tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54669274184809108342024-03-13T23:17:23.385-06:00Between Bottles- a blog digest for the wino in us all -Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-45047606904445534372012-06-20T16:09:00.000-06:002012-06-20T17:45:25.475-06:00The Glass That Holds It<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
Well now, hasn’t it been a while since you’ve seen me. Just when I think I’m back, life takes a hard left turn but we seem to be back, up and running again. Well, maybe not running. But a light brisk walk that’s for sure.</div>
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So I’ve been doing a lot of reviews in the past while and I wanted to just put a quick hold on that and start off by talking a bit about stemware. Your glass, or glasses if you’re like me, depends on what’s going to fill it. A good rule of thumb is the darker the colour the bigger the bowl of the glass. The only time I can really think where this goes out the window is with fortified wine. In that case the booze is can be so strong that you wouldn’t want to drink more 3 ounces of it. But with still wine the colour rule shouldn’t steer you wrong.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ihZmIQ3G0lw/T-JHFtRnrzI/AAAAAAAAAbE/xas_FGiMfRY/s1600/ISOdim.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rca="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ihZmIQ3G0lw/T-JHFtRnrzI/AAAAAAAAAbE/xas_FGiMfRY/s200/ISOdim.gif" width="130" /></a>So generally going from smallest to largest we have; ISO tasting glasses, these are used in most wine education course (not unlike the one I was in). These are fairly small unassuming glasses not meant for everyday consumption, they are designed to be equally optimal to all kinds of wine, from the bubbly to the fortified, from the reds to the whites. They are designed to only really hold about 1 to 2 ounces of liquid.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uIhRVyCUo6o/T-JI4AYUtiI/AAAAAAAAAbM/4ZDcF6OGzKw/s1600/402-01-07_Champagne_flute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rca="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uIhRVyCUo6o/T-JI4AYUtiI/AAAAAAAAAbM/4ZDcF6OGzKw/s200/402-01-07_Champagne_flute.jpg" width="158" /></a>Next up we have my absolute favorite, the champagne flute. These glasses are tall, sometimes ridiculously so, and are an absolute pain to find storage space for in the average glass cabinet. But! They’re long and sleek and they feel like sex in your hands after you’ve had are fill or two. Their shape and designed to control the release of theCO2 from the wine, keeping the bubbles longer and more even. Typically they etch a tiny X in the bottom of the bowl to siphon the bubbles thorough the center, giving the beautiful bubble trail in the glass.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JPlflA_Rwas/T-JHC_AmBQI/AAAAAAAAAak/YvpsIq1OmRk/s1600/41865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rca="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JPlflA_Rwas/T-JHC_AmBQI/AAAAAAAAAak/YvpsIq1OmRk/s200/41865.jpg" width="200" /></a>After that we have the white wine glass. This one is marked by its notably smaller bowl then a red wine glass, and a more… bowl shaped bowl then a flute. The logic behind this is that you don’t want the white wine to warm up to you limit the amount of surface area there is to exposure. Also, white wine is best when it’s only slightly oxidized, so the less oxygen exposer the better. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are specialized glasses that enhance the aromas of a white wine, but theses specializations aren’t very common.</div>
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Finally we have red wine glasses. This is where the arty, hipsters of the wine glass community hang out. There are like a million different kinds of red wine glasses. Well maybe not, but probably over 20. It’s enough that I don’t bother paying attention to them all. There are 3 kinds of red glasses that you will want to know. Your Bordeaux glass, this one is tall and broad, and is designed to show Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah best because of their full body. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we have the Burgundy glass. This is the Bad Ass glass that all the wine drinking villains use. It’s the glass I use, even for orange juice (but not really...). This glass has a larger bowl then the Bordeaux glass and is used for more delicate red wines like Pinot Noirs. This is because the larger bowl allows the aromas in the glass to accumulate, and with finer red wines, like the way Pinots should be, the oxidization builds complexity in wine and makes it evolve and open up. It’s really very astounding how much of a difference a glass can make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally of course, there is the generic red wine glass, the bowl in this one won’t be as big as the Bordeaux glass but will always be bigger than any white glass.</div>
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Homework for everyone, try different glasses. Go out and buy a wine that you know, and our yourself a glass in a generic red and a generic white glass and see how it tastes right away, wait 5 minutes and taste them again, and then wait half an hour and see how it changes again,. Not only is this a good way to see how the glass wear makes a difference but it’s a great activity to further explore a wine and its evolution. </div>
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Over all I find it’s probably best to keep at least a generic red, white and flute in my glass cabinet at all times, but as your personal cellar grows you can expand your stemwear collection as well. </div>
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Cheers!</div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-23061438562518303812012-05-23T11:04:00.000-06:002012-05-23T18:18:35.612-06:00REVIEW - Raats 'Original' Chenin Blanc<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7_QxSmq13NA/T7vvDdQlKLI/AAAAAAAAAaE/qY67MibX0XU/s1600/075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" qba="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7_QxSmq13NA/T7vvDdQlKLI/AAAAAAAAAaE/qY67MibX0XU/s320/075.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; text-transform: uppercase;">REVIEW - Raats 'Original' Chenin</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> BLANC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Stellenbosch, South Africa 2009 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 721651 <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Origin: South Africa <br />Agent<span style="color: #565656;">: <a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30040100.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Marram Fine Wines Ltd.</span></a> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">like the colour of straw, with a faint greenish hue. But I was in a room with industrial lighting so that may be off a bit.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
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In the Glass - This wine is a clear pale yellow, </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose - It has a medium intensity, with clear creamy, tasty, nutty notes. Stone fruit like peach and pear. Some blanket citrus (apple, pineapple). Nice minerals , and a earthy wet wool smell that is a really common descriptor for Chenin Blanc or Semillon.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <span lang="EN"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Palate - This dry wine has a strong medium acidity to it. With predominate flavors of apple pie, cooking spice, orange blossom and peel, peaches, apricot and blanket stone fruit. It has a creamy nature to it due to the fact that this wine is aged on its lees for 6 months prior to bottling. With a medium sized body, it has a good balance and a medium length finish. I find <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oLjrTyrANVE/T7vwfuP7ooI/AAAAAAAAAaU/SK6fdPNM1qs/s1600/079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" qba="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oLjrTyrANVE/T7vwfuP7ooI/AAAAAAAAAaU/SK6fdPNM1qs/s320/079.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">For food pairings with this one i would go with any seafood and cream sauce, or a deep fried calamari. You can lay this one down for some age if you want, maybe 2 years at most, but she's good to go now, and for about $25 you really can't go wrong</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Chenin Blancs to have a sort of viscosity to it, so when I tasted this wine blind it was relatively easy to feel that it wasn't a chardonnay, even though the tasting note i have here very much look like a chardonnay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Chenin Blanc, known locally as Steen, has been a specialty of South African winemakers for over three hundred years. </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Chenin Blanc is an interesting little grape that South Africa has developed into its own creation. Known locally as "Steen", it originally started as a French varietal, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traditionally coming out of the Loire, and predominantly being marketed on the grapes high acid content and age ability. Over all South Africa has had a real run of it when it comes to joining the global wine market, back in the 80's it was removed from the market, and after that they tried to market SA wine to a black only community, which obviously had huge political back lash. Racism what? But now they have a decent and ever growing global following and have even developed a grape all of their own called Pintoage, its a clone of Pinot Noir and Cinsault.</span></div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-83367245026794880652012-05-22T11:06:00.000-06:002012-05-22T11:06:00.079-06:00REVIEW - Lake Breeze Meritage, Okanagan, BC 2008<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; text-transform: uppercase;">REVIEW - Lake Breeze Meritage,</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> Okanagan, BC 2008 </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 129270 <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> </span></span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" id="SupplierDetails" style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin: auto auto 11.25pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Origin: Canada <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> | </span></span> British Columbia <br />Agent:<span style="color: #565656;"> <a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30016600.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Harvest Vintage Imports Ltd.</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the glass<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- deep ruby/garnet right to the rim</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This wine has a medium intensity with a blatant purple Welch's grape juice on the front. Accented with strawberry, jam and a cooking sherry smell. And if left to sit it develops into a leathery tobacco. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I actually visited the <a href="http://www.lakebreeze.ca/">Lake Breeze</a> winey last summer in my flying trip through the bench last year. I visited over12 wineries in under 9 hours. All by my lonesome. it was a great experience but I can hardly wait to go back again and give each winery the time and attention it deserves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Over all this Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon is one I would call a good wine, and for less than $30 it really makes a wonderful Canadian addition to the cellar. I believe this wine will continue to improve over the next 2 years as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cheers!