not happening

gabriel meffre laurus gigondas 2001 (aged in smaller than normal barrels bla bla bla)
er ... what was that? FIZZLE!









jean ernest sancerre les monts brules 2006
disappointingly flavourless, watery and had a markup so high that i had a nose bleed. FIZZLE!

xmas lunch

1 bagette
1 wedge cream cheese (laughing cow!)
1 mandarin
1 banana
1 apple
1 tomato and some cucumber
1 can sprite

in 1 hut.

mum & me @ mass

eve

goin for mass in a while . . . only church in town and it's near the hotel . . . had half a bottle of the only red burg handy . . . the most basic, bouchard 2006 (note the grape variety on the label ...think they just realised that 99% of the world's population won't know what's in the bottle otherwise), ruby; raspberry, strawb; follows onto palate, clean; lowish level of fine tannins; juicy acidity; light/medium bodied and length; BANG! under the circumstances. there goes the bell ...

soft filter for free

it's so misty here that every pic taken with the subject more than 5 feet away has a fluffy/hazy effect . . . :-0this is at about 8.15am from my balconythis at about 5.15pm across the square

carraige

yeeesss ... distortion

misty

stuck at the hotel and freezing me ass off . . . could not go trekking as the place was fog bound . . . had a basic cotes du rhone with dinner . . . hey, not bad with some food . . . later . . . bummer doin this on the mobile.cellier des dauphins cotes du rhone 2006
ruby; cherry, plum, some grilled meat, earth; cherry, plum, bit of soy; fine tannins and a nice level of acidity; medium bodied and length; BANG!

sugar

basically sangria for dinner yesterday and lunch today . . . cane sugar does wonders for cr*ppy rioja . . . goin up the hill tonite . . . 8 hr train ride :-0

green tangerine white

lunch chanson chablis 2006
straw/gold; nectarine, a bit floral, hint of toast/yeast; nectarine, chalk; not very tart; medium length, crisp and clean finish with some granny smith at the end; BANG!(-) cafe markup.

far north

out of town till new years eve. lunch in a cafe ... basic stuff only. could not finish the bottle, stuffed the cork back in and got them to leave it in the fridge till i came back for tea.

perrins cote du rhone 2006
ruby, purple tinge; cherry, some smoke, nougat; cherry, plum; little fine tannins; just enough acidity; medium bodied and length; nice, easy drinking; BANG!

t2

forsaken by all and sundry ... had no. 1 on my own ...

1)nicolas potel chablis 1er cru mont de milieu 2002
light gold; nectarine, apples; follows onto palate, granny smith, chalky; juicy acidity; bit of age, smooth and of medium length; very nice; BANG!

2)by farr chardonnay 2001 [geelong]
consistent with the earlier bottle but less overdeveloped and all the better for it; BANG!

tea

managed to get some at tea time ...domaine santa duc gigondas prestige des hautes garrigues 2003 [80% grenache: mouverde 15%: shiraz and cinsault the balance]

old vine grenache, 2 month ferment with stalks!, no filtration, no racking,2 years in casks, 40% new wood, 60% one year old ... blah blah blah.

ruby; cherry, herbs, herbs, did i say herbs, bit of damp earth, licorice, bit of pepper, someone said stale veggies :-0 and pickled mustard green, leather?; ripe cherry but not the fat ass overipe kind(after 45 mins ... little unripe and lean initially), herbs (sage? ... someone said its like that herbal tonic, dom benedictine), hint of soy, that someone also said worchestershire sauce ???, nougat; still lots of chalky tannins and acid ... balanced out by the fruit as that broadened; medium/big bodied; smooth; loong with a bit of grilled meat at the end; 15% ... holy sh*t ... 3 glasses and i'm seeing space ships ... mind you there's no alcohalic burn at all; this is one dangerous drop; BANG! ridiculously well price even at this restaurant.

pope pop and some gooseberry juice

1)saint cosme chateauneuf du pape 2004 [grenache 60%:mouverde 40%, bought in grapes]

purplish ruby; herbs, cherry, grilled meat, a little ripe capsicum, pepper, soy; plum, cherry, a bit beefy, slight alcoholic burn; chalky tannins; acidity quite refreshing; mid palate initally a little lean but broadened nicely with time, 1 hr; medium bodied; long; slightly bitter and herbal finish; 14.5%; enough structure to go further; BANG!(-)

