Salespeople. And Take The Hassle Out Of Buying Wine.
| | | |
| | Making Wine From Home. | | | A Fun And Very Informative Book On Home Wine Making. The De Facto Standard For All Home Wine Enthusiasts With Recipes, Advice And Tricks.
| | | |
Blogs & Sites:
 Tecnorati
|
|
| [12/29/2007, 15:31] | Recent Tasting Notes | | 2004 Bass Phillip “Estate” Chardonnay:
Cloudy light golden colour. Oatmeal, nutty characters, soap and citrus peel on the nose. Rich and round palate with acidity that seems a little bit prickly. I think it was better than I’ve made it sound, but I can’t muster a whole lot of enthusiasm for it.
87/100 2007 Primo Estate “d’Elena” Pinot Grigio:
Very pale colour. Banana and tropical fruits (mostly pineapple) aromas. Texturally interesting, but there is also a bit of alcohol heat on the palate that I found distracting.
85/100 1997 Paringa “Estate” Pinot Noir:
Dark ruby colour, a little bit murky as well I thought. Cherry, raspberry, stalks and damp soil. The acid is sticking out, but I thought the rest of the flavour on the palate carried well. May have looked a bit better a couple of years ago.
87/100 1986 Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses:
Light red, with some orange tints around the rim. Yeasty and baked aromas on opening, we feared that it may be dead. We moved on to another wine to give this some time to see what happened and the recovery was pleasing. After around 60 minutes there were some earthy, dusty aromas coming through. Then another look after 90 minutes showed some spice, cherry and perfume like aromas. Palate never shed its dominant tannin, but it was quite drinkable anyway. It didn’t hit any great heights, but the recovery was remarkable and it ended up a nice drink.
87/100 1996 Domaine Bart Bonnes Mares Grand Cru:
Medium purple coloured. Nose was very shy throughout the time we spent with it - there were fleeting scents of dark cherry, mocha, rose petal and some other floral notes. The palate is lovely though, it is quite youthful but layered, balanced and very long. Plenty of potential in this wine over the next 10 years.
91/100 1977 Graham Vintage Port: (375ml)
Light crimson colour. Earth, spice, roast nuts and mint on the nose. There is a pleasing brown sugar style flavour to the palate, but it is noticeably lacking in depth. Not really what I expected in terms of richness and complexity, would like to know how it looked on following nights.
88/100 | | | |
| [03/17/2008, 23:32] | Wine Tasting: Bordeaux 2005 | | | Jack and Joanne taste more than 40 of the better Bordeaux wines from the heralded 2005 vintage. | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | Deal Me In | |  Never play cards with any man named 'Doc.' Never eat at any place called 'Mom's.' And never, ever, no matter what else you do in your life, sleep with anyone whose troubles are worse than your own. -- Nelson Algren Without man's innate urge to take risks, we'd all still be sitting around drawing on cave walls, grunting and belching. Fortunately, our daring ancestors ventured forth into the dangerous world and created civilization. Which means today we can take our risks in small doses, like sitting around a dining table playing poker... and grunting and belching. If you haven't smugly riffled a newly won stack of poker chips in a smoke-filled room surrounded by smelly guys swilling beer and cursing, then you haven't lived. You can leave the martinis, Baccarat and double-breasted dinner jackets to James Bond and his crumbled-British-Empire ilk. If you're an American man, playing poker's part of your heritage. Our nation was founded on the idea of taking chances. This country was built by a bunch of rowdy guys who liked drinking and taking risks, and didn't like being told what to do. This is precisely why poker -- that most American of card games -- couldn't have been invented anywhere else. The father of our country, George Washington, who also happened to brew his own beer, was known to host card games in his tent during the Revolutionary War -- a war in which, it's important to remember, our opponent held the far better cards. Against all odds, those stalwart colonial souls managed to back up their bluff and rake in the rich pot that included freedom, democracy, self-determination and the deed to several hundred thousand acres of prime real estate. Some years later (in the mid-1800s), poker as we know it today was invented in the American West. So, if our founding fathers hadn't played and won, we'd be as lacking in cultural identity as our floundering Canadian cohorts up north, eh? (Note to Canadians: Please address your letters to the editor, RE: Canadian Cultural Identity Crisis.) It's estimated some 60 million Americans play poker regularly. Some play for their love of gambling, some for their love of money, some to escape the humdrum routine of their lives, and some just for their fondness for camaraderie. Whether you win or lose, whether you know when to hold 'em or know when to fold 'em, gathering around a table with a group of pals, a deck of cards, stacks of colored chips, and some eats and drinks is one of the hallowed traditions of the American male. The human instinct to gamble with fate is probably as old as...well, human instinct. The Ancient Greeks believed the lofty Gods of Mount