elvis has left the building

jean grivot clos de vougeot 1998
dinner sunday; cold cuts and cheese; last bottle of "real" burg obtained some time ago;

garnet/slight bricking; nasty pong when uncorked, cork looked fine, in hope, left the thing standing in the decanter for about 30 mins., much less unpleasant but still bad ... heart sank although was mentally prepared for it before the corkscrew dived in ... sh*t happens ... and with this kind of drink, it happens a lot; smell of wet fur/cardboard/bark and plastic, [someone said sweaty clothes], cannot really get past it, brett? ... brett. surprisingly some of the others did not mind?!; this was definitely not the expected whiff of barnyard/truffly odour (quite nice actually) which is sometimes present, this was "Funkeee";

if you can get past the bad stuff ..., some cherry, plum, some tobacco/cedar, palate still fruity, wood not obtrusive, tannins fine and not very firm, still a little acidic, some stalkiness, but no mid palate plumpness; medium bodied; longish; would have been quite nice if ...... what a disappointment; 13% i think ... but who cares. FIZZLE!

earlier 96s, 97s and 98s were nice with food ... but details are elusive ... long term memories are not a forte, which is a pity as this punter does not expect to partake of these wines anytime in the near future.

saturday arvo

faiveley vosne romanee 2004
ruby; dried flowers, bit of strawberry, plum, [someone detected kiwifruit (?)], hint of smoke on the nose; mildly fruity palate, a little green tasting, some stalkiness, tannins fine, wee bit too acidic (needs food), mid palate not fleshy (ok , ok ... this is after all, a base model burg); light/medium bodied; medium length; 12.5% but the effects suggest it was higher ... POP!

mauro vanucci piaggia carmignano reserva 2001
sangiovese with a big dollop of cab sav and merlot;
opaque/inky black cherry; plum, blackcurrent, vanilla/butterscotch/[burnt caramel/someone mentioned sarsaparilla] on the nose; meager fruit (cherry, plum,raisin) and lots of wood the on palate, fine tannins, could do with a bit more acid, wood and fruit not integrated even at 7; smooth, medium bodied; short [shorter than a soda, that someone said!]; dull and flat overall; wood, wood, wood; a not very super tuscan ... disappointing. FIZZLE!

3D

squeeze

another playmaker for wengker?

hellooo ... we need fellas in front of and behind them!
update: we've already got our man in the middle. spain 3, russia 0.
here

further update: boy, was i ever so wrong ......... we've a hole in the middle too.

aroi maybe

slab

rising damp

bored

an hour in this sterile place will do that to you

last weekend ... very little joy

not a particularly successful one. nothing really refreshing ... not enough acid everywhere.

(A)

1)terramater unusual 2003

had coupla of bottles of chilean. carmenere/shiraz blend. dark red; smooth, big and fruity (plums, raspberries) but with lots of wood and vanilla (that means wood); oh, did i mention wood?; chunks of fruit and chunks of wood; unintergrated and unbalanced; not enough acid; longish with little bitterness at the very end. FIZZLE!

2)ceretto monsordo (la bernadina) 2002

then, a neb with some bourdeux bits blended in. easy, smooth and fruity. somehow a bit dull this time round. FIZZLE!

3)drouhin oregon pinot noir 1999

followed by a pinot. dull deep red; strawberry (hint), plum and cinnamon on the nose; palate of rich plummy fruit; tannins and acid (insufficient) intergrated; smooth and rounded; medium bodied; medium length; medium dull; the last bottle had many months ago was livelier. FIZZLE!

(B) slight relief

1)isole and olena chianti classico 2003

the only only thing that i really enjoyed this weekend. with lunch: pork chop. BANG! [only just, restaurant markup]

(C)

1)petaluma piccadilly chardonnay 2004 [adelaide hills]

being a dumbass, picked a stinking hot year. straw; citrus peel, pear, apple, caramel on the nose; lemon,ripe pear, creme brulee, caramel, wood; rich and buttery but where is the acid to balance things out?; not really dry initially; big mouthfeel; longish; 14.5%! FIZZLE!

an unpleasent drop. flabby and dull. the description on the rear label implied sufficient freshness and acid notwithstanding the boiled grapes that year... liars (croser should be ashamed he put his name on it).