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-72766858302701236012012-05-18T11:03:00.000-06:002012-05-18T11:03:00.054-06:00REVIEW - 2009 Balland Chapuis Sancerre Le Vallon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5PXRvWxXKe4/T7XGka2fvUI/AAAAAAAAAYY/ASJxR2A08Uo/s1600/IMG_0388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" kba="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5PXRvWxXKe4/T7XGka2fvUI/AAAAAAAAAYY/ASJxR2A08Uo/s320/IMG_0388.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; text-transform: uppercase;">REVIEW - 2009 BAlland Chapuis Sancerre Le Vallon</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 1090247 <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> </span></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Origin: France <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> | </span></span> Loire Valley <br />Agent: <a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30046400.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext;">Nobilis Wine Importers Ltd.</span></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the Glass – This wine has a pale to medium lemon colour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose – This clean, medium intensity wine is fresh. With lots of citrus, specifically green apple, lemon zest, grass and hay. It has undertones of mushroom, with a stony/steely minerality.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JHMA7YGoyt4/T7XGzYoXcRI/AAAAAAAAAYg/yIWH28Py4tA/s1600/IMG_0389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JHMA7YGoyt4/T7XGzYoXcRI/AAAAAAAAAYg/yIWH28Py4tA/s320/IMG_0389.jpg" width="179" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Palate – This dry wine has a medium body with strong medium acidity. It sits on your palate with flavors of mint, pungent green pepper, and oyster minerals. Finishing long and with a grassy quality. Over all its well balanced and has a great "ocean breeze" quality to it. This comes from the chalky soils its grown in. I would call this wine very good. Especially to those out there who can appreciate the acidity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">According to their <a href="http://www.balland-chapuis.com/">website</a> Balland-Chapui has been owned by Guy Saget and his family since 1998, and it remains a historic name in Sancerre. Domaine Balland-Chapuis name has existed in Sancerre since the 17th Century. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">With a Sancerre what you need to know is that this isn't a Sauvignon Blanc that is full of tropical new world fruit. Its grown in the Loire River, which, while being the longest river in France, is full of </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">very stony limestone soils, known as “caillottes”, and chalk soils. It's easy to see why this wine pulls all that minerality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Saget family boasts that they stick to "excellent vine growing and wine making principals using older vines, cropping at lower yields and letting nature speak for itself". Very much a "if it aint broke don't fix it" king of thing. This is a ideology that I think many producers who have come into winemaking with a preexisting and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>historic label tend to leave behind because they are eager to make a unique name for themselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dont get me wrong, I'm sure Saget family has made some changes to the way Domaine Balland-Chapuis was crafted prior to 1998 but they still stick to the same tried and true methods. And really, you're in the Loire, making Sancerre. What can you really do to change it? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Now, it's been said that the 2010 vintage was the best they have produced yet but this is still one fine wine. I would pair this with any fish or a dish with goats cheese in it. The high acid will go with salt, other acid (as it will mitigate) and will also cuts through fat and oil. Over all fruit goes with spice so it would be great with wasabi peas too. This one will run less than $35 in most liquor stores</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cheers!</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-17205665799783836852012-05-16T13:00:00.000-06:002012-05-18T16:25:22.448-06:00Just a quick interuption...<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We interrupt our regularly scheduled wine reviews for this quick service announcement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Because sometimes it's just beer weather. And even the <span class="mw-headline"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Arbiter</span> will do what it takes to get the job done. Even team up with Storm Troopers. Apparently.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span class="mw-headline">-Cheers!</span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-57339579849769542922012-05-15T11:05:00.000-06:002012-05-15T11:05:00.332-06:00REVIEW - PAUL ZINCK GRAND CRU PFERSIGBERG 2008<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cx45Gli5qOA/T7He2jVAVfI/AAAAAAAAAYE/IzoKOcLKzcs/s1600/IMG_0441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cx45Gli5qOA/T7He2jVAVfI/AAAAAAAAAYE/IzoKOcLKzcs/s320/IMG_0441.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">REVIEW - 2008 Riesling Paul Zinck Grand Cru Pfersigberg </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Alsace, France </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 722356 <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Origin: France <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> | </span></span> Alsace <br />Agent: </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30030700.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Crush Imports</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I've become more than just a little familiar with this wine but I came across it again not too long ago and was startled to be reminded just how much I liked it. It's done up by the same makers of the Pink Zinck Cremant (I know, who would have guessed right?) and that was my "go to" bubbly for an entire summer a few years back. Now, I'm not a huge Riesling fan, but this is definitely one that makes me think twice about blanket statementing a varietal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the glass – It is clear medium lemon with just a hint of green around the rim, but it may have been the office lighting. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the nose - This wine has a medium intensity, with key notes of smoky petrol, orange and lime peel. With clear over all stone fruit, floral, and honey. </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-prnOQP4rNPk/T7HfC5EiNPI/AAAAAAAAAYM/wB5fSICNtfg/s1600/IMG_0442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-prnOQP4rNPk/T7HfC5EiNPI/AAAAAAAAAYM/wB5fSICNtfg/s320/IMG_0442.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Palate – dry, and just a smidge less then high acid. Yes, that's a technical term. It had great flavors of fresh green fruit, pears, kiwi, pine apple. Just lots of warmer citrus fruit all around. It really reminded me of the canned fruit salad that you had as a kid. It's fine fruit was complimented with<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a smooth minerality, and a touch of petrol. Over all this wine had a medium body, medium finish with a 12.5% alcohol</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This wine is, and has been for a while, very good in my books, and will probably be very good for at least another 5 years. It should run you less than $35 in a store</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">For me this would go with any kind of seafood, and spice. Like sushi. Also it would be great with English style fish and chips. </span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-35591540510426662432012-05-13T11:00:00.000-06:002012-05-13T11:00:00.555-06:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pXRN5f3cPkQ/T6rIvtYSDbI/AAAAAAAAAWg/znQQm2zyAbU/s1600/mothersday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pXRN5f3cPkQ/T6rIvtYSDbI/AAAAAAAAAWg/znQQm2zyAbU/s400/mothersday.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there! </span><br />
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I may not be able to speak to all the mothers out there but mine has taught me the finest lessons in life. With her guiding words and loving nature, she has helped me become the woman I am today. I love her with my whole heart and one day when I grow up I hope I am just like her.<br />
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"I would like to make a toast to lying, stealing, cheating and drinking. If you're going to lie, lie for a friend. If you're going to steal, steal a heart. If your're going to cheat, cheat death. And if you're going to drink, drink with me."<br />
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Happy Mothers Day to one and all.<br />
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Cheers!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-36001111609486092412012-05-10T10:00:00.000-06:002012-05-10T10:57:47.154-06:00REVIEW - CHATEAU THIEULEY BORDEAUX BLANC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xw_AL8ADXuY/T6vVAgvgNsI/AAAAAAAAAW0/wFoO40-uzxM/s1600/IMG_0383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xw_AL8ADXuY/T6vVAgvgNsI/AAAAAAAAAW0/wFoO40-uzxM/s320/IMG_0383.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">REVIEW - <span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Château Thieuley Bordeaux Blanc 2009</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 726194 <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Origin: France <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> | </span></span> Bordeaux <br />Agent: <a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30038700.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Beverage International Distributor</span></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Well holy smokes guys, I'm finally back on the wagon.. the writing wagon that is. Over the last month I've had the chance to try a lot of different stuff so let's kick this off with some white Bordeaux. This is the 2009<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>blend from </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Château Thieuley is </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">50% Sauvignon Blanc and 50% Semillon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the glass - this wine is a clear, pale lemon colour with just a hint of green round the rim</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the nose - it has a medium intensity floral aroma to it, I could pick out notes of honey suckle passion fruit, guava, melon, lemon zest, peach. I noted that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>even though its half sauvignon blanc it had no vegetal or herb quality to it. Just fresh and fruity</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4liZCEEgxKs/T6vVdbJhwqI/AAAAAAAAAW8/5F--0co0szw/s1600/IMG_0384.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4liZCEEgxKs/T6vVdbJhwqI/AAAAAAAAAW8/5F--0co0szw/s320/IMG_0384.jpg" width="179" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the palate – It was dry, with medium acid. It had a medium body to it; this I found a bit surprising as I didn't expect it to be quite that big, but the two grapes together worked very well together. It had clear green lemon flavors, moving into a tart grapefruit, and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ripe citrus fruit, this was all held together with a fantastic light honey flavor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I would say that this is a good wine, especially because it retails for around $21 in most retail shops. I would Drink this with any kind of spicy tomato sauce, or some <span style="color: #1f497d; mso-themecolor: text2;"><a href="http://www.gumbocooking.com/new-orleans-gumbo-recipes.html"><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-themecolor: text2; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">New Orleans style gumbo</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">If you go to the <span style="color: #1f497d; mso-themecolor: text2;"><a href="http://thieuley.com/en/"><span style="color: #1f497d; mso-themecolor: text2; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Château Thieuley website</span></a></span> you can read al labout the story of how this very cool family vineyard got started but let me sum it up for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In 1950, André Courselle bought Château Thieuley In the 1950's In 1972 His son took it over and started buying more land, they went from 4 to 30 hectares over 3 properties. They are known as</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> Château Thieuley, Clos St Anne, and Château St Genes<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> . <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today it is run today by the founders granddaughters, Marie and Sylvie.