2)lightband sauvignon blanc 2008 (nelson)
very light straw; gooseberry, kiwifruit, bit of guava, nectarine; all follow onto palate, all primary fruit flavours; fresh; antipodean fruitbomb; light/medium bodied; chalky tannins; a little unripe fruit kind of tartness; nice medium weight mouthfeel; 13%; FIZZLE! too "in yer face" for me.

not a great session, too tired cos i've not had any sleep for 40

gotta get some this weekend

after 6 stressful days ...

revisit

found this while scrounging around a friend's place. last bottle shared a couple of years back.

yarra yering dry red no. 2 1998 (shiraz plus a bit of voignier and marsanne) [yarra valley]

decanted ... 15 mins; ruby/garnet, a little bricking, thrown a crust; floral, plum, blackcurrent, bit of mushroom and herb, bit of cedar, warm and round; a little alcohal burn down the gullet, almost sweet fruit ... plum, spice, secondary; just enough very fine tannins and juicy acid remain and are all melded with the fruit; beautifully balanced; medium bodied; looong; 14.9% ...; BANG! extremely good one, you just keep tossing it down.**winemaker bailey corrodus passed on recently in september.

that's farr enough

at my friend's, he had a rather tiring weekend and suggested the following ... who am i to refuse the host.
ozzy chard, 7 years ... hmmm ... a little worried there cos many of these things just curl up and die with age. host and i had a rather painful experience some time ago with a dozen bannockburn chards ('01s which we obtained at a very nice price, or so we thought at the time). 7 were over the hill and/or oxidised. that stuff was also made by the same guy, gary farr who knocks out some really nice stuff in geelong ......:-0

by farr chardonnay 2001 [geelong]

cork looks ok ...
gold (at least its not brown and cloudy); apples, wet oak, butterscotch, all subtle now, secondary; flavours have melded; medium rich, soft, smooth and mellow mouthfeel; a little fine tannins with some acid thankfully still nice and juicy (would have liked a little more of both); medium bodied but a little short at first, lengthened a little with time, some golden delicious at the very end; feel that this is as far as it can go before going downhill; drank it fast cos we figured it might just shrivel up in the glass;13.5%; POP!(+) i suppose.

trifecta plus a little infanticide

avengers assemble ... all suspects present and accounted for at the hole. 1)argiano brunello di montalcino 2001 (all sangiovese grosso, hopefully :-0)

revisiting something seen a few times (4 in fact) pre-scandal, ie 2007. found some more and at the old price even.

decanted 1 hour; dark ruby, still no fringe; plum, cherry, alcohol, wood, bit of mushroom, surprisingly no change in it's youthful nose; plum, dark berries, oak, cherry, still primary; lots of firm fine tannins; acid still quite overt but does not irritate; lean/austere and unlike the earlier samples which had a bit more fruit midpalate; medium bodied and length; none of us detected any non approved grapes, no chocolate? :-); 14%; this one is still too young with a long way to go; BANG! (-) ... who gives a toss about a little cabernet ... anyone for the 2003?

2)la rioja alta gran reserva 904 1995

consistent with the sample the other night. definately a BANG!, alas someone bought up every bottle in stock ... lucky so and so ...

3)roger sabon chateauneuf du pape prestige 2006
(third tier from the bottom... the "prestige" reference just screams w*nker)

ruby; ripe cherry, kirsch, jasmine, asian spices, a little grilled meat, nougat; follows onto palate, primary; firm fine tannins and sufficient acidity present; medium bodied and length; 15% ... does not feel alcoholic ... deceptive; still too young and much less fun at this point than it's lesser bretheren; all the bits there for the long run; BANG!(-).

still, not a bad session and went home mello.

just a little bit

lucien barrot et fils chateaunuef du pape 2005 (half bottle)

thought this little one would have developed faster than the std bottle. didn't happen here. also less complex!?

ruby; plum, dark berries?, blackcurrent, bit herbal, alcohol; plum/cherry, chalky,maybe a little grilled meat, bit of savoury port like flavours after some air; firm drying tannins,nice acidity; medium bodied; medium length; young; 15%;still, a BANG!

nuther mid week drop

gotta stop this habitalain graillot crozes hermitage 2006

purple; whiff of pickled fruit ... luckily blew away, cherry, damp earth/clay, hint of grilled meat and musk, green peppercorn, very nice but diminishes with time; cherry, earthy, chalky/mineral; lots of fine powdery tannins; lovely sleek juicy acidity; light/medium bodied; a little short initially; broadened and lenghtened somewhat with time and food; 13%; refreshing, built for food, could take the place of a good chianti ... the acidity is just great; BANG!

how dishonest?