Olympus threw dice to divide up the world. (Crude dice have been found in most ancient civilizations.) Roman soldiers cast lots for Jesus' robes. Julius Caesar conquered Gaul to pay off gambling debts. It's a fair bet that amoebas floundering in the early primordial soup wagered on who'd be the first to make it out of the bog. Poker differs greatly from the games of pure chance in casinos. Gamblers, whether they bet on the roll of the dice or the spin of a roulette wheel, are generally betting against the odds. Smart gamblers know this, but it hasn't stopped gaming from becoming one of the most successful business enterprises. Skillful poker players use their knowledge to wager only on favorable odds. Gamblers are romantics looking forward to what might happen. Accomplished poker players are realists betting on what should happen. Of course in poker, as in most endeavors, what should happen isn't always what does happen. Fortunately in poker, as in life, you don't have to be good at it to like it. (Though I'm sure those who are absolutely no good are welcome and regular guests at many a poker table.) You just have to enjoy yourself.  >> There are no Miranda Rights in poker; anything you say and do can and will be used against you. |
 A man's character is stripped bare at the poker table. Friends will notice things about you that you've never even noticed yourself. These things are called "tells" -- signs you give off indicating what type of hand you have. If you hold chips in your left hand before betting, or always pull on your ear when you're bluffing, rest assured some savvy soul at the table is aware of it. There are no Miranda Rights in poker; anything you say and do can and will be used against you. Being a good poker player requires something few people do in today's short-attention-span society: paying close attention to everything. Because poker's as much about people as it is about cards, and how we live influences how we play. There are those who play and live cold and conservative, striving to avoid risk, and those who play and live brash and full of bluster. There are players in the games of life and poker who'll never bet unless the odds are actually in their favor. If you can't spot the sheep waiting to be sheared at the table by the time you've quaffed your first beer, there's a good chance it's you. But in a friendly game always remember that you can shear a sheep many times, but you can only skin him once. You don't have to have the best cards to win, either. You just have to play the best. And every hand is different, depending on what you choose to do with it. If you enjoy bluffing your way through life -- and getting away with it -- then you probably get a major adrenaline rush by stealing a healthy pot knowing your opponents have you beat. The bluffing element of poker sets it apart from almost all other games and pursuits. You can't pretend to have the best hand and win in bridge or blackjack. You can't pretend you're a great mountain climber and conquer Kilimanjaro any more than you can bluff your way through the Iron Man Triathlon. So many human endeavors are cut and dried; if you say you're the best, there's only one way to prove it. This is the very beauty of poker. After all, isn't this what we all want? In every deck of 52 cards there are 2,598,960 possible five-card poker hands. The bad news is that you're only going to be dealt one of them. The better news is that there's always the chance, the possibility, that you can transform whatever cards you hold into the winning hand. That's why poker's never dull. The game has thousands of variants, and all it requires is your group of buddies, a deck of cards and some chips. It's always better if you switch the venue and the responsibility for providing the eats and drinks. And you can bring as much, or as little, flair to your poker night as you like. If you're like me, you started with Budweiser, smelly Swisher Sweets and nickel-dime-quarter games. Over the years my friends and I have graduated to imports in both our beer and cigar preferences, and the same red, white and blue chips have grown to represent much larger sums. It's not fun without the risk of losing a bit more than you should, and you can't win if you don't play. If you're really a gambler (this most superstitious of species) you'll of course have a good-luck token of some type, whether it's the old Dunes $5 chip you didn't cash in before the implosion, your tattered boxers emblazoned with the Queen of Hearts, the filthy Cubs cap you bought at Wrigley the year they were going to go all the way (but didn't -- again) or maybe even a silk smoking jacket. Poker is more psychology than sophistication. Studies have shown there's a real psychological boost from believing in a good-luck piece and that gamblers actually get an adrenaline surge as if they were in a fight-or-flight situation. Jonny Chan, former World Series of Poker champion, was always known to place an orange beside him when he played, though he never ate it. Stories abound about how many people have offered him absurd amounts of money for his orange, which he never sells. Having others believe in your good-luck charm never hurts. Whether you carry an edible good-luck piece or not, poker night requires sustenance. You need