</span> Together<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they have split the tasks of running a winery, Marie has the technical aspects of winemaking, and Sylvie looks after commercial side. togewther they produce about 550,000 bottlesa year. It's an inspiring little story of family, and tradition in a slightly untraditional way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cheers!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-37830761342742921462012-05-04T12:19:00.000-06:002012-05-10T12:20:48.138-06:00REVIEW - 2007 Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, California<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7BtdxdBhHeY/T6wENzPBnCI/AAAAAAAAAXo/B1wyfD_1FRw/s1600/IMG_0394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7BtdxdBhHeY/T6wENzPBnCI/AAAAAAAAAXo/B1wyfD_1FRw/s320/IMG_0394.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; text-transform: uppercase;">2007 <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Sequoia Grove Cabernet </span>sauvignon<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> </span>Napa Valley, California</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 740382 <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Origin: United States <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> | </span></span> California <br />Agent<span style="color: #565656;">: <a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30004000.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Charton-Hobbs Inc.</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This wine is done by winemaker </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Michael Trujillo who had taken over production at <a href="http://www.sequoiagrove.com/">Sequoia Grove</a> in 2002. He used estate grown fruit in this bottling along with fruit from the Tonella Vineyard that they recently bought. He also buys grapes from </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Morisoli and Beckstoffer in Rutherford, Stagecoach in Atlas Peak, Lamoreaux in the Oak Knoll District and Healy in St. Helena</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> It's a 50 acre prime property in Rutherford. Sequoia Grove is named after one of the last remaining Redwood groves in the Napa Valley and they also boast about being environmentally friendly and sustainable practices, but I couldn't find anything on them actually being organic or biodynamic. </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the nose – It was nicely aromatic, with notes of oak and vanilla, red cherry, fruit jam with lots of cherry, black currant, toasty spice that reminded me of medicinal tobacco, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there was also a back ground of charcoal and chocolate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Palate – This is a dry, medium acid Cabernet. It had good and persistent tannins, with full body, and flavors of cherry, vanilla and iron; like dark green leaf spinach. Coupled with a long finish, it was balanced and delicious. Easily quaffable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Over all this wine was good, but it didn't blow me out of the water. I would look forward to trying some of their reserves and getting a more focused picture on what Sequoia Grove is trying make with their label</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The blend on this is 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, the remainder being Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. As far as location percentage it is all Napa Valley (49% Rutherford, 19% Atlas Peak, 14% Oak Knoll, 12% St. Helena, 3% Yountville, 3% Napa Valley). Clearly a Bordeaux-style wine made in the heart of Rutherford, and a </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">alcohol content of </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">14.2%, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; text-transform: uppercase;">i </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>would pair this with any red meat, especially grilled with veggies</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-84508898074526192182012-05-03T08:00:00.000-06:002012-05-10T11:28:07.066-06:00REVIEW - Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 738965 <span class="pipe2"><span style="color: windowtext;"> </span></span> <br />Origin: New Zealand <br /><br />Agent<span style="color: #565656;">: <a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30065900.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Pacific Wine & Spirits</span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So some back story on this little brainchild wine. It is the solo product of Kevin Judd, a leading and widely renowned NZ wine maker that got his start and his name from doing 25<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>years with Cloudy Bay and is attributed with putting NZ on the map for their wines. In Mr. Judds spare time he has also made a name for himself as one of NZ finest wine photographers and has <a href="http://amzn.com/0908802536"><span style="color: blue;">published a book</span></a> of his country's wine industry</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the glass – this wine is pale, like SUPER pale, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with just a hint of lemon and green</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the palate – it was dry, with medium acidity. It was medium body, I think this was due to its higher alcohol content, a whopping 13.5%. The flavors were clearly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>those of a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hotter climate vineyard with big fruity tropical notes, great acidity that let it stand up against others in the sauvignon blanc flight I was doing. It has a medium finish</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J57TTNN5Amg/T6vlNXL9trI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/AePomxN_pVI/s1600/IMG_0386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J57TTNN5Amg/T6vlNXL9trI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/AePomxN_pVI/s320/IMG_0386.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Normally I don't do ratings or post ratings but this one deserves it. It was rated by Jancis Robinson, leading UK wine critic, as the top Marlborough Sauvignon of the 2011 vintage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This wine would was very good in my opinion. There is a lot of NZ SB out there and I find that they all tend to blend together but this one has a solid minerality structure to its acidity and will hold up in a cellar for a few years, but why bother? Its ready to drink right now. It retails at around $28 and is pretty easy to find</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I would pair this with any white meat with heavy sauces. And Spice, it will do very well with spicy foods too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cheers!</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-63454535708230343692012-05-01T13:07:00.000-06:002012-05-09T13:37:39.661-06:00We moved and we had a Baby!<br />
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<span style="color: #191919; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hey there folks, we will be returning to our regularly scheduled entry's very soon, but i thought you would all like to see what's been keeping me from talking to you.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E5w6SwWzfPA/T4hj_TqjNhI/AAAAAAAAALs/kDYXz35_RlE/s1600/Unknown" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E5w6SwWzfPA/T4hj_TqjNhI/AAAAAAAAALs/kDYXz35_RlE/s320/Unknown" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Chardonnay; sweet, sweet chardonnay. How we all love you so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Statistically speaking of course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, on day two we went over the fine and the filthy of Chardonnay. Which is supposedly the world's most purchased grape. I don't have a stat for that; it's just what I was told. But it seems believable enough. But why is that? Why are people buying this grape? It's not overly aromatic on its own; it’s generally very neutral over all. Nothing to write home about. It is however incredibly versatile. It can grow in almost any climate and in any number of soils. In the world of grapes it's like Wolverine; (from X-men, don't make the "I don't know what you're talking about" eyebrows. I know you’re just as geeky as me), indestructible and universally cool. Actually it’s probably closer to Mystique, and her ability to transform and shape-shift to her environment. Yeah. Mystique. Totally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Chardonnay is grown all over the world, but it is best known for is classic regions like White Burgundy, Chablis, Cote d'Or and Marcoconais.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let's start there.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6KxljvB5Yxo/T4hkBKAvhGI/AAAAAAAAAME/5uNc_paIfjU/s1600/web_photo-Chardonnay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6KxljvB5Yxo/T4hkBKAvhGI/AAAAAAAAAME/5uNc_paIfjU/s200/web_photo-Chardonnay.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">White Burgundy - this is where you are going to see the most expensive and the best expression of Chardonnay in the world, undoubtedly. What determines the price? Well, that is determined by what's written on the label. Prices vary according to which region, district, village and vineyard the wine is made from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Specifically we have Chablis; the key to Chablis is to know that it is a bone dry white wine. Which I love. It's a crisp, refreshing, cool climate white. With high acid, austere green fruit and citrus, and notable limestone minerals. And it's got its own rating system - Grand Cru (being the very best), Premier Cru (being exceptional in its own right) and Village Level (which is still a Burgundy wine and still amazing but not as good as Premier Cru). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we have the Cote d'Or; there are a few “smaller” regions included in this - we have the Cote de Beane, Puligny - Montrachet, and Mersault. These wines are typically fuller bodied, oaked and are a reference point to most chardonnays on the market. In Maconnais we have the warmest Burgundy climate because it is the furthest south. In here we see the sub regions of Poully-Fuisse and Macon. Because of the warmer climate, we see a larger volume produced and more of a tropical fruit expression - but it's also a bit simpler of a wine. Not necessarily a bad thing because some of these top notch Burgundy wines will cost you well over a thousand dollars a bottle. So selection is good for the non-millionaires among us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some other regions where we find excellent expressions from Chardonnay are Australia (Yarra Valley, Adelaide Hills and Margret River), New Zealand (Hawks Bay, Gisborne, and Marlborough), throughout North America in places like California (costal, Sonoma or Carneros), Chile (Casablanca Valley), Argentina (Mendoza) and South Africa (Walker Bay Ward).