the Italian news weekly L’Espresso now reports that,

1)almost all of the big [wineries] involved in the [Brunello] investigation have been forced to request declassification in order to return to the shelves of supermarkets and wine stores, albeit with less prestigious lables,

2)nearly 50% of Banfi’s 2003 Brunello was downgraded to IGT Toscana Rosso, and a sizable amount of its 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 vintages has met the same fate.

who says there's no such thing as a free meal?

chateau de st cosme gigondas 2005 (their base model, own grapes)

ruby; cherry liquer, cherry fruit; plum, ripe cherry (almost sweet on entry), mineral/chalky, maybe some pepper; some wood which does not intrude; relatively well balanced even at this stage, with the fruit, still quite a lot of powdery fine tannins (ok, i like a little more than most) and enough acid coming together; some alcohol burn; medium body and length, nice bit of cherry at the end; 14.5%; think it will develop but why wait? BANG! given it's price altho it's big bro was more impressive.

free rich seafood paella ... not exactly a perfect match but it was only the rather large prawns that momentarily brought about that usual metallic taste.

oz, a slight return

friend offered this after dinner ...

fox creek reserve shiraz 1999 [mclaren vale]

decanted, thrown a crust; dark ruby/almost purple, looked youthful; lots of stuff, plum, blackberry, someone said blueberry cos he'd been having lots with his muesli recently, pepper (hint), some mushroom/damp earth/funk, someone said granny smith?, a little green/stalky?, hint of vanilla, musk candy, christmas pudding?; plum,berry and some raisins, wood; expected a rich, complex and plush mouthfeel ... nope; a bit of alcohol burn; still lots of firm fine furry tannins and acid; medium bodied and length; 14.5%; seemed to whither in the glass, just tannic and tart in the end; from the colour, nose and structure, you'd expect it to age further but the fruit seems to be missing; POP!

this stuff is overpriced cos earlier vintages were well reviewed by the champions of oak and over-extraction as well as the the scourge of reasonable pricing, wa and ws ...... same friend has also got the 2002, which is supposedly da (fruit and wood?) bomb, hope it doesn't develop into a damp squib by the time we see it.

but then again ...

dinner at the pharmacy ... showed some self-control and declined the offer to imbibe. discipline evaporated on the way home ... to the hole then.
la rioja alta gran reserva 904 1995 (90% tempranillo: 10% graciano)

garnet, bricking, like a barolo with a bit of age; plum, cherry, damp wood, cedar, spice (a little cinnamon then with time, carraway),mushroom, someone said musty/damp carpet and cigars, bit smoky; plum, cherry, dried fruit, bit meaty?, cedar and maybe a touch of vanilla at the finish; plenty of fine tannins and juicy acidity; parts coming together but lots of life left in the old girl; a little lean at first (lacking that slight bit of midpalate plumpness seen in the reserva, i think), broadened with air; medium bodied; 12.5%; smooth and looong; calling out for fat pork, the establshment oblidged; BANG! sublime ... i'm on a roll.

lawn

pascal jolivet sancerre 2006 (sauv blanc)
straw; wet straw, flint, a little lime, green, gooseberry; palate reflects the nose, damp straw/cut grass, citrus?, gooseberry, chalky/mineral, water chestnut at the end; very refreshing acidity; long minerally and grassy finish; light/medium bodied; 12.5%; BANG! , i rather liked this ... not the antipodean in-yer-face type. elegant.update: should really stop this midweek indulgence ... not 100% the next day at work.

home

back home in time for dinner.

chateau de st cosme gigondas valbelle 2005
(80% g; 20% s) supposedly from a single vineyard with 100 year old vines.

dark, purple; dark berries, plum, herbs, pepper, ham?, floral aromas; berries, chinese sweet bbq bacon (grilled pork, fat, east asian spices ... star anise, pepper), bit of smoke, green peppercorns at the end, a little alcoholic; young but secondary flavours already developing?; ; lots of chalky tannins and enough acid balancing the fruit/meat? and preventing things from decending into flabby territory; fairly rich, almost sweet plush mouthfeel; medium bodied; long; 14.5%, BANG! this stuff's goooood, man.

desert island

up north for the weekend. locals relaxed, cuisine fine, subtlely different. but lunch at a place which rarely dissapoints, sucked. funny place this ... no proper plonk unless you're at one of the few fancy establishments here ... ok, heard that there were some less pretentious drinking holes around but not being local, didn't know where ... just some bottleshops ... sigh. some cafes on this rock even close up at 10pm saturday nights. dry weekend, i fear.