fuel to keep you going during the hours you're spending trying to outwit your opponents. The history of eating and playing cards goes back even further than the Earl of Sandwich, who actually invented the snack that bears his name as a way to eat without getting his hands greasy and without missing a moment at the card table. While it's not as exciting if there's no money involved, your game should never be too serious. You can play to win money or to have fun, but doing both is the best. Dealer's choice allows the deal to rotate around the table, with each person given a chance to deal whatever game he chooses. In the old days they used to place a silver dollar, one buck, in front of the person whose turn it was to deal. This ultimately became a cliche when President Truman, an avid poker player, declared: "The Buck Stops Here." When we play poker, the games run the gamut from the classic 5-Card Draw of the Old West to 7-Card Stud, 7-Card No-Peeky, Baseball, Black Mariah, Chicago, 2-22, Guts, Lo-Ball, Omaha, Acey-Deucy, 3-Card Monte and several of our own twisted variants. It's good to have a healthy and eclectic mix of games, some where skill plays out along with some of the whimsical games of pure dumb luck that the poor players and drunks always enjoy and often win. Each pack of cards holds within it the possibility of millions of different outcomes every single time we deal. In life and poker we can't all be winners, but we certainly can't win if we're not in the big game. And not knowing what'll happen, well, that's the real beauty of this poker game called life anyway, isn't it? That's exactly why life is such a big deal, after all. Anything might happen. |
| >> If you can't spot the sheep waiting to be sheared at the table by the time you've quaffed your first beer, then there's a good chance it's you. |
 | >> HISTORY OF THE CARDS Wild Bill Hickok and the Dead Man's Hand: Legend has it that Hickok always sat in the back corner of the saloon so he could see who was arriving, but eager to get in a high-stakes poker game that had only one seat open, he took a seat with his back to the door. He was shot in the back while holding two pair, black aces and eights, ever after known as the Dead Man's Hand. ACES OF SPADES: Believed by many the world over to be an omen of evil, and known in the Far East as the "Card of Death." In 1966, the U.S. Playing Card Company produced several million decks composed solely of aces of spades for use as a secret weapon in Vietnam. They were dropped on the Front and said to have struck terror into the Viet Cong. |
| HIGH FLYING CARDS: Apollo 14 astronauts took specially made flameproof decks of cards for use in the 100% oxygen atmosphere of Skylab. INVENTION OF PLAYING CARDS: Because they invented paper, and because it's almost unfathomable to imagine a culture having paper and not making cards, the Chinese are generally credited with the invention of playing cards. HISTORY IN THE CARDS: Before the invention of printing, the Italians are known to have produced hand-painted playing cards of four suits (though cards were first mass-produced by the Germans very shortly after Gutenberg's invention of the printing press and were one of the first things to roll off after the Bible). In the Middle Ages the suits were set up to reflect contemporary society with hearts (cups or chalices) representing the Church; spades (or swords), the military; diamonds, the wealth of the merchant class; and Clubs the peasantry. FACES OF HISTORY: Originally the four kings represented the four civilizations that begat Western culture: the Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrews and the Holy Roman Empire. Today's images are much the same as the symbolic ones chosen centuries ago. The king of spades is the Biblical King David carrying the sword of Goliath; the king of hearts is Charlemagne; the king of diamonds wielding a battle-ax is Julius Caesar, who appears in profile because the only surviving images of him were profiles on Roman coinage; and the king of clubs is Alexander the Great, who holds an orb representing the world he conquered. Most of these original symbols hold true on today's cards, though cards as we know them truly became popular when English soldiers of the Tudor era returned home with the concepts after serving in France, adorning the royal face cards in Elizabethan Age garb. The colored roses held by the queens represent the ending of the War of the Roses. POKER RULES: The first book to codify the rules of poker was compiled in 1871 by the U.S. ambassador to England, at the request of Queen Victoria, whom he had introduced to the game. The current authority on poker and all card game rules is the famous "Book of Hoyle," hence, the phrase "according to Hoyle" for something done by the rules. |
|
| | | |
| [04/27/2008, 00:59] | Get Lassoed by Pinot?.. | | |  I attended an event the other night hosted by one of our local public radio stations, KAZU, and one of my favorite culinary celebrities – Lynne Rosetto Kasper—at Mary Pagan’s Culinary Center of Monterey. The food was prepared by Mary Pagan’s students and was delicious and well-conceived (as usual), and the folks who attended were a delight. Someone asked me the question of “How do I find Pinots that I like?” Good question.