</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qf9x234_d7U/T4hkAt2AcxI/AAAAAAAAAL8/wJrTelQJ47o/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qf9x234_d7U/T4hkAt2AcxI/AAAAAAAAAL8/wJrTelQJ47o/s200/images.jpeg" width="151" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wine making technique plays a huge part in how a Chardonnay is going to taste. It can be tampered with a little or a lot, and its ability to stand up to this tampering is why it’s often called the Photoshop grape. You can take a Chardonnay that is less than what it should be, and makes changes to it after the fact. This can be a good thing, and this can be a bad thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some of the techniques that we see being used are the use of malolatci fermentation, which creates a buttery cream quality to a wine; it can also be used to soften some of the harsh tannins in a wine from the oaking process. Another one that we see is the Lees. These are the dead yeast cells kept behind after fermentation. These are stirred in to add creamy and savory notes similar to the malolactic fermentation. There is also the (over) use of oak to give wines a toasted, vanilla, coconut, spice flavor. It also adds tannin and gives a wine structure and helps with its age ability. A lot of the new world wines will state the kind of oak they use. A good guideline is that American oak is like American culture – big, fast-acting, sweet flavors that can leave you feeling a bit shocked. And French oak is like French culture – laid back, slow to integrate but generally better in the long term*. </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gabAXCpZWYw/T4hj_hBTi_I/AAAAAAAAAL0/N0E_pk_Ml-A/s1600/images-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gabAXCpZWYw/T4hj_hBTi_I/AAAAAAAAAL0/N0E_pk_Ml-A/s200/images-1.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another thing that winemakers do is ferment in stainless steel and just add oak shavings, chips, dust, and even something called “oak essences”, all of which progressively cheaper then the last. And you can taste the difference. But by using things like oak essence we are able to get bottles of oaked Chardonnay for under 10$. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The above fermentation is seen most often in bulk production for inexpensive Chardonnay, but it’s fairly easy to spot even if you don’t know the price point and have never tried the wine. It’s cheaper to pull grapes from a number of locations than it is to take it from one specific vineyard. However, the areas being sourced from need to be named at least in a general sense. They are often sold as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“South Eastern Australia”, “Western Cape”, “California”, ‘Chile”, or “Vin de France”. Another way that makers cut costs in bulk production is to blend in other less desirable grapes in with the Chardonnay, like Semillon, which adds acidity and citrus notes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Over all, I imagine Chardonnay to be less like Photoshop and more like one of those play-dough sets in the hands of a 6 year old. Where the medium holds whatever shape the kid gives it. However, you may feel obligated to praise the child for making you this creation, even though you really aren’t sure what the hell it’s supposed to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cheers!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">*This is just my bei</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ng bias to a preference of French oak, so you should try a few and see what you like.</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-7935554305669043372012-04-10T19:00:00.000-06:002012-04-15T19:16:32.511-06:00REVIEW – 2008 GILBERT PICQ & SES FILES PREMIER CRU VOSGROS CHABLIS, FRANCE<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JPGbLexSHrs/T4ttvfJhO0I/AAAAAAAAAOk/8QewVokh1so/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JPGbLexSHrs/T4ttvfJhO0I/AAAAAAAAAOk/8QewVokh1so/s320/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">REVIEW – 2008 GILBERT PICQ & SES FILES </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">PREMIER CRU VOSGROS</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> CHABLIS, FRANCE <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">SKU: 737386 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Agent: <a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30007000.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Galileo Wine
& Spirits Ltd.</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the Glass – clear, pale to medium lemon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the Nose – clean light to medium
intensity, white citrus fruit, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">with some honey and buttered popcorn on the nose.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> It’s obvious that this is a cool climate gem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the Palate – This wine is dry, with medium
to high acid, light to med body, citrus, gooseberry, stone and steely quality. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">With solid minerality (like oyster
shells), orchard fruit, some tropical notes. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It
has a strong to medium finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The winery of </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Domaine Gilbert Picq et Ses Fils in
the village of Chichée. They make this very terrior driven premier cru of
Vosgros, from the family’s oldest premier cru vines. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The label is now
run by two brothers, Didier and Pascal, and sister Marilyn Picq Gilbert after
their father retired. The vines they govern are between thirty-five and forty
years old.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zi9fSGH1KPY/T4tt4PGzzEI/AAAAAAAAAOs/RJLZWO-NiP4/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zi9fSGH1KPY/T4tt4PGzzEI/AAAAAAAAAOs/RJLZWO-NiP4/s200/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+013.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In
Chichée, Vaucoupin is a highly regarded premier cru on the right bank (east
side) of the river Serein. The slopes along the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Serein River face primarily due south</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. All seven of Chablis’ grand crus
are also on the right bank. This is the steepest section of the vineyard, on a 45
degree slope, obviously its all cared for and harvested by hand. The soil is
what gives this wine the oyster shell character because of the slat quality of
the soil. Over all right bank premier crus produce heftier and more masculine
styled wines and the left bank has more of a feminine and elegant flavor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My
closing thoughts - This is a fantastic Chablis, rich austere and great lively
acidity. But it can use some more time in the bottle to age. However if you
cant wait I would recommend you decant it and give it an hour or two. This wine will run you less then $45 and
would be a great addition to any celler.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cheers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-67912610116875119412012-04-06T17:34:00.000-06:002012-04-06T19:36:06.656-06:00Review - VINAGUARENA BARRICA 2008<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CSlGAPu8Tyc/T3-YWj0Z-YI/AAAAAAAAALU/vZfo0p2Z0IA/s1600/Photo+2012-04-06+12+04+04+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CSlGAPu8Tyc/T3-YWj0Z-YI/AAAAAAAAALU/vZfo0p2Z0IA/s320/Photo+2012-04-06+12+04+04+AM.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">REVIEW - VINAGUARENA BARRICA 2008<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU:
719934 <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Origin:
Spain <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Agent:
<a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30030700.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Crush Imports</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Now here’s a throw back to jobs gone past, but still an old favorite of
mine. What can I say? I have a lady boner for all things Spain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Vinaguarena winery is located by the town of Toro, just to the north
of the Duero River. The winery has 82 hectares of land that connect with the
River Guarena, which flows into the Duero. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lpQkSvN_Ot8/T3-Ya3MZ3BI/AAAAAAAAALc/EKXUKD1R-GA/s1600/Photo+2012-04-06+12+04+13+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lpQkSvN_Ot8/T3-Ya3MZ3BI/AAAAAAAAALc/EKXUKD1R-GA/s200/Photo+2012-04-06+12+04+13+AM.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This Barrica is 100% Tinto de Toro, which translates into Tempranillo,
and comes from 15 year old vines. Its Fermented just under 30 degrees C for 15
days and aged for 6 months in small mostly French oak barrels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The grapes are sourced from small vine growers in the area, with vines
ranging in age up to 150 years old and all harvesting is done by hand. With the
older vineyards the grapes are even sorted by hand rather then machine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the Glass she’s clear, deep ruby center, but a definite purple edge as
it reaches the rim<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose I immediately get clean ripe red fruit, specifically huge
pronounced pomegranate aromas, and then touch of cherry with some oaky smoke to
lift it out of the glass. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pz7lQZD-Wtk/T3-Yeh1BaZI/AAAAAAAAALk/BVYxKuq7E7g/s1600/Photo+2012-04-06+12+04+20+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pz7lQZD-Wtk/T3-Yeh1BaZI/AAAAAAAAALk/BVYxKuq7E7g/s200/Photo+2012-04-06+12+04+20+AM.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Pallet this wine is dry, with medium acid. Full body but not over
encumbering the tannins. You get a great follow through on the pomegranate from
the nose, along with some stewed raspberry and of course the red cherry. With
its medium finish I would, and did, drink this wine on its own. But it would hold
up against most dishes because the fruit flavors are so stable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As you can probably tell this is not my first bottle of this particular
wine, I really do enjoy it and for under 20$ in the store I highly recommend
it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-34313065113054127192012-04-04T21:35:00.000-06:002012-04-04T23:41:46.506-06:00WSET Intermediate Day 1 - Hook, Line and Sinker<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fm3aQAm7SEo/T30umqkAN7I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/yP7GTqmF9tI/s1600/Photo+2012-04-03+5+56+32+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fm3aQAm7SEo/T30umqkAN7I/AAAAAAAAAJ8/yP7GTqmF9tI/s320/Photo+2012-04-03+5+56+32+PM.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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So! Class one. Exciting stuff!</div>
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On day one of my WSET I think one of the best things that I
walked away with is the wine tasting and evaluation technique. I kind of went
over this when I talked about the foundation course, but this is a more in
depth way of breaking it down. You can of course go much further than what I’m
going to talk about here, but it’s a great way of distinguishing it from just
red white or pink.</div>
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How do we break it down? It comes in 3 stages once it’s in
the glass: how it looks, what it smells like and how it tastes. </div>
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It starts with a look. Regardless of red or white wine you’re
going to be looking at the wines clarity, intensity and colour. With clarity
you need to take into account if it’s clear or hazy (turbid). The best advice I was given with this is to put
the glass of wine over some writing. Can you see through it? Yes, ok, if it’s
an inky wine it’s going to have too much tannin in it but use your best judgment.
