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 ...