These days, the field of Pinot Noir can be truly daunting and amazing at the same time [how does one pick one off a store shelf?]. Within only a decade, the Pinot Noir winemaking industry has undergone an incredible change—new folks have entered the industry, new vineyards, clones, rootstocks have been planted on new sites all over the state, new wineries and labels have popped up like Google ads, and [most importantly] a gamut of styles of Pinot Noir has developed. The range of Pinot Noir, as I see it starts on one end with a typically “light” style: light in color and weight. These wines are usually very aromatic with these aromas: cherries, strawberries, rhubarb, roses, spices. These wines will often be described as “elegant”. Then there are the middle weights. These have a darker hue—ruby to garnet and usually display darker fruit character—blackberry, black cherry, plums. These usually display a medium-weight, greater texture and nice finish. These might have a little more extracted tannin. Then there are the heavy weights. Plums, black currants, blueberries are the fruits, and many of these wines might display tobacco, cigar, coffee characters as well. These are “big” wines and are normally heavily-extracted and might have been aged in a high-percentage of new oak as well. Dark, deep , rich are some of the descriptors used. The ongoing debate regarding Pinot Noir in the wine industry these days is about what style is “true” to Pinot’s nature? How much influence does/should a winemaker have on a wine vs. the effects of the growing conditions and vineyard site? What style of Pinot Noir is appropriate for the marketplace?
The way I see it, live and let live. I don’t personally prefer all styles of Pinot Noir, but there are those who do. There is basically a style of Pinot Noir for almost every wine drinker out there—whether it is the entry level wine consumer, an experienced wine aficionado, someone who normally prefers whites, or a consumer that would usually choose Cabernet and thank goodness for that. The vibrancy of our industry depends upon the varied tastes of our customers because nowadays there’s as many different wines out there as there are clouds in the sky or cowboys in a cattle drive. That’s why it’s so easy to get lassoed by Pinot Noir…..[heck, I’m not only lassoed, I’ve been hog-tied and branded, too….yippee aye yea ] So, getting back to answering the question—“How do I find a Pinot I like?” Here’s some advice: 1. Try a lot of Pinot Noir. Join a tasting group or create one yourself. These groups allow one to try a wide variety of wines without gutting one’s pocketbook. 2. Talk to the folks at the winery; find out what their philosophy and preferences are. If they match yours, then you just might like the wines. 3. Investigate wine critics. There are the usual suspects in print, but there are also many folks online who are reviewing wine offering more variety of opinions. Look at what they like. If they like similar wines to those you enjoy, it might be worth your while to seek out their recommendations. 4. I’ve said this before, but will say it again: trust your palate. It’s not a good wine unless you like it, and that’s all that counts. | | | |
| [09/18/2007, 01:34] | Pinot Harvest Looking a Little Spotty | | Due to the unusually cool summer, and the recent rainfall, Oregon's Willamette Valley wine producers are nervously biting their nails, dreading a harvest with grapes that are not fully ripened. Without the proper heat units, the grapes will not reach full maturity, although they may look fully ripe. The cooler weather will likely mean that harvests in Oregon will be delayed as much as they can be, without pushing the grapes over the edge.