Next is intensity, is the colour pale, medium or deep intensity. This one is
hard to describe in words, but try to think of it like this. Grammas dusty rose
couch vs. generic pink vs. electric Barbie lipstick pink. Each one is its own
distinct intensity of the same concept of pink. Finally in the glass we see the
colour of the wine – red, white, and rose. Colour can indicate age in a wine,
but that’s another topic for another day. Each one can be broken down further.
In white we range from lemon to gold to amber, in rose we get pink to salmon to
orange and in reds we get purple to ruby to garnet to tawny. There are of
course a MILLION other options in addition to these, but I feel that WSET and I
try to use the same lines when analyzing a wine. KISS – keep it simple, stupid.</div>
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Next up we have the nose, how does the wine smell? Does it
smell clean, clear and identifiable? Or does it smell muddled and off? How’s
the intensity? Is it light and reserved in the glass? Do you need to swirl the
crap out of it to make the wine come you? Medium where it comes to you or
pronounced where the sucker hits you from across the table with big fruit,
floral, spices, vegetables, or oak aromas? This is also where we are going to
find our first real fault; cork taint. WSET estimates that between 2-5% of
bottles with corks has cork taint. That seems really low to me. I would guess
that more than that are off, but people just don’t know what the wine they are
drinking should taste like. Cork taint is most easily identifiable by the wet
cardboard smell. Not pleasant.</div>
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Finally we have the palate. How do we break down all those
flavors into the good, the bad and the ugly? WSET recommends that you do it
like this. Start with sweetness, is it dry, off-dry, medium or sweet. Sugar is
first registered on the palete at approximately 4grams of sugar per liter, which
with all things considered it a fair amount of sugar, so sometimes when we
think we taste sweetness in a wine it may just be the fruit. Acidity is next;
this is the balancing force with sugar. We describe acidity in a range of low,
medium and high. A good indicator is how your tongue feels after the wine has
left your mouth. Does your mouth water along the sides? If so how much, acidity
makes a wine feel bright and refreshing and it makes your mouth water. Next we
have tannins and like acidity it’s measured in a low to high scale - but this
isn’t just for red wine. Because a lot of white wines are oaked they gather
tannins from the types of oaks they are fermented or aged in. Keep this in mind
when tasting some buttery chardonnays. <br />
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Next we have body, this can be described as light, medium
and full. This is the key to most food pairings and is why a light body red can
go just as well with a fish as a big oaky white will stand up to red meat or
heavy sauce. </div>
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Next we have flavors but lets do this with length, which is
just as important. We can get hints, memories and nuances of almost any flavor,
good or bad, on a wine. Some wines are going to be true to there varietals or
regional flavors while some blends will leave you guessing and reaching in all
directions for a hand full of different flavors. But what matters is narrowing
it down, going from fruit to stone fruit to peach. Build up your own flavor and
memory banks, try new things; you’d be amazed at the way it comes out in a
wine. And length ties in to this a lot. So you taste peaches on a wine, so what
if it’s gone in less than 5 seconds? (That would be a short finish) what if it
tastes like dirt and it lasts for over 3 minutes? (That would be a long finish)
the length of the wine should reflect the wine itself, specifically the
quality. As far as measuring a length of time, I would say it’s mostly
instinctual, but a 1-2 minute finish is where I like my wines because I
typically try to pair food.</div>
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Before any of this can really be done, rather, before it can
be done <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">accurately,</i> you need to make
sure you’re in the right circumstances to taste. You need to not be sick, or
have coffee breath, and please don’t have a smoke before you taste. Yes after a
time these flavors become part of the back ground and you can say they wont impede
your tasting and flavors. But what if you’re tasting a 1992 Freemark Abbey,
where it’s got that gentle tobacco finish? It’s going to get lost ‘cause you’re
used to that taste of cigarette tobacco on your pallet. Or espresso in a merlot
after a tall triple shot mocha latte, or anything that offers small wisps of
animal or telling the differences between cooked and stewed fruit when your
sick and your senses are dulled. Not judging, just sayin’. I’m not to say don’t
do have your cigar or your banana nut muffin, everyone’s got their own vice,
but maybe don’t mix those vices with the wine.</div>
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Cheers!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-11396326249104358222012-04-03T12:34:00.000-06:002012-04-15T17:06:29.328-06:00REVIEW – 2008 ST URBANSHOF OCKFENER BROCKSTEIN KABINETT ESTATE RIESLING<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-09-OI66T3R0/T4tTNcpl0gI/AAAAAAAAAN8/r3SURTgJv-w/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-09-OI66T3R0/T4tTNcpl0gI/AAAAAAAAAN8/r3SURTgJv-w/s320/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+010.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">REVIEW – </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">2008 </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ST URBANSHOF OCKFENER </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">BROCKSTEIN KABINETT </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ESTATE RIESLING<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 730217 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Agent: <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30011200.aspx">Renaissance
Wine & Spirits</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the Glass – clear deep lemon.
Showing no legs/coat which tells me that it’s a low alcohol wine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose - clean medium to pronounced
aromas of baking spice, fruity, citrus flavors like lime and lemon. And still
the Riesling minerals and a bit of petrol. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Palate – off dry to medium
sugar, medium to high acidity which gives this wine a good balance. Absolutely no
tannin in this wine. Flavors of citrus, yellow fruit, banana and petrol. It
gives us flavors of green apple, lemon, lime and </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">minerally </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">cool fruit. The body is in the light to medium range with low
alcohol, and a medium and enjoyable finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sbRVCbgBfdk/T4tTXrfGV4I/AAAAAAAAAOM/D6KvlnasKhc/s1600/startseite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sbRVCbgBfdk/T4tTXrfGV4I/AAAAAAAAAOM/D6KvlnasKhc/s200/startseite.jpg" width="157" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Nik Weis is the owner and the winemaker
for <a href="http://www.urbans-hof.de/en/index_.html"><u style="text-underline: #262626;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: #262626; text-underline: none;">St.Urbans-Hof</span></u></a>,
which is located in Mosel. The winery was first built in 1947. His father,
while building one of Germanys biggest vine nurseries, was also a key figure in
building what is now Vineland Estates in the Niagara region of Ontario Canada.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">After the
grapes are harvested they were crushed and allowed two hours of skin contact. They
allowed a longer time for contact with the lees so that the wine would have “<a href="http://www.urbans-hof.de/en/index_.html">more body and a sense of
smoothness</a>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Nik
Weis Advocates a "<a href="http://www.urbans-hof.de/en/philosophie/thesen.html">10 Points Philosophy</a>"
that I found very well said. He says that a hands on and simultaneously hands
off approach is best, and longevity of vines in Mosel is match by its longevity
in the bottle. It’s actually a very cute slide show. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxC4mGq79Q0/T4tTWXf8tZI/AAAAAAAAAOE/mLtRfF5QG4U/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxC4mGq79Q0/T4tTWXf8tZI/AAAAAAAAAOE/mLtRfF5QG4U/s200/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+011.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the
slide show Weis states Mosel Riesling must be grown on slate, which gives it
structure and binds the fruit sweetness of the wines with its naturally high
acidity. Which is exactly what he has. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">His vine sites are on
steep slat hills and can only be worked by hand. The warmth of the heat
reflecting slate is seen in the wines; by allowing them to ripen slowly and
develop balance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps this is
why “Mosel wines age gracefully”. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Weis goes on to say that, "The path of grape to bottle must be as
short and undisturbed as possible." </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">He enacts this by only the use of
indigenous yeasts and no addition anything. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Over all I’m not a Riesling
drinker. Sorry. But I would drink this and enjoy it. And for under $30 retail
I’d recommend it. My only (and vainly) issue comes with the labeling – it’s
bland and kind of tacky. But really, once it’s in the glass what does that
matter?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cheers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-73130907292983110852012-04-01T15:30:00.000-06:002012-04-15T15:33:44.930-06:00REVIEW – 2009 BARON PHILIPPE de ROTHSCHILD “MOUTON CADET”<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">REVIEW – 2009 BARON PHILIPPE de
ROTHSCHILD “MOUTON CADET”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 407551 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Agent: </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30015100.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Vincor Canada</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the Glass – clear medium/deep, some sediment,
purple tinge but mostly ruby<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose – clean, med to pronounced, red fruit,
cherry/berry, and a tinge of pungent, vanilla spicy and herbaceous. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Palate – This wine is dry, medium acidity, full
of under ripe tannin, greenstone quality, seedy fruit, acidic red fruit and pomegranate.
