overtaking phean

tuk-tuk shake, scooter shake and camera shake ... :-)

town & country

the grab

riot

2

the caretaker

the rush

thanks

purveyor of fine skull warmers

whose tradition?

the wait

3 frames

pre break pop

friday, with 1 suspect only.

primo palatum madiran 1998 (all tannat)
ruby, still looks bright and young; cherry, some mushroom; cherry, some plum; still lotsa tannins (not particularly fine); juicy acidity; linear but not lean; not complex (the others begged to differ); medium bodied and length; still fresh, with the tannins and acid, nuther 3-5 years?; in any event a BANG! given it's reasonable price.

bodegas portia prima ribera del duero 2005
ruby, bit dull; plum, prunes?, mushroom, earth; blackcurrants, plum, bit stalky, savoury, hint of resin; lotsa tannins (sheets of it and not very fine);just enough acid to save it from being dull; medium bodied; short; POP!

saturday, with both,

jean marc bouley beaune 1er cru les reversees 2005
light ruby; plum, cranberries?, musk?(oh,oh!), spice; plum, cherry; nice fine/powdery tannins; a little lean and tart (broadened a bit with time but not much); light/medium bodied; medium length; POP! (+)

castello di querceto chianti riserva 1990
garnet; dried flowers, plummy, secondary; plum, a little mushroom; tannins and acid have abated; a bit lean and dry?; medium bodied and length; POP! one suspect differs. their il picchio of the same vintage was much nicer.

chateau de st cosme gigondas valbelle 2006 (90% grenache: 10% shiraz ... 30% new wood: 70% i yr old)
purplish; berries (don't know what), cherry (kirsch?), herbal, spicy (green peppercorns), chinese bbq'ed meat, smoke, metal?; almost sweet ripe cherry, aforesaid meat and spice, chalk/mineral, rich; overall still a little hard, disperate parts; lotsa fine tannins and acid; medium bodied; long spicy and meaty? finish; 14.5%; nuther young but good one; BANG! see older bro.

blu rouge

seats

when i said forever ...

2 plus 2

mum's awright

junk food here too

sales convention

someone's gotta lead

nana & me

van mieu quad

doin lunch

raw meat

coupla glasses for lunch

someone pulled out a chilean ... an '06 carmenere ... overipe nose and palate, off dry?, chalky, very little tannin and acid ... :-0 think of it as alcopop and everything will be fine. this bottle shall remain anonymous.

a colleague then proffers a clos beauregard 2005 (pomerol)
much better but not so sure about the nose, which was almost overpoweringly floral, spicy and musky ... bretty? ... but the fruit and flavours were still present. anyway was called away after 1 glass. will look into this one again.

missed a segla 2003 too, damned work.

new watering hole last nite

henri bourgeois sancerre les baronnes 2007
light straw; grass, hint of gooseberry and honeydew,lime/lemon, herbs?; grass/we straw, granny smith, lemon?; textured soft chalky/minerally feel as it slides past the palate; initially a little lean but broadened somewhat over time; medium length; 12.5%; BANG!; with grilled cod.

markups restrained, food edible. no pork though (loses heaps of points here, as far as this punter is concerned).

herbal chook

domaine laporte sancerre le rochoy 2005 (loire, sauv blanc))straw; nectarine, lemon rind, gooseberries, slightly green and herbal, initally a prickly sensation; nectarine, lime/lemon, chalky/wet stone, herb?; nice crisp acidity; linear; medium length; 13%; BANG! with nicely roasted chicken.

asleep at the wheel

muscle relaxant

domaine santa duc gigondas 2003 (their basic one)
ruby; cherry, kirch, mushroom, soy sauce, wet clay; very nice ripe cherry and maybe a little plum, a little soy sauce also, chalky/mineral; lots of furry tannins initially then smoothened out after abut 45 mins; lovely sharp juicy acidity; medium bodied; long with a grapey taste at the very end; 15%; became very smooth as time passed; very refreshing but that alcoholic strength does make itself felt in the last coupla glasses; BANG! had a fairly good night's sleep.
big bro was more complex though . . .

the strike rate worsens

more free food at my friends' on saturday
mushroom and pesto bruschetta, alio olio spaghetti with black truffle shavings and apricot, feta and chives wrapped in procuitto.

1)serge dagueneau pouilly fume 2006
straw/gold; nectarine, gooseberry, straw, lemon?; follows onto palate, red delicious, stony, chalky; initially overchilled but opened up as it warmed up a bit; very nice almost rich mouthfeel; a little tart but guess that's par for the course; longish finish with them apples at the very end;12.5%;BANG! nice.

2)fontanafredda barbaresco costa rubin 2001
dark ruby with slight bricking; whiff of dried strawberries upon uncorking (cork in good condition), decanted ... then my old friend brett gatecrashed and stayed ... woe. band aid and musk, otherwise tasteless. was so looking forward to this. FIZZLE!

nice work ...

slightly different

where to?

marketly blur

smile on the eve

the weight

here she comes

bro

more strangers

grass

joseph mellot pouilly fume le chants des vignes 2006 (loire)
straw/gold; gooseberry,grass; follows onto palate, someone said hazelnuts?; chalky (not the drying type ... it's pretty hard to describe); nice sharp acidity; 12.5%; longish, bit of granny smith and grass at the end; BANG! cloudy bay without the fat ass and overdone nose.

17

1, 37mm; 2, 23mm

nuther engine

got my shots from this contraption (a gaggia d90) for the last 2 weeks of 2008. ammo was cr*ppy so ...

poster gal

brett central

have absolutely NO luck with burgs

domaine harmand-geoffroy gevrey-chambertin la bossiere 1er cru 2002 (a 0.45 ha monopole!)

what? you mean that there was supposed to be some fruit in there? and the persistent whiff of bandaid and taste of plastic was not attributable to the unique terrior?... :-0 FIZZLE!

just enough brett to f*ck things up but not enough (sh*t! when is it never enough) to get the bottle changed ... sigh. are hygiene standards so low in burgundy that so many bottles are tainted? is this a retorical question?

i need an untainted bottle!!! please. half bottle of lucien barrot's cdp 2005 to the rescue ... BANG!

no markup

went for chinese with the oldies who came down. this thing was going cheap. been seeing kids downing bottles of this stuff so gave it a go.

torbreck woodcutter's shiraz 2007 [barossa]
ruby/purple tint; blackcurrent; blackcurrent, cherry, a little wood, off dry?; little fine tannins; juicy acidity; clean fruit without the huge slab of wood; 14%, bit alcoholic, couldn't take much; nice straightforward style for early drinking; roasted suckling piglet and assorted bits of cured pork. POP!

this one can vote

castello di querceto chianti classico riserva il picchio 1990
garnet, bricking; mellow warm plum and cherry, whiff of cedar and cinnamon, smells like wine not fruit juice; fruit and wood have come together; mellowed tannins and acid still obvious but very nicely integrated; medium bodied and long; never thought these things could last so long; it's still alive without any hint of dullness; a lovely drop; BANG!john? well, he's gone ...

third one back

domaine saint benoit gigondas 2003
ruby; kirch, plum, whiff of grilled meat; ripe cherry, bit of soy sauce and mushroom; lots of fine tannins; juicy acidity; medium bodied and length; BANG! easy drinking;