Graillot Crozes 2007

Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage 2007
I had a glass of this after work today, and though it didn't have time to see much exposure to air, I thought it was pretty fine. Lovely dark fruit and olive aromas, meaty. Good grip but it isn't tight - in fact it seemed suspiciously open tonight. Ripe but savoury. It seemed a touch better than what I remember the previous couple vintages to have been. Very nice, very pure Syrah, very pure Crozes.

Sadly this isn't the bargain here that it is elsewhere (it costs nearly 30€ a bottle), but I might still have to buy one.

Brédif Chinon 2008

After spending the weekend in a man flu going through a dusty "library" (15 000 volumes stored like this...) I didn't drink wine over the weekend because, due to flu and dust, I couldn't smell anything. So it was time to remedy the situation today, now that I'm regaining my sense of smell, and more importantly because we finally got a new Chinon in Alko!

Marc Brédif Chinon 2008 weighs in at 12,5% and has 5g/l acidity (and only 20% goes through malo - is it common that reds see so little malo? I always thought most reds go through it in greater amounts?). It is not a profound expression of Cab Franc (it's only 14€ and with Alko's prices, one really can't expect profundity at this price), but it is a very pleasant expression of it. Lovely fresh and refreshing aromas, slightly herbaceous, tobacco - very clean and pure. Some commented it was a bit dilute; I don't mind a juicy, well structured lightness at all and found it to have perfectly adequate stuffing. Though not profound, it was very enjoyable. It was certainly a pleasant way of overcoming the library daymare.

Okunomatsu Sakura Ginjo Sake

Okunomatsu Sakura Ginjo - 15,5% abv; 11 g/l sugar; 0,8 g/l acidity; rice milled to less that 60% of original weight - here is a picture of the back label if some of our Japanese speakers can make out the actual number!

This has a terrible price: 32;60€ for 720ml. And it isn't so much more ethereal or elegant or complex that I would pay this much when we have Sakes that to my amateur palate taste similar enough at half the price.

The scent is neutral in an interesting way - some of that pure mineral water aroma - but with slight banana (I guess this must be from the yeast used?) and sticky rice notes in there as well. Full bodied, rich, but despite the low acidity on paper, it tastes pleasantly refreshing on the aftertaste. It doesn't taste alcoholic despite the 15,5%. There is a very pleasant sensation of grip on the finish. I like this. But I just don't see it as worth 10-15€ more than the other Sakes available here.

Two Sakes from Hokkan Brewing

Kura no Machi Tokubetsu Junmai (Ginjo)* Sake - 14,5% abv; rice milled to 58% of original weight; 18 g/l sugar. 4,57€ / 0,30 liters.
This had quite an interesting scent: it was far more obviously rice-scented than the few other sakes I have had, all of which seemed more vinous. This isn't very vinous; rather it smells like a plate of steaming jasmine rice - very perfumed. Rich, not terribly subtle with such obvious rice aromas, but a pleasant drink even though it doesn't come to such ethereal mineral water purity as I read from Vinod is the ideal that sake strives to.

Misakura Daiginjo Sake - 15,8% abv; rice milled to 50% of its original weight; 25 g/l sugar. 14,66€ / 0,72 liters.
A much more vinous scent, with more of that idealized spring water minerality. It also has some lovely, evanescent, elegant citrus & green apple aromas that, for those fleeting moments that I notice them, smell rather like Riesling. Nice scent but the palate just seems a bit brutish after all that elegance: very full bodied, the alcohol comes through even when fridge cold, and the sweetness is also quite obvious. It tastes almost plummy, though I never though obvious fruit sensations would arise from rice. But it's not too brutish - at least this novice sake-drinker got much pleasure from it.

* Vinod of Jumanai Djimi Django says the label doesn't actually have Ginjo written on the label, so it is a "tokubetsu junmai (notably, with the rice milled to ginjo levels.)" All of this is, of course, very confusing to this Sake amateur.

Gobelsburg Gaisberg 2008

Schloss Gobelsburg Riesling Kammerner Gaisberg 2008 - Kamptal; 27,10€; 13% abv; 7,2g/l acidity; 5g/l RS
Quite a lovely aroma, pleasantly open already, though young. Strongly mineral, peach stone, ripe but in no way over the top. Powerful, dry, mineral, strong acidity but not in anyway harsh or painful. An already well formed young wine, but I can only see it improving still. Very nice.