messed up an otherwise simple but lovely (and free) meal of risotto with porcini mushrooms and parmagiano reggiano. this is usually such a superior and consistent drink ... really disapointing. heard ws gave it 92 !???

anyway, 2005's got a stelvin on it. hmmm.

botanical booboos

taphrom cliche

sidd

theft 2

wat singa

baksei chamkrong singa

phimeanakas singa

mo bayon

bayon b & w

theft

lunch saturday

at the usual place with one suspect only .... filial duties had the other occupied.

bricco asili barbaresco bernardot 2003 (ceretto)
garnet; dried flowers, cherry, plum, cedar, cinnamon?, mint/menthol, tar on the nose; a little cherry which quickly gives way to nice ripe plum and wood; nice acid and fine tannins but not yet intergrated; longish finish; slight bitterness at the very end; better with food, in this case braised pork ribs, where the fruit, acid and tannins seem to meld together; see it in 2-3 years?; 14%. BANG!then trapiche iscay 2003
some sort of merlot and malbec blend from mendoza.dark ruby; vanilla,vanilla, vanilla, wood, plum, blackcurrent on the nose; fruit, fruit, fruit, plum and blackcurrent; very fine tannins; nice gentle acid; longish; big wine; a very smooth drop but at this stage, too much wood for me; "food" wine ie. have it for lunch ... on its own. FIZZLE!

isn't wengker a lucky sod?

new brooms for the very rich,

blue
light blue

nu kit

... not so sure about this. not distinctive at all and where are the all white sleeves?

mo cheap plonk?

some Vino "Nobile(?)" di Montepulciano fellas are now being investigated.

reckon this is just a tuscan thing or could it get bigger ... ? anyway the bouquet of declassified wine hangs heavy in the air ... ha.

a po weekend

forsaken by the usual suspects last friday (okay, being overly dramatic ...), it was a dry day i tell you, dry...

anyway had a gg batie 2003 for dinner (which was great and free, again) on saturday .... jammy and tarry nose, flavourless, tart, flat and sad ... odd bottle methinks. FIZZLE!

had an isole and olena chianti classico 2003 for sunday lunch.
ruby; lifted strawberry and cherry, smoke and alcohol on nose; again, strawb, cherry, fine tannins and acid on palate; light bodied and of medium length; tart and fresh fruity finish (what did you expect from a std. chianti?); very nice; food wine, man; bucatinni amatriciana and pork scallopine with mushroom sauce; 13.5%. BANG! [only just, restaurant markup].

hen's teeth

looking for some party wine for a friend's 80th birthday do, about 130 pax. finding stuff that's good and reasonably priced in this place is hard, to say the least. fingers crossed.

update: drinking above their price, nice:
best's victorian shiraz 2003 and grant burge barossa vines chardonnay 2006. BANG! BANG!

tea time

been dry for days so it was off to the regular haunt. the conch blown and usual suspects tapped up.

bricco rocche barolo prapo 2001 (ceretto)
garnet, bricking; plum, cedar, tobacco (? was having the real thing), orange peel; palate fresh, cherry, plum (fresh and preserved), hint of coffee; medium bodied; fine tannins (lots but soft and not at all mouthpuckering); acid obvious but gentle; fruit and wood coming together; long finish; bit of roast pork with it; you can keep the darjeeling and scones. BANG!

14.5% ... but didn't taste like it.

liebfraumilch, not

had both of these recently. next-to-basic teutonic rieslings.
1) dr loosen bernkasteler lay riesling kabinett 2006
light yellow (citrine?...wanker); spritzig, lime rind, apple and a little kero on nose; follows through onto palate with some ripe pear (?); off dry is very nice but this one is just a little too sweet but luckily there's some nice acid which attempts to balance that; palate a little "disjointed" ie. starts tart, sweet and limey/ rind and then abruptly turns grapey, flabby, sugery and cloying (like 2 different drinks)...weird; light/medium bodied; medium length; need to give this one another try. FIZZLE!

2)dr loosen graacher himmelreich riesling kabinett 2006
much better ... again light yellow (well, the place i had it was dimly lit); lime/lemon rind and apple on the nose (but somehow not an emphatic as the one above); this follows through onto palate plus grape juice with some nice acid to balance things off; sweeter than off dry but bearable; light/medium bodied; long; balanced; nice indeed. BANG! [only just, bit too sweet].

both at 7.5% ...

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