A Birthday Drink

This weekend saw my 28th birthday; goddamn it’s getting to close to 30. So I had family a friend up for a night on the tiles and Sunday lunch. I’m not a big birthday fan but as my birthday is close to my little sister’s I let her have the spot light while I wallow in self pity. You can always guarantee that once a year your family always tries to buy a birthday gift and has difficulty, for me its simple really a bottle of wine of something very expensive. Last year I got wine and true to form my mother had another go at buying me another bottle of red. With her knowledge of me loving the Napa Valley and having visited there last year, when she saw this little gem on the self of the local bargain booze she thought she was on to a winner. Hmmm im sure there will be merlot in there somewhere but have my reservations about its appellation, she did however buy a lovely single malt for when the cold sets in. On another plus side I did get some vouchers for a favourite little wine shop in my home town, I think a visit to Leek in a couple weeks is in order.

Building bridges

Those that have read my blog for a while will know that my relationship with my father have been more than rocky over the past 8 years but more recently the last two have been a complete break down. As we started to drift apart more and more it’s been harder and harder to fix the gap that has kept us apart. People who know us both say that I’m very much like my father and just as stubborn, i have the same mannerisms and similar interest and skills as if those were past down in the blood.

I was 10 when i first took a drink of my fathers red wine and from that point i was hooked, interested in why someone would drink this stuff that sucked all the moisture out of my mouth. I had a taste when ever i could sneak it. Then when i was a little older around 17 my father shared a bottle of wine with me and this would be regular event when i went to stay with him on odd weekends. Most fathers and sons share their first pint when they turn 18 and for many years i was gutted that my father never took me the pub and bought me my first pint but looking back he did one better him introduced me to wine, red wine.

A couple of weeks ago my father and his partner came to visit for the first time since i left university and more importantly since i moved in and made a home with tenbellies. This was a big deal and i admit i wanted to cancel but by then end of the night i was glad and relieved we did it. We all shared a meal and then partook in our ritual, only for the first time it was my wine in our home and what made it even more special was the wine i chose. At this point i want to thank Vinogirl and Vinomaker for producing an excellent wine, the Claret was bottled on my visit Napa last year. This not only created excellent conversation but bought back great memories of a summer in Napa and in my eyes helped build bridges.

Simonsig and talc powder

This weekend was the Autumn ball a little tradition that we have back in the sticks to see off summer. So monkey and Tenbellies scrubbed up and stuck on their finest threads and dancing shoes for a night of fine food and in the words of friends “a right ruck of ale". A nice surprise was the amount of fine wine we had on offer and more so was the syrah, Simondsig is South African and had me completely taken aback by its deep ruby colour, so much so that I ordered two bottles, it had that great vanilla oak flavour that makes it so more-ish with a hint of spice and accompanied the sirloin very well. Unfortunately it's seems it may not have impressed one guest as a full glass ended up covering tenbellies dress. Which brings me to talc powder, its bloody amazing stuff for careless individuals, as it removes the wine instantly. Forget white wine, soda water or the sap from the Walla Walla tree because this actually works. Why there was some in the restaurant is a whole other story but this stuff works, the only thing was the ladies loo looked like coke heads dream. Sniff sniff.

Stags Leap Wine Cellars

Last night i got the usual thirst for a glass of wine but the only problem being i had nothing for a mid week drink. When i say this i mean nothing to special, i have three bottles of wine in the cupboard two of which are priceless and therefore saved for a special occasion. The other one is a bottle of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) 2005, which i purchased in Napa and at a retail price of £30 and so i didn't want to pop the cork. For half an hour or so i walked form the living room to the kitchen each time looking at this bottle, should i or shouldn't i until finally Tenbellies got annoyed at my irritation and in the words of Withnail demanded i had some booze. So i popped the cork and sat back for what would be a memorable experience.

Artemis is a blend of Cab grapes from the FAY and SLV vineyards in the Napa Valley, despite this, the quality of wine is very good although i believe not as good as the Cask 23. There is a aroma of caramel that lingers around the rim of the glass, but more importantly it reminds me of Napa so i loved it already.

The colour is dark and inky but still young, it basically jumped into my mouth forcing me to drink it. The mouth feel was like silk and coated the whole mouth the tannins were pleasant and not harsh. With a nice earthy taste with the hint of spice, the finish was long with a topping of vanilla. I loved the wine from the get go, as soon as i could smell the wine it won me over and was well worth the opening. I brought this wine from Napa and for those several glasses it took me back at the fraction of the cost. This is why i love wine, Juice just quenches your thirst where wine creates memories. Ill definitely be heading over to Stags Leap the next time I'm in the Valley.