Chéreau-Carré Cuvée des Ceps Centenaires Muscadet 2005

Chéreau-Carré Comte Leloup du Château de Chasseloir Cuvée des Ceps Centenaires Muscadet Sèvre & Maine 2005. Nice drop, though not a producer that gets much notice on the interwebz; and pleasantly refreshing despite a hot year. Rich and deep, leesy aromas, pleasantly citric and mineral, no sign of the over-ripeness I saw with the few other Muscadets of this year that I managed to try up here in the north. Fairly racy but doesn't have that lovely grip the '04 had. But it is still a joyful wine and we all received great pleasure from it.

Rain and Crusted Port

A mostly Turkish theme tonight with some lamb pilaf with a cheap Kavaklıdere Öküzgözü Sade d'Elâzığ 2009 from the Elâzığ Province (in Eastern Turkey on the Anatolian Plateau just north of the Taurus Mountains) which is the native area for not only Öküzgözü but for Boğazkere also.

For a cheap wine, only 8,05€ in Alko, this delivered great pleasure. Some cherry tartness in the aroma, but ripe and sweet, too. Good concentration and ripeness but good acidity and some proper tannic crunch. No oak. And screwcapped! I think I have to buy more.

Then we tried making baklava for the first time. I think we did OK, though we did have a bit of trouble getting our sugar into a syrupy consistency (any tips? less water, I guess). And we used too much lemon juice, though maybe that wasn't a bad thing as baklava often could use a bit of something acidic to lighten it a bit...

And of course some Port since my Port-loving friend was over, Graham's Crusted bottled 2001, which was very nice. Dark fruit tones rather than the more red, strawberry like aromas of Graham's VP. Still very primary, it doesn't seem to have budged since I last tasted this two years ago. Very sweet as the house style tends to be. Nice stuff, but I would give it more age.

And Co. and Pyramid Valley

&Co. Sauvignon Blanc 2009 is a strangely packaged wine from Hawkes Bay (I wish I had remembered to take my camera along: crown cap; clear glass, stylish "&Co" on the front; almost an old style newspaper headline on the back label - really cool labeling IMO).

Caveat: I generally don't get along with this grape. Yet I found much to enjoy in this wine (so I wonder if those who generally like the grape and its NZ manifestation would enjoy this?): a lovely, pure, slightly mineral aroma. It lacks the over-ripe, tropical aromas and it lacks the harsh, cat's piss aromas, too. Rather it seems like wine for a change (oh dear... are my prejudices showing?). Good body, good acidity, nothing over the top - in fact I would like to use the word "elegant", that I hardly ever use with this grape (especially from NZ). Good wine. I want to try a bottle at home with dinner, however, as a quick sample in a tasting is never the best way to experience a wine - especially if it is a style that is generally outside of one's comfort zone.


Then followed four wines from Pyramid Valley.

Pyramid Valley Hille Vineyard Semillon 2007 from Marlborough had a powerful aroma. It's quite difficult to describe the aroma: the oxymoron of ripe greenness is the closest I can come. It smells like ripe and sugary peas and something sharp and invigorating I have no name for (ooh, this is a classy TN!). Dry, powerful, crisp, much grip. I like it. Seems like it could use time.

Pyramid Valley Calvert Vineyard Pinot Noir 2008 from Central Otago was a nice enough Pinot Noir, very primary, with a bit of that cranberry jam + oak that seems to be stereotype of NZ PN from the tiny sampling we have available here - but at least these aromas are reserved and the Pinosity is foremost. Full bodied, full of sexy fruit, soft tannins but perfectly adequate acidity. 25% sees new oak and of course I would prefer it to be less. But even with my allergy, I did find much to enjoy in this wine.

Pyramid Valley Earth Smoke Pinot Noir 2008 is from Canterbury and also sees 25% new oak like the Calvert. It is also a wine with forward Pinosity, but gladly the cranberry jam + oak formula is less obvious (though I expected from such a name as Earth Smoke that this would be strongly oak-marked). Full bodied, well structured with refreshing tannins and acidity, very primary fruit. Needs time, but I think I like it. Both these Pinots had over 14% abv yet they really didn't taste like it.

Pyramid Valley Hille Late Harvest Semillon 2008 is from Marlborough. Just like the dry Semillon, this has the sharp and invigorating and utterly unique aroma that I still have difficulty describing: peas, maybe. This sees some new oak IIRC, but it doesn't show too badly (I think my opinions on even a slight amount showing are well known....). It has about a 100g/l RS but the overall feeling is that of a refreshing and even moresih wine. Nice.