It has a short to medium finish. Not overly balanced tannins as in it goes
strait down the pallet with nothing to complex. It’s acceptable, but tastes
mass-produced. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sOtuWjij6i8/T4s9n7VnfVI/AAAAAAAAAN0/5sdiA8Q4JZg/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sOtuWjij6i8/T4s9n7VnfVI/AAAAAAAAAN0/5sdiA8Q4JZg/s200/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+018.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Baron Philippe
created Mouton Cadet in 1930, taking the name “cadet” from his place as the
youngest in his family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 80+
years since its creation it has become the entry Bordeaux wine for most of us.
Also note worthy - it gained a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_AOC"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Bordeaux AOC</span></a> classification
in 1947 after WW2, and it had actually shut down production completely during
war times. Philippe de Rothschild passed away in 1988, leaving his business to
his Daughter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This little Bordeaux is a blend
of </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">65%</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Merlot</span>, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">20%</span> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Cabernet Sauvignon</span> and <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">15%</span> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Cabernet
Franc</span>. And spends between 6-10 months in stainless steel vats and sees
no real oak in its life. I think thats because that would make it to expensive for what
the business owner, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_de_Rothschild"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Philippine de
Rothschild</span></a>, is intending this wine to be. It is a good beginners
Bordeaux blend and has its place in our wine markets. I think you would be hard
pressed to find a retailer that didn’t have at least one of Rothschild wines on
its shelf. And at under 15$ it wouldn't break the bank like most other Bordeaux
wines</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I would drink with this wine any red meat
dishes, but watch for sauces. Something like a peppercorn gravy may over power
this one and leave you feeling that it’s a bit watered down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cheers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-83566140665026845682012-03-30T12:34:00.000-06:002012-04-15T14:09:35.037-06:00REVIEW – 2008 FISHER CHARDONNAY<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pYw0tfMsPMU/T4sqDRtF7KI/AAAAAAAAANU/t7FgITNucno/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pYw0tfMsPMU/T4sqDRtF7KI/AAAAAAAAANU/t7FgITNucno/s320/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+014.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">REVIEW – 2008 FISHER</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> CHARDONNAY</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 1081843 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Agent: </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-71823100.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Richmond Hill Wines</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the Glass – clear, deep lemon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose – medium to pronounced aromas of oak,
charred and smoky wood, pineapple, ripe/baked fruit <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(clearly warm climate grapes) with notes of honey and cream.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Palate – I found this wine dry with medium acid, medium to full
body. It has flavors of tropical fruit, apple pie, clove/cinnamon, butter, (lee
stirring) weighty and richness with a strong to medium finish. It has a noticeable
bitter/burnt finish, which is from the warmer climate</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YAO6BB4EX0w/T4sqT3jnfMI/AAAAAAAAANk/UuqsG5KvOQU/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YAO6BB4EX0w/T4sqT3jnfMI/AAAAAAAAANk/UuqsG5KvOQU/s200/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+016.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This
wine is 100% Chardonnay <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">sourced</span>
out of the Oak Knoll district of <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Napa.
They use yeast that’s present in the vineyard and facilities and they use 100%
French Oak to age for 14 months. Now I have a bit of an opinion on American
wine (and Canadian wine too for that matter).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its considered new world, because we haven’t been making
wine for as long as the rest of the world has. I’m sure there is a more
technical reason for it but that’s basically what it equates to. Because we
haven’t been doing it as long we don’t know what exactly which grapes work in
all the different regions we have here. Which is fine. But I think a lot of the
California producers have jumped on this Chardonnay bandwagon for the instant
revenue when they should be trying to branch out to varietals that would better
suit their land and help thin out an already saturated market. Every ones got
an oaky Chardonnay in Napa. Everyone. Its like going through your sex ed. class
in high school. We’re not really sure how putting the rubber on a banana is
helpful but everyone has done it. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the end I don’t think $42 for
this wine is a far price unless you were really hard up and really want oaked
Chardonnay, and even then I would probably point you to another one. But that’s
just my personal preference. Yes, it has a full mouth feel, yes it has tropical
fruit and yes it had the butter from the oak. But it didn’t blow me away; it
didn’t really stand out or draw me in. it was just too simple to be in that
price point. If some one ordered it for me I would certainly be happy enough to
have it, but I wouldn’t order it my self.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cheers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-14162696142554522942012-03-27T15:05:00.000-06:002012-04-14T17:13:04.268-06:00REVIEW - 2007 BISCHOFLICHE AYLER KUPP RIESLING SPATLESE<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reMU1TceiXI/T4oCd0IyPzI/AAAAAAAAANE/D_-tUoujeGI/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reMU1TceiXI/T4oCd0IyPzI/AAAAAAAAANE/D_-tUoujeGI/s320/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> REVIEW - 2007 <span style="text-transform: uppercase;">BISCHOFLICHE
</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; text-transform: uppercase;">Ayler Kupp</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; text-transform: uppercase;"> RIESLING</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> SPATLESE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">SKU: 705326 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Agent: <a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30063800.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Trialto Wine
Group Ltd.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the Glass – clear pale to medium lemon with
almost no legs or coating on the rim<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the Nose – light/ medium
intensity. I got a lot of stone fruit, ripe melon and </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">sweet fruit like
over ripe pineapple, mandarins and late harvest apples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the Palete – off dry, balanced,
with medium body, which I attribute to the higher sweetness. With flavors of peach
stewed fruit, and your basic Riesling flavors and a </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">medium finish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I would serve this with just about any white
meat, or with anything spicy, and at 25$ a pop it’s not bad to have with Thai
take out at home. Not that I would know anything about that… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The front of this bottle advertises that it’s
a Saar wine. What is a Saar wine?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Good question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_T95WEU1jcg/T4oCnEpSKZI/AAAAAAAAANM/UT6Zy3MikqU/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_T95WEU1jcg/T4oCnEpSKZI/AAAAAAAAANM/UT6Zy3MikqU/s200/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+009.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">German has 13 wine regions that are sub
divided into smaller regions. Saar is a sub district of Mosel. It’s a
collection of steep southern slopes along the Saar River in the north and
follows the river down where it eventually feeds into the Mosel river. This
division occurred in 1998. It’s just a young’en in the Germany senses of wine
making. I’m not sure why but labeling a wine from its mini district has fallen
out of style so we typically only see things like “Mosel” on the bottle. I like
that this one is proud of where it comes from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cheers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-87613827911591618652012-03-25T13:13:00.000-06:002012-04-14T13:14:48.055-06:00REVIEW - NV MARTINI & ROSSI ASTI (D.O.C.G.)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tGCLy3gJdho/T4nLQpR1olI/AAAAAAAAAM0/AJKcIroEuck/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tGCLy3gJdho/T4nLQpR1olI/AAAAAAAAAM0/AJKcIroEuck/s320/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+006.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">REVIEW - NV MARTINI & ROSSI ASTI
(D.O.C.G.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 1875 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Agent: Bacardi Canada Inc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the Glass – Clear but pale lemon yellow
with soda sizes bubble coming up the side of the glass. It immediately stuck me
as something that had been carbonated after the fact because of soda pop look
it had. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose – clean, light with a strong
peachy fruit and floral aroma. It just kind of lays the cards out for you on
that one and I didn’t get much more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-di2TQa6N1dQ/T4nLYs58X9I/AAAAAAAAAM8/Y49iT2g1ODE/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-di2TQa6N1dQ/T4nLYs58X9I/AAAAAAAAAM8/Y49iT2g1ODE/s200/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+007.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Palate - stone fruit and peaches with
a touch of citrus, medium sweetness, aggressive and prickly bubbles; this is due
to the tank fermentation, light to medium weight. Over all this one strikes me
like a honey soda. Sort of mixed with the pineapple crush that the Newfies
drink. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Over all, it’s pretty easy to drink, either
sipping with appys or to finish a meal but I like my bubbly on the dry to very