Look for the next two weeks to be crucial to the '07 harvest. | | | |
| [05/07/2008, 08:59] | beaujolais: oh dear? | | | I recently made a few Beaujolais suggestions here. It appears from the ‘complaint’ below, that rather than recover their position and take a forward-looking view, they would rather wither and die… Jean-Paul Brun’s Beautiful 2007 Beaujolais l’Ancienne Denied the AOC Beaujolais! Can you imagine the stupidity! “Jean-Paul Brun just learned that 5,222 cases of Beaujolais [...] | | | |
| [08/23/2006, 18:21] | From the bowels of the cellar | |  When you start building a cellar and amass any quantity of wine, you're bound to forget some of the bottles you've stashed away. Rediscovering them is like meeting up with an old friend.
So much to talk about, so many memories to rehash.
Last night, when the Chef brought up the Trapiche 2000 Malbec Oak Cask, it was a surprise. I'd forgotten about this bottle, which my friend Rachel gave to me years ago. Why I'd never thought to drink it, I don't know. The wine's not expensive - maybe $7-$10 - but I'm glad I held on to it. The aroma was powerful, with touches of violets, baked goods, cigar and cherries. The flavor itself was ripe with purple, stain-year-teeth fruit and spice. It started out weak in the middle of my mouth, but opened up beautifully and finished long. I'd put this wine up against any mid-priced, big California wine, and at the end of the day I'd have a few more dollars in my pocket.
It's been the case for me that these forgotten bottles tend to resurface at just the right time, for just the right meal, just the right occasion. This one - surprising, but still very promising - came as I'm preparing to make some job changes.
Some people have horoscopes, others magic eight balls. Me, I turn to my cellar. I'm taking this bottle as a good sign.
Categories: wine, Malbec | | WorldWine Tags: wine, Malbec, | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | New Search Option: Show Only Wines for Sale | | | When you click on the "buy now" links found all around the WineLog website, you are taken to a page that will show you one or more links to sites where that wine is sold. Buying wine through these links is a great way to stock up on the ol' ... | | | |
| [04/21/2008, 16:27] | Food and Wine Match - Spicy Chickpea Fritters | |  These lovely little fritters will pretty much go with most white wines, at least those that are blessed with a crisp acidity and a medium-to-full body. I selected the Periquita White for the simple reason that it is currently reduced to a bargain £3.99 at Waitrose.  Wine Tasting Note: Periquita White, 2007, Setabul, Portugal.
Currently on offer at Waitrose for £3.99.
Even at the normal price of £4.99 it's a fine little blend of Arinto and Moscatel from the Setubal Peninsula, south of Lisbon. The Arinto gives the crispness and freshness, while the Moscatel lends a lovely aromatic component plus a level of spiciness to the flavour that proved to match so well with the fritters.
Scribblings Rating - 90/100 [3.75 out of 5]
The fritter recipe comes from the regular food-blog event, Waiter There's Something In My..., that I co-host over on SpittoonExtra with this particular round, 'Pulses', selected and hosted by Cooksister. As a regular host I do try and make some of the dishes submitted to each round. The varied creations from across the globe never ceases to amaze. The Spicy Chickpea Fritters came from Australian blogger Kazari at I Think I Have A Recipe For That. The mix of caraway, cumin and coriander also complimented the wine; the yoghurt sauce is a must too!
 | | | |
| [04/01/2008, 09:09] | The Chianti Challenge: Three Decades of Frescobaldi | | Anyone who?s read Blanc de Noir for long knows we?re both huge fans of Italian wines. There?s just something about the diversity, quality, and sheer fun factor of Italian wines ? whether it?s a casual summer patio sipper or a robust vintage to accompany a  big, festive dinner or one of the meditative Amarones that are still way up there on our list of favourites.