weird shot 1: a small independant cafe proudly boasted that it roasts it's indonesian beans (sumatran arabica and balinese robusta) on the premises. am sure they do something but i doubt it was roast, more like incinerate. shots were excruciatingly bitter and tart, as well as tasteless ... guess the beans got the cr*p burnt out of them.

weird shot 2: at a truck stop, ok, i was asking for it ... altho they had what looked like a proper machine, did not hold much hope for the latte ordered (if it was sh*tty, the milk would mask it) ... anyway, it was as expected a tasteless milky beverage but that was not the odd bit ... the guy making it extracted the coffee in the normal manner, poured fresh milk in it and frothed the mixture ... :-O

*

spanish ayes

only one suspect yesterday, the other was purportedly working.1) bodegas y vinedos alion 2004 [ribera del duero (tempranillo)]
some kind of vega sicilia baby. also a baby in that it was very young and tightly wound. develops in air and opens up a little ... had it over 4 hrs.

inky purple; lavender?, plum, blackberry, hint of vanilla, cocoa, mushroom and soy, wood; rich dark fruits, lots of wood(new) but not enough to be an immediate putoff ... can't think why cos the punter normally dislikes freshly sawn lumber, a little alcohalic burn; heaps of fine chalky tannins; all balanced by enough acid; linear; med/big bodied; longish; 14.5%!!! but did not feel like it ... hic; has the ingredients for the long long haul; BANG! i suppose but i wouldn't necessarily want to see it again soon, maybe in 3. in the end it felt like i had had a good young bordeaux.

2)la rioja alta vina arana rioja reserva 1995
after the one above, wanted to see the same grape (albeit from a different region) with more age ...
consistent with the initial bottle here BANG! not a bad afternoon ...

hope our little catalan performs as well against manure this weekend.

the turntable in my mind

flicking thru an old copy of the speculum recently ... was a short interview with sammy hagar, seems he's a wine nut with a 10k bottle collection. anyway, it was weird cos some of his old live stuff (late 70's) started playing in my head ... positively juvenile sh*t (but hey, was about 18 then and the hair rather longer)... "bad motor scooter", "young girl blues", "red" ...

wonder what his drop of choice would have been in those days? said he started on fine wine in the mid 70's but i reckon the music was fueled more by bourbon than bordeaux. seems he's still a shareholder in a tequila distillary... more like it.

wonder if they ever reissued the album? mine was the uk version ... "loud and clear".

just a little please

half a bottle of the la rioja alta vina arana rioja reserva 1995 . . . this one had a port-like characteristic which i did'nt really care for (the cork's integrity seemed ok though). but not enough to spoil dinner. POP!

food and drink

got fed for free again. washed down with:

ponte prosecco

straw, fine mousse but without any persistence; grapey, lemon zest, yeasty; lemon, bread; sharp acidity; 11% but goes to my head rather fast; goes flat fast too; FIZZLE!
domaine laporte pouilly fume les duchesses 2005 [loire, sauv blanc]

straw/light gold; herbal, lemon, cut grass; lemon curd/jam (quite rich), grass, savoury, chalk/mineral; off dry; balanced by sharpish juicy acidity; medium bodied; medium length; 12.5%; BANG! nice with the grilled portabello mushrooms and the baked camembert. no kiwifruit in sight.

some juice at last

to misquote david attenborough, the rain finally arrived at the serenghetti ...
chapoutier cote-rotie les becasses 2004 (syrah plus a bit of voignier)

ruby; floral, sarspirilla?, cherry/rasp, pepper, round, warm, nice; savoury, a little smoke on entry, raspberry, soy (hint), a little chalky/mineral, hint of cherry nougat at the very end; fine drying tannins, nice bit of acid; overall a little lean even though it broadened out a bit with time and food; medium bodied; short/medium length; 13%; needs food, help arrives as roast pork, yesss ... but didn't lenghten; BANG! only just as it could do with a bit more richness, weight and depth; 2002 had last year was a little fleshier ... but then i could be wrong. not complaining though... the rain, the rain ...

parched

dry weekend . . . really

and the saga continues ...

and the investigating mags have their say.

“Recent news published in the mass media — local and national — with regard to the investigation of ‘Brunello di Montalcino’ has prompted the Siena Prosecutor’s Office to provide some clarification in order to ensure that all producers and consumers receive correct information.”