Organic Pt3

It seems this organic wine has taken a shine to my taste buds. While walking through Tesco this evening, a newly refurbished Tesco with a very much improved wine collection may i add, a bottle of wine wine caught my eye with the label that not only said Cono Sur but in the corner organic. Im not a convert but i do like the earthy taste that i get and although this is a Cab and very young at 2007, the colour is very deep and stains the glass this must be the Carmenere typical for Chile and blends perfectly with Cab.

Decantering

Last week we sampled a bottle of Cab Fran Chateau Liles with a rather interesting outcome, after much discussion and the scare that there may be no 2008 vintage Thud and i popped the cork on a 2005 to relieve the anxiety. But to shake things up we put to use Thud's antique decanter. There are many opinions about using a decanter but as my taste and interest for wine are really taking off in a big way i thought it would be an ideal time to test it out and on a wine i know well.

The idea for a decanter is to air the wine and to get the full potential and complexities hidden within, having really only ever let wine breath in a glass this would surely be a lot different and hopefully bring out more pleasure from this wine. Joining us on this little adventure was Lord Roby, who had dropped in from Europe to muse about all things including wine. We let the wine breath for around 20 minutes in the decanter before actually pouring, but when we did the bouquet jumped out of the glass before the liquid stained the rim. Unlike last week the he aroma was every thing i had expected but with length. The mouth feel was spaced instead of compact, it had layers of flavour that had a nice long finish and the alcohol was present in a cheek smacking way. The decanter definitely amplified the wine and not only was it an interesting way to drink but added elegance in a 101 ways. I use to think it was a pompus way to drink a wine and that the bottle said a lot about the wine, but take that away, take the labels and the blurb away and whats left is all that matters. The wine.

Chateau Monty

I caught the last part of a program called Chateau Monty, basically a middle class guy goes to France to produce his own wine with focus on all things Organic, blah blah blah. Anyway i would have loved to have seen the first two parts of the program as this Organic wine thing has been a good taste so far although what i found a little unrealistic was the fact that here was this guy who produced his own wine for the first time on mass scale using techniques not commonly used and the end result was reported to have been good. Not just good but so good that top restaurants and wine sellers in London bought cases of it.

I was under the impression that wine would take years of experience and nurturing before you get a decent bottle, if it was that easy to produce I'm sure plenty more would do it.

Maybe the success of his wine was more to do with the TV Crew, Daddy's friends at the Gentleman's Club and his own contacts in the trade rather than the wine itself.

Proof is in the Pudding, ill have to search for a bottle.

Organic Craze

Nothing for months and then two come write along.

A while back a reader wanted to know something about organic wine, i felt a little over whelmed to have someone ask me a question on wine not to mention the fact that i really had no answer for them. So i went out found an Organic wine, a Pnot Noir of sorts from Chile and tonight i thought i would compare this to a ordinary Pinot Noir also from Chile.

Now Tenbellies hates the red stuff and as its a school night Thud is at home so i get to have two bottles of wine open at the same time for drinking. Hmmm one must not get carried away Monkey.

Ok, the first wine is a Wild Ferment Pinot Noir 2006, Errazuriz Casablanca Valley Chile. Made from natural yeasts(screw top). The second wine is Ona Pinot Noir 2006, Anakena Casablanca Valley Chile (natural cork). Both wines are in the same kind of glass and have been left to breath for the same amount of time.

The colour of both wines show that they are still very young, but then we get that from the label and both are same for alcohol strength. The organic wine has more of an earthy old aroma whereas the other gives a more fresh smell like blackberry bushes at the bottom of a vine yard.

Taste, the organic is rich and long with a full mouth feel and the alcohol is present for some time. There is a slight Vanilla taste but this is over powered by the alcohol. There is red berries too but again it is slight. Bottle two is alot smoother and less aggressive in the mouth, the finish is long but fades nicely without the burn like the other. This has hints of spice that is pleasant as it gives it a fresh feel to the mouth.

Im not sure if this is the same for all organic wines but for me i preferred the normal bottle, it held alot more flavour and was overall less aggressive. The feel was fresh in the mouth and and there was no burn even though the two wines were the same strength. I wasn't fond of the earthy taste the organic wine gave but I'm sure after this glass is done ill be filling it back up. Its not undrinkable but it dose give the idea that its organic, made naturally.

Its weird i keep reaching for the organic, hmmmm whats that about?

Sweet Sweet Taste

This weekend to celebrate the fantastic news of a new addition, thud and I popped a bottle of the 2004 Cab Franc Chateau Liles. The excitement just of the thought of opening this excellent drink was almost at boiling point. The depression that had over shadowed many a glass the past month was lifted as thud poured. The first flavour to fill the air was Vanilla, but this was strong and sweet this was not just the oak. The taste came full and fast, as soon as the sweetness subsided the alcohol kicked in this was not the norm for this fine bottle as it warmed inside. I had tried the 2005 and 2006, they were great wines but this was more like a port. Needless to say that this was not undrinkable by any means Thud and i certainly devoured the bottle of this most unexpected sweet sweet taste. It surprises me how complex the making of wine can be and somewhere along the line something was different, too much water? frost? or over ripe fruit? ether way it made great conversation, home and over the water.