So when BC Wine Appreciation Society decided to add a couple of Italian wines to an educational tasting scheduled just prior to the 2008 Playhouse International Wine Festival ? the theme country for this year?s festival was, after all, Italy ? Frank and our illustrious BCWAS leader, Tim Ellison, decided to add a twist to the event. How about putting up a couple of Italian wines with the usual BC vintages? Frank, however, took the concept one step farther.
Here?s the deal. From BC: three sparklers, four Pinot Grigios, two Pinot Noirs, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Merlot. From Italy: three Chiantis ? just three and all from Frescobaldi, one of Italy?s most respected winemakers (multi-generations shown above).
Here?s the catch. The Chiantis were bottled in 2004, 1982, and 1975. No, it?s not a typo. The last two came from the collection of Italian wines Frank recently acquired ?  one of those fantastic opportunities that come about from being in the right place and the right time and having way more patience than most when it comes to negotiating.
Alas, on the night of the event, Frank was sick with flu, but you can bet eyes went wide as people realized what he?d sent.
The 2004 was, pretty much as expected, dark purple with lots of fruit and tannins that were more ?in your face? than makes for a good sipping wine unless you?re eating. But truth is, few people spent much time with that particular wine since they were all eager to try the two older offerings.
Immediately apparent was the change in colour ? now tawny with a much larger rim than the 2004. Controversy was plentiful and several people found neither one was ?quite my thing? as one member put it in an attempt to be diplomatic. The level of oxidization, especially in the 1975, caused raised eyebrows among half the folks there. It was virtually unanimous that the ?82 needs to be drunk now and the ?75 is clearly a bit past its prime ? although not a soul suggested it should be tossed.
However wide ranging the evening?s opinions were, one thing we all did agree on. These are wines made with love and benefit from patience.
Frank?s Tasting Notes:
Castello di Nipozzano Riserva 1982
This wine has aged well, probably because it is a Riserva. After more than a quarter of a century there?s still lots of fruit left ? black cherry and dark fruits with a note of white truffles in the background. The tannins have smoothed right out so they are now a little silky, and the finish is fairly long. This wine shows just how well age can improve a Chianti. Alcohol 12.5%. All the bottles for both these wines are numbered ? I have 10 left, all around 84,960 series out of 293,600 bottles produced in 1982.
Castello di Nipozzano Chianti Rufina 1975
Sadly just a little past its prime but still drinkable as the acidity has helped this one hold up. Wide orange rim, brick red colour. Truffles leave sherry undertones. This vintage has shown a lot of bottle variation ? the fruit showed up a little more in this one than the first one we tried. Alcohol 12.7%. The last bottle I have left is number 74324 of 80,000 bottles produced. | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | 2006 Bellevue Mondot, 750 ml - 249.95 | | | 96-100 points Parker: "This tiny (5 acres; 4,000 bottles produced) jewel is the ultimate vin de garage estate. A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from 46-year old vines and incredibly low yields of 18 hectoliters per hectare, the 2006 flirts with perfection. It possesses amazing power, precision, elegance, purity, richness, and just about anything else anyone could desire in a young Bordeaux. It will require 5-6 years of bottle age, and should evolve for three decades or more. Bravo!" | | | |
| [05/01/2008, 02:56] | 01 May - Now for Subscribers only | | | Latest specials at 1stChoice and Dan Murphy, initial prices on Penfolds St henri 2004 and more prices on Petaluma Coonawarra 2005. | | | |
| [05/02/2008, 23:38] | Still Not working | | I'm still having domain issues. It was briefly sorted out on Thursday night but by Friday morning it was back to the squatting page. You can't leave comments but you can email me on pinotgrisATgmailDOTcom
| | | |
| [06/29/2007, 21:32] | Cheers! A toast to nine robust BC secrets | | | While British Columbia is fast-becoming known for its emerging wine regions ? the Okanagan Valley, Vancouver Island and Vancouver Lower Mainland ? only oenophile insiders know that many BC wineries have a secret weapon: they operate fabulous restaurants and bistros... | | | |
| [02/19/2008, 11:26] | Decanter Magazine - March 2008 | | The latest edition of Decanter (March) came out this week, and several articles caught my eye. The first was entitled Start Your Own Wine Cellar. As I’m often torn between buying bottles to drink and those I think I may like to keep for a special occasion, I was drawn to the profiles of the 3 different types of people for whom Decanter made recommendations. There was the couple who did not know much about wine, but wanted to learn and had £500 to get them going. At the other extreme was the couple who already drank a lot of good Bordeaux and had £5000 to spend. I found myself drawn to the example in the middle, someone who knows her grape varieties, but would not describe herself as a connoisseur. Decanter put together an interesting cellar at a cost of £1000 for her.  The one question I was left pondering with the suggestions was the distinction between wines for drinking 2008-2010+ and for 2010-2018. Why do a couple of decent Italian reds from 2004 fit in the first category, but a Portuguese 2005 and a Spanish 2003 fit in the second? I know it’s down to how it is made and matured, but how are you expected to know that for the slightly more unusual wines? Labels don’t always given enough information and certainly very few give how long to keep the wine for.