dry side so it’s just a touch too sweet for me. But a nice cheap treat at under
15$ a bottle on the shelf.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This Asti is made from the </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Moscato
Bianco </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">grape and is actually DOCG certified. Which surprised
me because its sooo mass-produced that I thought they would have to source out
for the grapes. Here's a quote from their web site.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DGPTagVl1OM/T4nLDv9jUpI/AAAAAAAAAMs/38d_GtzumqY/s1600/485px-Map_of_region_of_Piedmont,_Italy,_with_provinces-it.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DGPTagVl1OM/T4nLDv9jUpI/AAAAAAAAAMs/38d_GtzumqY/s200/485px-Map_of_region_of_Piedmont,_Italy,_with_provinces-it.svg.png" width="161" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">“MARTINI® Asti is crafted from 100% handpicked* Moscato
Bianco grapes, grown in Northern Italy. It is ranked D.O.C.G. (denomination of
controlled and guaranteed origin), the highest classification granted to
Italian wines. Its aroma will lure you in like a siren’s song, boasting fruity
and floral notes. Sparking on the tongue, the natural sweetness of the grapes
comes through with full flavor and wonderful texture. Recommended for after
dinner, pairing with cakes and other desserts or sweet fruits.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The more I researched Martini &
Rossi the more respect I had for them as a mass production organization. From
what I can tell the business was family started an</span><span style="color: #343434; font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">d Rossi’s sons took it over
in 1982, then his grand sons took it over in 1930. In 1977 the company became
part of </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">the “General Beverage Corporation”. Then in 1993 they merged with
Bacardi</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">. I’m not sure when the Martini Vermouth came
to be a part of it but no doubt that was a huge win for Bacardi. 1993 was also
when the asti received it DOCG designation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cheers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">*I don’t mean to be
rude but I highly doubt that this is accurate simply because of the price point;
handpicking grapes is VERY expensive. So unless they have a team of fiddler
elves picking grapes for them out of the kindness of their heart this would be
near impossible to achieve. Not judging, just sayin’.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-59331713166679630292012-03-23T14:05:00.000-06:002012-04-13T14:07:35.597-06:00REVIEW - NV CHAMPAGNE DEVAUX GRANDE RESERVE<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WD76S_F91mU/T4iGu-FrHPI/AAAAAAAAAMU/kipns6SYMy8/s1600/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qda="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WD76S_F91mU/T4iGu-FrHPI/AAAAAAAAAMU/kipns6SYMy8/s320/olds+and+wset+day+1+wines+003.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">REVIEW - NV CHAMPAGNE DEVAUX GRANDE RESERVE</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 1082284<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Agent: Tandem Wine Selection Inc. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Here we have a champagne by Veuve A. Devaux <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which from <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Champagne, France</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the Glass - This wine is a pale yellow with a bit of gold, bit is almost clear. It has fine lines of bubbles rising through the glass. It's really very pretty to see.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose – clean, light and bright with strong fruit and bready notes . Stone fruit such as peach are easy to pick out along with some honey and light floral</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Palate - Fine smooth bubbles over the tongue, and flavors keeping with its stone fruit and biscuit nose. Dry with medium acidity, light to medium body, medium length. Its weight is due to the fact that this wine is done in the traditional champagne method.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Due to the nature of champagne and legal requirements it is a blend of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay higher than average proportion of about 30% of reserve wines. All of which is matured in oak barrels</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: auto 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">According to Wikipedia The Devaux Champagne house has been part of the legend of Champagne since the mid 19th. Century. Founded by the Devaux brothers, Jules and Auguste, the company was how ever controlled by a widow named Madame Veuve Augusta Devaux. She was one of the famous ladies of Champagne who directed their companies with great energy and talent and one of the select band of widows seeming to hold the key to Champagne during the nineteenth century. Because of the talent and energy that she put in her work the people that came after her inscribed her name on the facade of the house in Epernay to continue her memory. It was in 1986 it was decided to entrust the future of The Devaux Champagne house to Union Auboise, which is one of the largest groups of Champagne growers in area of Domaine de Villeneuve at Bar sur Seine. Since then <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Devaux has been a co-operative label.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">At under 60$ on the retail shelf I would drink this one fresh with appetizers, popcorn, chicken, oysters or anything... really.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-41385002287524769952012-03-21T22:58:00.000-06:002012-04-01T23:02:04.015-06:00Review - RIOJA BORDON GRAN RESERVA 2001<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq0Fnz3c0ww/T3kgkQ2jp0I/AAAAAAAAAJk/Xivmvpv99BQ/s1600/Photo+2012-03-31+7+11+10+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bq0Fnz3c0ww/T3kgkQ2jp0I/AAAAAAAAAJk/Xivmvpv99BQ/s200/Photo+2012-03-31+7+11+10+PM.jpg" width="200" /></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">REVIEW - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">RIOJA
BORDON GRAN RESERVA 2001</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">SKU: 735254<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Origin: Spain<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Agent: Pure Global Imports Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This little Spanish harlot is actually one of
my favorite wines and it seemed only fitting that I rip off the winter bandage
with a bottle of it among friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So, what is a Gran Reserva you ask? Well, I
can tell you. In Bodegas it means that it must be aged for a minimum of 5 years
before it’s released. This one in particular spends at least 2 years in oak
casks and at least 3 more years in the bottle. How ever the majority of the
wood that it sees is actually old oak so it imparts very little of the big,
toasty, vanilla extract and stucco that you see with a great deal of other
wines that spends the equivalent amount of time in new oak. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TNmSlUjAAq0/T3kgo4lH8uI/AAAAAAAAAJs/WG8dka_cTQg/s1600/Photo+2012-03-31+7+11+17+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TNmSlUjAAq0/T3kgo4lH8uI/AAAAAAAAAJs/WG8dka_cTQg/s320/Photo+2012-03-31+7+11+17+PM.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Being mostly tempranillio, 80% to be exact,
its exceptionally close to its traditional expression even with its blend of 17%
Grenache, 2% Mazuelo and 2% Graciano. Lets break it down shall we.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the Glass; Off the start I noticed that
this wine wasn’t the full red like I thought it would be, but it is over 10
years old so its no surprise to see that the bright ruby red I was expecting had
faded a fair bit and has some tawny to it <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose; starting off a bit dull but
after a quick swirl she came right to life. I had strong ripe and dried fruit
off the top with this one, and strong earthy notes as well. Like is said, its
very close to the traditional Rioja style and comes with sparks of vanilla and
chew tobacco and something that I can only describe as “cowboy-esk”. It’s like
woods, and campfire (perhaps because I was drinking it beside a bonfire?), herb
garden and wonderful saddle leather notes – the kind of leather that’s well
worn. Even though this wine sees an exceptionally long time in oak, but not new
oak, my cowboy aromas are just hints and not over the top. An absolutely
wonderful integration of oak on the nose of this wine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-an7IjeVqtZ0/T3kgugvI2QI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/oBE1hjEAFZs/s1600/Photo+2012-03-31+7+11+25+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-an7IjeVqtZ0/T3kgugvI2QI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/oBE1hjEAFZs/s320/Photo+2012-03-31+7+11+25+PM.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Pallet; Before we start I would highly
recommend decanting this wine; in one of the bottles I had before there was a
bit of sediment in the bottle (but not this one luckily enough, cause I didn’t
have a decanter with me), but 10 or so minutes with some air really helps wake
this girl up. When she’s up, we get spicy black cherry, tobacco, vanilla, and
that cowboy quality I was talking about before. But we also get some great sandalwood
and minty coolness. With a long but gentle finish this medium to full body wine
has a great complexity and you can actually feel it evolve in your mouth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Food suggestion: Beef or lamb, I had a
peppercorn steak and baked potato with it. The peppercorns were a bit much with
the wine but they were both really tasty and I pulled through just fine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Like is said, Rioja Bordon is one of my absolute
favorite wine producers. I have yet to be anything other then extremely pleased
with all of their products so even I highly recommend that you all go try this
wine. Even if Spanish wine isn’t “your thing”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cheers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-4632085827289119142012-03-19T12:34:00.000-06:002012-04-01T21:43:29.453-06:00Wine and You - The Restaurant<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Carrying on with a series of ideas on how we
interpret the commodity of wine, we have wine and the restaurant. As I said in the
consumer-based post, there are a much higher percentage of people that are open
to trying something new. Because most people treat dining out as a ‘new
experience’ they become more open to the inspirations and suggestions of their
fellow diners and service staff.