According to the statement, “the Siena office of the Italian Treasury Siena and the Florence office of the Central Inspectorate for Quality Control of Food and Agricultural Products have conducted numerous investigations ordered by the Siena Magistrate. Seizures were ordered in corporate offices and in private homes; documentation was seized at the Brunello Producers Association and analyzed; vineyards were inspected; photographic surveys were conducted on the ground and from the air; and substantive analysis was made of financial and other documentation.”

The investigation began in September 2007.

The investigation has revealed that "many of the companies implicated have violated the appellation regulations for Brunello di Montalcino DOCG and Rosso di Montalcino DOC ."

Authors of the statement, magistrates Nino Calabrese and Mario Formisano, who both signed the letter personally, wrote: “6,500,000 liters of Brunello di Montalcino and 700,000 liters of Rosso di Montalcino were impounded. Roughly 1,100,00 liters of Brunello di Montalcino have been declassified to IGT Toscana Rosso. Roughly 450,000 liters of Rosso di Montalcino have been declassified to IGT Toscana Rosso.”

“Following declassification, the producers implicated in the investigation requested that their wine be released.”

The wine was released, write the magistrates, only after producers agreed to declassify the adulterated wine and after “the remaining quantities of wine were found to be in conformity with appellation regulations, in part through laboratory tests.”

stolen as well

stuck

dinner at the pharmacy ... had no choice as traffic was nasty this evening.

duca di saragnano chianti riserva 2004

ruby; floral,cherry, plum; plum, mineral/chalk, not much else, savoury?, lean, slight alcohalic burn; tannins a little furry(?); wish the acid had a little more edge to it (but it's not dull by any means); short but the aforementioned burn sticks around; 13%; POP! not much point to this one, heaps of other alternatives. the glass of stock standard castello di querceto chianti 2007 had yesterday was more fun ... had that nice sharp acidity which is missing here.

prawn ravioli, another pork chop, pinenut and lemon tart and a shot of gianni gagliado's grappa, cannot remember what it's called but it was not happening ... wimpy and short ...

le blu

the accused sez ...

Banfi Brunello released October 20, 2008

Kerin O'Keefe

Siena prosecutors have released Banfi's 2003 Brunello, confiscated in April as part of an investigation into commercial fraud regarding grape blending.

Banfi's proprietor Cristina Mariani-May made the announcement today. 'This clearance closes the case for Castello Banfi Brunello,' she said. 'Our Brunello has been liberated.'[update: see post above, ... why didn't she just clear the air by stating unequivocally that none of their stuff was found adulterated, therefor released and would not be declassified? ... deafening][update2: cos half of the stuff is shonky here]

She said the formerly impounded stock will be shipped worldwide immediately [ BUT AS WHAT?], and that the 2004 will be released in February 2009 as regularly scheduled. Banfi was among several high-profile producers, including Antinori and Frescobaldi, whose wines were confiscated during what is still an ongoing investigation involving nearly 90 Brunello estates according to local sources. Banfi's wine was cleared after a controversial laboratory test that measures the wine's anthocyanin level demonstrated the wine was exclusively Sangiovese.

Earlier this year Antinori's Pian delle Vigne Brunello was also released, as was half of Frescobaldi's as-yet-unbottled 2003 Brunello.

no grape tonight

friends wanted to do some barley instead. following were at hand.

1)aberlour a'bunadh batch #17 nas 60.2% [700ml] (speyside)
deep burnt orange; sherry, chocolate(?), candied fruit, fruitcake, nougat, did i say sherry?; follows onto palate, malt, bit of wood; sweet entry, rich, mouthfilling, smooth but with an underlying alcoholic burn (had it with a coupla drops of water); long

2)laphroig 10yr 43% [750ml] (islay)
as before, smoke, seaweed, peat and iodine to the fore (hey, where's the teka maki?) but this time had an oatlike flavour running thru ... nice [earlier]

gamble

with my strike rate ... shouldn't have but ......
faiveley volnay 2000 (village stuff)

very pale garnet (portent of blandness?); kirsch, plum, a bit floral, a little cedar and cinnamon, musk(?), someone said sarspirilla, grilled meat, sweaty t shirt(?); very very little brett taint, thank god; lean mouthfeel; unripe plum ... that's it!!!, slight minerality; fine tannins; pleasent amount of acidity; short, short, short, lean, lean, lean; 13%; waited for it to at least open up a little ... please ... 30mins., 45mins., 60 mins. ..., it does not oblidge, not even food helps. FIZZLE! not happening at all. price performance ratio is woeful.

what's next?

new research shows:

the more you drink, the smaller your brain becomes, and as little as eight drinks a week could cause damage!!! here

what's next? smoking causes cancer? ...... er, you mean it does?