I always peruse the Wines of the Month to see what recommendations I can pick up. These wines are available from stockists in the UK so I feel sorry for foreign readers who may be unable to source them. However I’m always a bit frustrated to read other reviews elsewhere in the magazine and see the dreaded ?N/A? next to them. Although I figure what’s the point in reviewing them if they aren’t available in the UK I have to keep reminding myself how international Decanter is. In this month’s issue 4 of the 9 letters are from non UK readers. I am sure this helps the editorial team keep an international focus which is good for all us readers. The panel tastings this month are both French, 2005 St Emilions and 2005 cru bourgeois. I was stunned to see a great value 2005 cru bourgeois at £7.35. I must seek it out. Next month’s edition features Italy and is out, according to the ad in the magazine, on February 6. Oops ? I think they forgot to change the date from last month’s edition as I’m sure they mean March 6th! | | | |
| [05/08/2008, 16:12] | Wordy | | Every once in awhile I like to remind Wine Camp readers that I can be significantly longer winded than I am in my normal posts on Wine Camp. So here I provide an annual reminder that I don't employ an editor by providing links to some of my favorite longer articles:
| | | |
| [08/26/2007, 00:22] | Mything Logic | | I find myself about to debunk a product who?s claim I do not altogether doubt. The Eisch Glaskultur company of Germany has released a line of stemmed crystal that they claim ?aerates beverages within minutes.? Their packaging states ?A wine poured into a Breathable Glass for just 2 to 4 minutes will show signs of aeration equivalent to the same wine that has been decanted and aerated for 1 to 2 hours.?
Since I am on the record for saying that ?breathing? is a wine myth, I can hardly fault a product that claims to do nothing, and succeeds. Of course the implication that they are using to sell glassware is that this stem will improve your wine tasting experience. This is what I set out to test.
Let me start by clarifying my positing on wine breathing. I have conducted various experiments over the years and the results have not done much to make me a believer. I am not saying that there is no difference from a wine that is decanted for an hour or two from a recently opened bottle, I am just not sure the difference is either significant, or difficult to reproduce with a few good swirls in a glass.
The premise is that allowing a wine to breath opens it up. It has a very poetic sound to it, except that wine does not respire so much as exhale. Wine vents volatile compounds into the air. The whole glass swirling thing is about releasing these compounds to make them easier to detect.
To say that a sitting wine improves is to say that these volatile compounds were in present in too great a number to begin with. This is certainly true with some wines that have off odors or excessive volatility, and in those rare cases I highly recommend a forceable decanting (so the wine literally chugs out of the bottle and splashes violently into the decanter).
If the wine was sound to begin with, it by definition was not excessively volatile. Vinegar is wine with way too much volatility, as an extreme example. Few modern wines you open will be vinegar-like. Some other off odors, such as the wet rotten leaf smell of a wine that has undergone malo-lactic fermentation in a bottle, may be reduced by decanting. A wine that went through MLF in a bottle will usually be slightly sparkling as well.
The experiments I have conducted include opening a bottle and tasting it blind against another bottle of the same wine which had been opened and or decanted some time before. The decanted wine may well have a different aroma and taste, but after a few minutes of swirling either wine, the differences balance out.
