What Are We Drinking

Thursday - we have a group of 6 - what will the New Year bring -

Spencer Roloson - Viognier  Sueno Vineyard - Lodi - 2003

It appeared that not only did I go against the grain - and bring a white - but mine was the only early white - sweet - "happy" nose - flowery - first guesses were Pinot Gris - everyone seemed to think it was Alsatian - low acidity - gewuerze ?? - too rich for a Pinot Blanc - very spicy - France ?? - too much class for an Oregonian - lots of mineral - gave a "hint" - not Old World - John M nailed the grape as Viognier - but asked where was the floral - although the winemaker's notes point to "apricot and exotic floral aromas" - age ?? - 2-5 years ??

Cat out of the bag - overall impression was very positive - nice flavor in the mouth - very Italian - Andy put the price point at $25 - suggested from the vineyard was $26 -shaping up as a night of accuracy -

Can't wait to try the vineyards reds -

Diamond Creek - Red Rock Terrace - Cabernet Sauvignon - 1998 - big nose - my first impression was Calif Cab - 14.5% - group thought moved to 96 Medoc - leathery - not that hot i.e. taste not overall quality - little thin on the back palate - age was focusing on 95 - my toss to the table was 6 years - depending on whether we count now as 2005 or 2004 - massive tannins pushed towards St. Estephe - final tally - 4 old world - 1 new world - as it was Andy's wine - he was recused - not bad - way off on the alc. - it was only 12.5% -

Secondary tale - Andy gave a wine tasting to the local school - buyer of the auction gave him the Diamond Creek - didn't really know what he was sitting with  - David ball parked it at $150 - JS - in the true spirit of the technological 21st century - dialed it up on the screen of his cell phone - $100 to $200 - if you can get it - we did - thank you Andy -

Penfolds - Bin 389 - Cabernet Shiraz - 2001 - 14.3% alc - 60% Cab - 40% Shiraz - 13 months in American Oak - JM's offering - lots of soft tannins - French Cab ?? - 2000 ? - not a Burgundy - lots of color - could taste the oak a definite win - and at $20 a "winner" -

Side recommendation - Bin 707 - have to check it out -

Chateau Musar - 1987 - John rolled in - immediately came into the kitchen - turned his back on the rest of us - to open - decant his evening's offering - was it old - given his storage conditions - he was not looking to correct anything - what might this be -

Sweet - Bordeaux - that wa my vote - old world construction - from the nose - Burgundy got pushed down he list - how old - was it south of 1980 - candied ? - chapelized ?? - a new term for me -

Chaptalization (shap-it-al-iz'-ae-shun) - The practice of adding sugar to the juice prior to fermentation to increase the potential alcohol and quality of the wine. Illegal in many regions, and tightly controlled in others. In some cooler wine regions it would not be possible to make wine in some years with out chapitalizing.

Back to the nice nose - NOT a Burgundy - change countries ? - Brunello ??? - were the wise ones going to be stumped -

In response to the dialogue - John rhetorically asked/answered - "depends how you define Old World" - ah ha !!! - we are all so narrow minded - they make wine in places other than France - Spain - Italy & Germany -  some might even consider some of those efforts - "new" Old World - time to go back to last week's piece - Poker -

Who was doing the pouring? - enlarge the geographic possibilities - from past tastings - and visits to his home - JS has a soft spot for "old" Old World wine - Lebanon - Chateau Mazur - Cab/Sirah

...cultivation of the vine goes back to the Phoenicians...Centuries later, the Romans chose Baalbek in the east of Lebanon as the site to build the Temple of Bacchus as their tribute to the god of wine, a Temple which still stands today.

Thank you John -

Holloran - Le Pavillion - 2001 - screamed Burgundy in the nose - spicy - mid 90s ? - Rhone ?? - my cell phone rang - should have turned it off - had to take the call - missed a few details - but Eldon was egging me on - didn't get it - label revealed - he had brought me a bottle for Thanksgiving -

Wachenheimer - Riesling - Spatlese - Pflaz - 11.55 alc - 98 - Dr. Burklin-Wolf - clean - grassy - complex - sweet - dirty pineapple - Spat ? - Saar ?? - brown ? - green ?? - brown !!! - 98 - and nice - just how many bottle does Irv have stacked across from the furnace -

Last bottle of the night - a second from Andy - Graacher Himmelreich - Riesling - Spatlese - 1994 - strange taste - the cork was dry - had ripped with the damn Rabbit opener - too much leverage unless the cork is perfect - some taste from the cork - but not TCA - I thought gasoline - but it blew off - not a win - but nice try -

That's it for tonight -

Enjoy -

HBH

 

Comments

[Cheap Ugg Boots]

Hear all parties.