I muster up the courage to try...

Today, among other lovely wines, I tasted two from Sepp & Maria Muster from Südsteiermark, Austria. The first was a fairly straightforward, un-freakish, but very well made Gelber Muskateller 2008. It was absolutely lovely, with strong mineral tones to the grapey, rosewater scents; dry, crisp, and even quite forceful for a Muskateller. Endless, pure, mineral aftertaste. Lovely, but I did wonder why the host of this tasting (of Funky Wine Imports) told me to expect something really weird even though he knows of my tolerance for the weirder end of the wine spectrum.

But the next second wine from Muster made it all clear. It is a really freaky, funky "orange" wine called Erde 2007, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Morillon (the local name for Chardonnay). I loved it, but it was so extreme that it did take a while for me to adjust my thinking to it. But when I managed that, this was delightful and moreish.

It is aged for 12 months in an amphora (and sees skin contact, of course); then the skins are removed and it is aged a further 12 months in a neutral barrel. The packaging is quite unusual also, being not bottled but clayed.

Orange. Rustic, wild, earthy aroma - if it doesn't stretch the imagination too much, it smells like citrus marmalade without marmalade's sweetness. Fairly rich, nicely acidic, ferociously tannic for a "white" wine, yet it seems wonderfully drinkable and even moreish once I manage to wrap my head around everything unexpected.

Miscellaneous Funky Reds

Clos du Tue Boeuf (Thierry & Jean-Marie Puzelat) Rouillon 2009 is a Loire blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir. Lovely sexy fruit as expected from these grapes, savoury but ripe; good tannins, very lively, enormous fun. Pure. Awesome.

Clos Ouvert Huasa 2008 is from Maule in Chile and is made from the País-grape, supposedly a very average grape at best. But I guess even the less than stellar grapes must make the occasional Sirius or Canopus. Like the best natural wines, this has much fruity sweetness to it, but it never seems heavy. Instead, it is wonderfully refreshing and moreish despite all the sweet, silky red fruit. Great stuff.

Domaine de Château Gaillard Saumur Rouge 2007 is a very intense, tobacco-scented, but ripe and rich, still sweet and primary Cab Franc. I enjoyed it very much in this tasting situation. But I did wonder about the level of sweetness in this wine - will I find it moreish if I open it with dinner? I must try to find a bottle to find out. Scientific experiments, I foretell, will rarely be so much fun.

Ch. Vieux Pourret 2005 is from St.-Emilion, Bordeaux. And it smells lovely: earthy, savoury, refreshing, slightly greenish (or herbaceous or whatever the current favoured euphemism is for what some like to call under-ripeness and what some of us adore); tannic, but ripe; savoury and moreish. Notice something? I write about a young Bordeaux and make no mention of oak! More like this, please! Lovely!

Caparsa Doccio a Matteo Chianti Classico Riserva 1999 was tight and very young, but had the loveliest aromas of tart cherry and damp earth. Crisp and savoury and delightfully tart. Old school Chianti that needs age. Lovely, but (some would say, painfully) young.

Louis Chenu & Filles Savigny-lès-Beaune 1èr Cru "Les Talmettes" 2007 is a producer I hadn't heard of before. But if this wine is indicative of their overall standards, I must remedy the situation very soon. Very light colour. Outstandingly pure Pinosity, both sexy and savoury; light but intense, layer upon layer of elegance. Outstanding.

Miscellaneous Funky Whites

Verus Vineyard Šipon (aka Furmint) 2009 from Ormož, Slovenia, was a lovely drop. Citric, mineral and very spicy - partly from the oak, I guess, since it sees four months on lees in new oak (me? praising a wine that sees new oak? with my reputation?), but the oak is by no means dominant and the fruit smells much like the unwooded Furmints I have had from Hungary (and the one other dry Šipon that I've had from Slovenia). Crisp, wonderfully acidic and dry, citric - yet it does have some richness to it. Interesting and nice.

Lammershoek LAM 2010 was a barrel sample from Paardeberg, South Africa, and is a rather strange blend of Chenin Blanc and Viognier. My preconception was that such a blend could not possibly work. Yet it did. No oak aromatics that I coud see; instead minerals, appley fruit, some floral fireworks; rich but with good acidity and raciness. A very substantial wine, so I was surprised that it only has 12,5% abv. I also thought that Lammershoek was in one of the warmer areas of SA (Keith?), so I was surprised that they could make a rich, but so wonderfully acidic wine with low alcohol and no signs that it would be lacking in ripeness. Nice. I very much want to try the finished product.