For the Breathable Glass (BG) I created a simple experiment. So simple that I concede that I do not have definitive proof of my hypothesis. On the other hand, it is simple enough that anyone can try it.
I put the same wine in the BG and another tall, well shaped glass and let them sit for four minutes without touching them. I then poured both wines into identical tasting glasses and tasted them blind. I did the same test again, only this time I swirled each of the wines reasonably evenly for 2 minutes before switching glasses and tasting.
In neither case did the wine from the BG exhibit any significant aromas or flavors that varied from the wine which had been poured into the regular glass. Therefore I can state unequivocally that I did not find anything remarkable or impressive.
My wording here is deliberate since Ronn Weigand who is one of the few combination Master Sommeliers and Masters of Wine is quoted right on the packaging as saying ?I was especially impressed - Remarkable!?
The test I conducted were designed to be easily verified by my peers, and as always I urge them to do so. What I didn?t do is almost as important as what I did.
I did not test a wine that had been in the BG for 4 minutes against the same wine that had been in a decanter for two hours, as per the claim on the package. I did not run a spectroscopic analysis to determine if the crystal makeup of the glasses was richer in oxygen, the mechanism cited for the claim. I didn?t do many things, but I did what I did, and I didn?t find a difference.
The Breathable Glass line is fine crystal with a good feel to it, and at $20 a stem it is not outrageously priced. I got mine at Bed Bath & Beyond, and it is because it is being marketed to the main stream instead of to wine geeks that I felt compelled to try it.
My advice is to save your money and buy one of the $4 stems right next to it on the shelf, unless you like the feel of the glass and it is in your budget. Just don?t expect miracles.
Oh, and the title of the blog is indeed a nod to Robert Lynn Asprin?s entertaining Myth-Adventures series. I know a few of you were dying to ask. | | | |
| [01/07/2008, 05:38] | I can't believe it's not Stelvin! | | There are those who cling to the 'romance' and 'tradition' of popping the cork prior to imbibing. Then there are those who think such 'romance' and 'tradition' are ridiculous if these totems potentially mean stinking, spoiled wine. Both camps have valid points. I'm a sentimental, shmoopy sucker for the romance involved in popping the cork. But then, If I've dropped 40 or 50 clams, and my just-popped bottle of wine smells like a box-full of soggy, old Boys Life magazines, I set up camp amongst the pro screw-cap crowd.  Must the wine lover chose between faulty corks and sterile Stelvins when it comes to bottle closure? Would that there were a closure, which could preserve in an aesthetically appealing manner. Thank the cosmos for Vino-Lock. This glass stopper is much prettier than a Stelvin and, of course, more reliable than cork oak bark cylinders.
Just a few weeks ago I took home the first glass-stopped wine to appear in the wine shop. I loved it. And the wine wasn't too bad either. Cusumano IGT Sicily Merlot 2006 ($12) - A simple, exuberant Merlot made more appealing by its aesthetically cool glass stopper. This inky-purple wine offers scents of cherry jelly and baked strawberry. Its flavors a simply tangy fruit. Cusumano Merlot is nothing if not pleasant and eager to accompany pizza. Technorati Tags: italy, merlot, wine 
| | WorldWine Tags: italy, merlot, wine, | | | |
| [11/22/2007, 00:01] | Planta?e Vranac Reserve 1998 | |  This is a premium Montenegrin red wine made from the indigenous Vranac grape. The Reserve is produced from particulary good years, in small quantities, aged in barrels for several years. It is also aged in bottles for one year before being released to the market.
This is a dry wine, with a pleasant fruity nose. However, the impressions are far lower than it’s price. If you want to experience the Vranac variety the Montenegrin way, go for a regular Planta?e Vranac or their Vranac Pro Corde. They are much cheaper and the experience is almost the same. Wines of the Vranac variety are produced throughout the region, apart from Montenegro, you can find them in Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Herzegovina. Score: 7/10
Price: 15 euro (in Montenegro) Technorati Tags: Vranac, Montenegro, Montenegrin Wines, Wine | | WorldWine Tags: Vranac, Montenegro, Montenegrin Wines, Wine, | | | |
|