Tears of the sun

Late last week i decided it was time to open a bottle of wine, id been holding back since getting back from the US but the consistent rain had driven me to the bottle. I had opened a bottle of Robert Mondavi Cab that i had brought back from Napa and as soon as i popped the cork i started to well up. The nose as it hit the glass took me straight back to the decking and the sight of the mountains of the valley. Could it be that the bottle was pure sunshine because it felt like that and as i swished it around my buds the flavour filled my entire mouth teasing me with images of acres of vines, grapes being dropped and the tiny little berries that i had filled up on over the summer.

This was the hardest bottle to drink because every taste made me long for the sun and the valley and as i poured the last drop into my glass a few days later, i looked out of the window to see the great British rain and cried.

Dona Paulina Merlot, 2007

The name may remind you of that fantastic bottle of Dona Paula Malbec and Cabernet Franc, but do not let it confuse you this is a totally different wine and although a nice bottle its nothing compared to the quality of the Cabernet franc i sampled earlier in the year.
For starts this is a Chilean wine and young at 2007. Like most Merlots it holds a full bodied ruby red colour. On first impression its bouquet is full of wood and a slight aroma of freshly cut grass, the taste is rich and coats your mouth like melted chocolate but leaves a taste of ripe berries and plums which slowly dissipates leaving you waiting for something extra, only it doesn't quite deliver and as you can see in the picture i was tempted on adding some extra flavour/excitement but that would be sacrilege so i refrained.
I do like this wine it was easy to drink but it left me wanting more, and now i have really started to enjoy tasting my wine instead of just drinking it, i became disappointed because i could drink each glass too easily and it left me nothing to savor and before long the bottle was empty.

Chateau Lagrezette 2001

I love finding treasure, as anyone would but this was in the form of a little wine shop i found while i was visiting the sticks at the weekend.
The wine shop i had always been aware of but without sign or common name for many years it past me by as i thought it mainly dealt in malt whiskey. Well at the weekend i went in for the first time and was amazed that i had not been in before, for a small shop it had quite a range of wine and Malt Whiskey, which when my taste buds mature i think i shall get into tasting.
I stood for a while looking at all the different varieties they had until i finally bought a bottle, after loving my recent finds of Malbec i bought a bottle of Chateau Lagrezette 2001. This was a bit more than i would usually pay but after a long chat with the wine guy he said it would keep for a good 25 years. Now i have no intention of waiting 25 years but i thought it would be a nice wine to keep a while and taste later. We will see.
I like surprises.

Blow off the cobwebs

Wow iv neglected this page for the past month or so, im disgusted in myself and for those few readers i have i do apologise i will surely make up for it over the coming weeks.

Now back to business, today i have had a very busy day with the deliveries, however the most exciting of all has got to be the first of my purchases from my wine club. As you can see above i received 12 bottles of wine today bought through the club i join a couple of months ago. Why so long? well because of difficulties with the delivery, i had to wait until their van guy was back from his hols. Anyway they are here now and no your eyes are not deceiving you, i bought a mixed case whites as well. Those of you that are familiar with this blog will be aware that im not much of a white wine drinker, therefore im making the effort to broaden my taste.

So here they are, a taster of what your in for;

Macon-Fargas, domaine Paul et Mallory Talmard 2006
Wither Hills Savvignon Blanc, 2007
Stormy Cape Chenin Blanc, 2007
Dona-Paulina Casablanca Chardonnay, 2007
Orvieto Classico Secco, 2006
Cheverny, Domaine du Salvard, 2007
Cotes-Rhone, Generation, Domaine Jaume, 2006
Dona Paulina Merlot, 2007
La Table du Ror Jaboulet Aine
Minervois, Chateau Sainte Eulalie, 2006
Chateau de la Grave, 2004
Faldeos Nevados Malbec, 2007

So it looks like i have some drinking to do, well iv placed a bottle of the Stormy Cape Chenin Blanc, 2007 in the fridge and i will have a tipple later in the mild summer sun.

Any ideas on what i should try next please leave a comment, or if you have had any of these before let me know.

Great Texture

just a little tip for you all. try a god quality bar of plain dark chocolate with a glass of red wine, shiraz or merlot. the taste and texture on the tongue is fantastic. and if you are like me its a great little treat while sitting watching a good film or surfing the net.
new bottle to follow.....