Domaine Giachino Primitivo 2009 is from the Savoie and is made from the Jacquère-grape. Unchaptalized and only 9,2% abv, but fully dry. Smells a bit like Sauvignon Blanc, citric and slightly green, very mineral; delightfully light yet supremely intense in its citric flavours. A little bit an extreme wine, but enchanting in its harsh purity.

Čotar Malvazia 2003 from Kras, Slovenia. I've written about this wine so many times, I shouldn't bother with one more note. But it is lovely, shows no signs of the heatwave, is moreish, well structured (with tannins, too - it is "orange" wine). It is earthy and smells of orange; it is an easy version of the Muster Erde; a gateway drug to more funky orange wines.

Dettori Bianco 2006 is a Vermentino di Sardegna, a lovely orange wine, also earthy and very appley, it reminded me a bit of that really funky Spanich Basque Cider I once tried. Tannic, delightfully grippy, layered and extremely moreish. It never ceases to amaze me how these oxidative "orange" wines are so refreshing and moreish - I wish my descriptions would reflect that more, since they mostly read like they are hard to drink!

A Boring Song

Chanson Père & Fils Côte de Beaune-Villages 2005
Reduced from 17€ to 13€; but I'm still not too keen on it. Some nice Pinosity and some nice rusticity to it, but also a bit of dried fruit character and some slightly unpleasant funk (and I normally like a touch of funk in my Pinot Noir). Surprisingly acidic for the year though the fruit does show some warm year character. It's not bad; it's just a bit awkward. Maybe try again in a couple years? Despite the decrease in price, I won't be bothered.

Nice Kamptal Riesling

Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Langenloiser Steinmassel Riesling 2007
17,84€; 12,5% abv. A nice Kamptal Riesling, mineral, slightly honeyed, pure - but at the moment it does take several hours open for the scent to become this expressive. Dry, powerful and rich, pleasantly high in acidity, savoury. Good stuff!

A super-massive black hole

Trenza Family Collection Yecla 2006
c.18€ reduced from 25€; 15,5% abv; 18 months in new French oak barrels of 225 and 500 liters. 53% Monastrell, 17% Syrah, 14% Merlot, 10% Cab Sauv, 6% Garnacha tintorera.

Like what is suspected to be at the center of many galaxies, this wine is a super-massive black hole. Impenetrably dark and hollow. Apparently if a human would pass within the event horizon of a black hole, a process called spaghettification will occur, where he would be vertically stretched and horizontally compressed (and, of course, the human will snap at weak points - why is it that uncooked spaghetti always breaks into three bits?). The spaghettification caused by this wine is a bit different - it is so strongly alcoholic that just sniffing it made me feel as wobbly as a cooked strand of spaghetti. So massively extracted that it has a shell of dark fruit and tannin but no substance to fill up that void - it is strange to see such a substantial wine with so little substance.

I think I won't be opening any more wines "in the name of science" for a while. Back to thin, acidic, underripe wines now!

In the name of science

Clos de los Siete by Michel Rolland 2007 - made, perhaps, on earth; from, perhaps, grapes - but I'm not so sure; Mondoza must be the appellation (from the Laboratorio-vineyard).

This was hyped terribly when it arrived here. I don't remember tasting it then - I passed because it seemed stylistically far from what I like. Now that Alko reduced its price quite significantly, I decided in the name of science to try this much hyped wine.

And I don't see what the fuss is about. It smells of over-ripe fruit and new oak; thick, clunky, sweet with an unpleasant bitter streak (presumably from the oak). The actual fruit doesn't seem to carry any structure to it; what tannins there are, are oak-flavoured and unpleasantly soft. The acidity is incredibly low.

It is no surprise to me from what I read that I didn't like it. What I am surprised about is why this particular wine is the one that was so hyped? This wine has dozens of clones on the shelves - albeit with different labels - so why did only this one get the hype?

Tony Judt, RIP

RIP Tony Judt. A great historian one of the few to have argued for a single-state solution to the Israel-Palestine problem.

NYTimes Obit

6.8.1945

6th August 1945 was a sad day. At least for those of us of a pacifist nature. PZ Myers, as always, says it best

Clos de l'Echo 1982

Couly-Dutheil Chinon Clos de l'Echo 1982 - 12,5% abv; Alko asks an absurd 74,90€ (just to be clear, this isn't a magnum) for the pleasure of this - good though it is, I won't be buying.