This gives us the ability to discuss, segue and over all generate
conversation over a bottle, or glass, of wine and is an often-utilized tactic
with people that you may not know or like. How do I know? Because I’ve used it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For a restaurant there are many things to
consider for their wine service, from staff knowledge and incentive to sell,
wine makers dinners and tastings, the actually wine list and wine availability
and how it goes together with their menu and atmosphere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A restaurants service staff is like its front
lines. They immediately reflect how much time and care the establishment has
put into their wine. You want them trained, in how to serve wine, not just
properly but with style, you want them knowledgeable and most importantly you
want them to SELL. And I say that with no shame. Wine is a commodity, just as cars,
paintings and toilet paper is. So you just gotta sell it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So how do restaurants sell it? First and foremost
you want your staff to know about the wines that you carry. From my personal experience
in this side of the industry I know that most of the restaurants that pride
themselves on their wine list will do tastings with their staff on all their
wines by the glass. They can have different companies, some retailers and some
importers, that will come in and train them on wines that they do by the
bottle. I LOVED these events, and
quite honestly it’s where I started. I feel that providing staff training is
not only good for sales but also very much drives staff moral. ‘Cause who
wouldn’t want a glass of wine after work once a week? During these tastings we
can also address staff incentive – “ if you sell the most glasses of XYZ wine
then you get a free bottle to take home”. Uhhh Score! This is even more
motivation for the staff to get out there, get educated and sell it to the
patrons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But how does the specific selling work? Way
back when I was a server *insert flash back sequences here* I would often start
out by trying to get to know my customer, seeing what they were in the mood
for, even if they didn’t know the what they were ordering to eat yet. From
there I would make a few suggestions and tell them why. This is where a lot of food pairing
knowledge came in handy. But more often than not it didn’t matter what they
were having as long as I knew about the wine. For example (and I don’t mean to
step on any toes here) the wines produced by <a href="http://blastedchurch.com/">Blasted
Church</a> in BC, were super easy to sell because they blew up a church; hence
the name. Of course, my selling it was much more then “it got blowed up” but it
made for a nifty story. And stories lead to conversation, conversations lead to
memorable experiences and now suddenly you have a restaurant that has become a
part of an experience. What greater publicity can you ask for?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, depending on the restaurant, there may
be the possibility of wine makers dinners. This is where a wine maker, or
producer actually comes in to the restaurant and host a dinner for 10 – 25
people. Typically the menu is crafted to specifically match the wines that the
host represents. They are an immense
amount of fun and incredibly informative. If you ever get the chance to go to
one of these – JUMP ON IT. You won’t regret it, I promise. Typically tickets to these events are
all inclusive. As in, they include dinner, drinks and typically as well
gratuity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The most essential item that a restaurant has
in selling wine, aside from their staff, is their wine list. Just in case you
don’t know what a wine list is lets go to wiki for a definition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13pt;">“A wine list is a menu of wine selections for
purchase, typically in a restaurant setting. A restaurant may include a list of
available wines on its main menu, but usually provides a separate menu just for
wines. Wine lists in the form of tasting menus and wines for purchase are also
offered by wineries and wine stores.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Typically a wine list is built by the
restaurants’ sommelier but there are some companies that offer this services to
places that don’t employ sommeliers. Over all, an effective wine list covers
all counties and appellations - within reason - and it accents, highlights and
in some cases, compensates for their food menu. For example, if there is a lot
of red meat on the menu, then you wont see a lot of white wine on the list. If
there is a lot of spicy food, then you’re going to see a higher proportion of
sweet wines on the list. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The retailer(s) the restaurants buy their
wine from and also the availability to get the wines in the province (or state)
can limit a wine list. However, a good wine list will have enough selection to
compensate in the event of a shortage, or it should be updated to include wines
that they can get. Over all a wine list is can be viewed like the restaurants
resume of wines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In general for what a wine is to a restaurant
is still a commodity, but just like a painting it needs to fit with is
surrounds and accent the decorum. A lot of time and preparation goes into the
training of the people who sell and serve it, its availability to be sold and
the way it interacts with the other components of the diners’ experience.
Finely picked and cared for it can truly make a great restaurant exceptional.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cheers!</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-91629292482832396702012-03-17T00:34:00.000-06:002012-03-24T13:09:38.640-06:00Review 1884 Malbec Reservado 2009<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 15pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dJbZO0FCG7s/T24XEpmqDPI/AAAAAAAAAJM/LEyGRkpI3D8/s1600/1884+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dJbZO0FCG7s/T24XEpmqDPI/AAAAAAAAAJM/LEyGRkpI3D8/s320/1884+001.JPG" width="240" /></a><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt;">Review - 1884 RESERVADO MALBEC 2009</span></b></div>
</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">SKU: 770925 </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 18pt;"></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Agent: </span></b><a href="http://www.liquorconnect.com/Agents/Pages/3210-30005300.aspx"><b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none;">David Herman & Son Ltd.</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></b></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So last night was had a bit of a family get together dinner and we were pleasantly gifted with this deceiving little wine</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Nose; full, warm plump berries, red fruit but it was slightly restrained which I found surprising. With a lot of the Argentina wines I’ve had lately, it’s a bit like being assaulted with a fist of hot ripe fruit. I very much appreciated and enjoyed not being punched in the face by a wine</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">On the Pallet; Smooth, smoky and sweet, with soft tannins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has a short to medium finish. I didn’t find a lot of follow through on this one. It may have been due to the sweetness of it, which I think comes from the oak. But don’t get me wrong it wasn’t offensively sweet. I think this wine would make an excellent cold night next to the fireplace wine. I wouldn’t want to pair it with anything to heavy, because it’s so timid and reined in. For example I had this with BBQ’d burgers and I had to put the wine down while I was eating because it was all but lost in the meal. </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N1yosTZMEw4/T24XHabBHOI/AAAAAAAAAJU/B0EhoDg1Evo/s1600/1884+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N1yosTZMEw4/T24XHabBHOI/AAAAAAAAAJU/B0EhoDg1Evo/s320/1884+003.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Over all I like the throw back to the old malbec styles with wine, where it’s not the huge over the top fruit bombs like we’ve seen coming out of Australia in recent years. I liked that you could sit back and just enjoy it without the flavors and mouth feeling distracting me. But that is also its downfall in my opinion. It is soo mild, so if you are even considering pairing something with this, it’s going to be left behind.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span> <span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">For under $15 a bottle and it being in most retail liquor stores it’s pretty easy to get your hands on. If you are looking for a cheap red to try with a friend or a date and watch a movie, over all I would recommend this one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cheers!</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5466927418480910834.post-4861479302262548212012-03-15T12:34:00.000-06:002012-03-23T17:53:51.016-06:00Wine and You - The Consumer<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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So I’m all set to start my WSET level 2 in the next 3
weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But before I start up on
all that fun stuff, I want to discuss with you a series of ideas on how we interpret
the commodity of wine as consumers, retailers, restaurants, importers and
makers. These aspects are all very much related.</div>
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First, and most importantly in my opinion, we have wine and
the consumer. I am a wine consumer, and if you’re reading this blog, then I can
only assume that you have consumed wine yourself. If not, then you should, I definitely
recommend it. </div>
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When we go into a liquor store or a restaurant, what exactly
are we looking for in a wine? Do we know what we want or do we let inspiration
take us? Do we actually see it as an experience we are purchasing, be it the
flavor of the wine or the company and atmosphere we whish to propagate?</div>
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Yes and no… ehh, lets go with “kinda”. </div>
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I think as a consumer we are looking for something that does
speak to our specific taste and when we go shopping for a wine in a store, none
of us bring a strict shopping list but we do have a motivation. Be it price
point, varietal or food to go with it, we have something in mind. It’s not
often we just magically find our selves in a liquor store with our eyes closed
as we blindly fumble down the isle playing musical chairs with our wines. How
ever entertaining that notion may be. </div>
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I would estimate that 4 out of 5 times that a normal
consumer buys a wine from a liquor store, they have gone in for a purpose; be
it a brand they recognize or a pairing they’ve been told about. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s safe. There is a list to follow.
Just in and out. Hopefully there’re no lines. </div>
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But that 1 out of 5, and honestly them ain’t bad odds, will
meander through the store, picking which isle to go down and looking at labels
and reading descriptions. Waiting for a gem to call out to them so they can try
something new. I think the BEST wine shops hire people that do that themselves.
Because it takes one to know one. And while the staff may lose 15 minutes
discussing 2003 California wines, the consumer is going to be happy as a clam,
and satisfied with their experience even if they don’t take to the wine they’ve
bought. And heaven forbid if one of these wine pioneers finds the boutique and
high-end wine! The racks become library shelves and hours can be lost. </div>
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However when a consumer buys a wine in a restaurant, there
is a much higher percentage that are open to trying something new. Most people
I believe treat dining out as a ‘new experience’ and open to the inspirations
and suggestions of their dining guests and service staff. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole notion of going out and
ordering a bottle of wine with dinner, or even just a glass, is seen as an
event and people are with peers where they can discuss this new experience. </div>
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I think a wine that will ultimately appeal to a consumer is
one that they know about, which is hard, because lets face it. Wine isn’t self-explanatory.
There are so many label variations, varietals, appellations and years that it
simply cant be helped that you don’t know what the stuff in the bottle is going
to taste like. I think some of the best ways to counteract this is simply to
educate yourself. Ask your friends, what wines they drink what they like in
wine and why. Or ask your store clerk, or your server. If you’re too shy to ask,
or if you are unfortunate enough to have been dealing with someone who knows
less then you do, then Google is going to be your best friend. But even then, it’s
not like buying a liter of Pepsi, where it’s the same flavor every time. Get
informed on your wines and keep an open mind. Just as it is with most product
choices; you wouldn’t go with the first insurance company you found, you’d shop
around and see what other quotes you could get and educate yourself. </div>
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And yes, I know for most people picking a wine isn’t as
important as insurance. Well, maybe for me it is. Kinda.</div>
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Cheers!</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11245488566876864694noreply@blogger.com0