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.