I have very little experience with older Loire reds, but without these crucial and necessary reference points this was a very enjoyable drop. Ignorance is bliss (though, as the cliché goes, if that's true, why are there so many unhappy people about?).

Initially it is a light wine that smells of bell pepper. But it fills out and begins to smell lovely: tobacco and wet earth and with a bit of lovely tart berry aromas and refreshing herbaceousness. The initial lightness was an illusion: it seems quite full and ripe. Despite some lovely sour and refreshing sensations there is some fruity sweetness still (must still be too young, then...). Still pleasantly structured - what I so often dislike about old wine is that the tannins disappear though the aromatics may become more interesting. Not so with this wine: there is both enough tannin to satisfy my tea-trained palate and all the lovely, decaying aromas of aged wine.

Unenjoyable Sancerre Rouge

Henri Bourgeois Sancerre Rouge "Les Baronnes" 2007
19,57€; 12,5% abv. At first it seems to have rather attractive Pinosity with some nice tart berry aromas, but the new oak (it sees a third new wood, a third once used and a third twice used) soon takes over. The palate also has nice acidity and tart berry character, but the smooth, oaky sheen becomes rather too dominant. I got very little enjoyment from this.

Four beers from Brasserie de la Senne

My ex-boss from the ex-bookshop imports excellent Belgian beers and he kindly invited me to taste through the four that he imports from Brasserie de la Senne. Shelton Bros import these to the States.

I thought one of the beers was excellent and the remaining three were far better.



Taras Boulba 4,5% abv. Strong, persistent head; slightly hazy colour. Wonderfully hoppy aroma but not sweet or aggressive like so many US hop-heavy beers are. If wine terms are allowed for beer, this is mineral. Crisp and wonderfully intense - seems like a weightier beer than the alcohol % would suggest. Outstanding.

Zinne Bir 5,5% abv. Also wonderfully hoppy, but sweeter than the Taras Boulba - perhaps more typical for a Belgian ale, also. The aromas are somewhat spicy and like orange. Good crispness, dangerous drinkability, lovely hops, but with a touch of sweetness. I did prefer the lighter, drier Taras Boulba, but this was outstanding also.

Then we had two dark beers. First an old favourite that sadly hasn't been available for some time StoutErik 4,5%. This used to be available in my closest grocery store (under 4,7% abv can be sold outside of the government monopolies), and I used to drink enormous amounts of it: malty, elegantly roasted and DRY aromas typical of stout; light, crisp and well hopped compared to most other stouts I have had (though Titanic Stout was a bit like this - but this has better hops). Also outstanding. And I hope this will once again be available soon.

We ended with Equinox 8% abv. Being only excellent, this was a slight disappointment after three outstanding beers. Raisiny, sweet, malty scent; good hops and crispness and general refreshing character for a beer this size. But I still find myself preferring the lighter, less sweet beers (I think my disappointment is not so much that this is an inferior beer, but is simply due to my strange preferences.)

Paris Cornas 30 & 60 2005 - awesome!

There seems to a meme pervading the interwebz that the 30 and 60 relate to the angle of the slope of the vineyard. 60°, however, is in my experience not that different from the edge of a cliff, so I decided to see if there were any competing theories to explain the name. And there is one that I much prefer: it is roughly the age of the vines of the respective cuvées. Does anyone know for sure the etymology of the numbers?

Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 30 2005
13% abv. An absolutely lovely wine. This seemed a pure and unadulterated N. Rhône (just as did the Granit 60) but it also conformed to my image of Cornas (unlike the 60). Lovely aromas of sour cherry, meat and rocks. Crisp, tangy, delightfully high in acidity, palate-cleansing tannins. Like with the 60, I see room for improvement still, though this is more approachable. Fantastically good wine.


Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 60 2005
13% abv. Quite a lovely nose: dark, meaty fruit, pepper, olives - a very classical N. Rhône, ripe but not really showing a hot year character. Rich, deep, tangy, savoury yet very elegant rather than rustic. Lovely, palate-cleansing tannins and a very refreshing finish; moreish. It is very young, but due to lack of new oak and my love of tannins, I found this an enchanting drink already. I love it. Though it shows much N. Rhône -typicity, it doesn't really fit into the paradigm I have in my head of Cornas (maybe it is time to review that paradigm...)

Perhaps due to it not being meant to age as long as the 60, I preferred the 30. In fact, the 30 is one of the most exciting wines I have recently drunk.