quiet red

tea time saturday
chateau olivier 1998 (pessac-leognan)[mainly merlot and cab sav]
garnet; initially some blackcurrent, plum, cedar, tobacco, hint of mushroom/corn as it opens up, secondary, with air ... parts melded, fresh, someone said sweaty t-shirt?; fruit, wood, tannins and acid intergrated, very nice; linear; long with dried fruit/flower finish; 12.5%; BANG!

cat cat walk

a sale

bourgeois

chateau fonreaud 2000 (listrac) [donno what's inside ... cab sav led, merlot, cab franc?]
garnet; plum, blackcurrent, mushroom, hint of soy, hint of menthol/peppermint,oak, all intergrating/ed; secondary flavours, fruit, wood, tannins and acid melded, subtle underlying minerals, spice; tannins not very fine but mellow now; still has enough acid to balance things out; medium bodied and length (was a little short in the beginning but lengthened over time); smooth drop; 12.5%; BANG!

we are amused

in a crowd

the price

cat cat dog boy

pollution & that pesky tourist

pleated skirt

stocking up

old warhorse

the salsa

more

wente monterey riverbank riesling 2005 (cali)
gold, a little dark ... oh, oh; pear, golden delicious, honey, bit of kero and sulphur, bit of caramel/old fruit/oxidation; quite rich entry with aforesaid pear/apple (ripe), oxidised fruit flavours, then things vanish; still some acid left in there; short; 13%; dying, bad bottle? or maybe it just cannot last the distance?; FIZZLE!

then another bottle of the loosen bernkastelar lay 07 ... notes consistent with earlier sample but very slighty leaner and with a more mineral feel overall ... but i could be dreaming ... still a BANG!

nuther riesling

dr loosen graacher himmelreich kabinett 2007
gold/straw; simple nose, lime rind, very little peach, ripe white grape?, someone said pear;off dry ... sweet but not cloying, grapey, lime, some golden delicious, not complex but with a nice almost plump mouthfeel (less complex at this stage but broader than the berkasteler lay 07), mineral/chalky; very, very nice juicy underlying acid especially at the very end of each gulp; long ... and there's this subtle fresh peach flavour that goes on and on; for what it's got now, balanced; 8%; kept chucking it down and swallowing hard :-); BANG! price creeping up. pork burger and roast pork (too lean). see the 06.

buckle up, princess

there she goes again

let's get out of here

nothing like a hot meal

shopping, i s'pose

oh load, it's heavy

mom's the best

haggler

blu balloon

see ya later, mom

old coal

trader

down to cho sa pa

beanyboy

get inside

cat

la poussie sancerre 2005
light gold; lime/grapefruit?, peach, asparagus/ straw, old oak?; follows onto palate, mineral/chalk (very fine and not as overt as expected); gentle acidity goes nicely with the aforesaid level of minerality; medium length; smooth easy drinking; BANG!(-); bit pricy; with salt baked barramundi.

the yellow handle

pig

free roast pork leg for dinner with some drouhin vaudon 2006 ... consistent with earlier sample but with more of the mineral/chalky feel and without the bandaid.

straw horses

smoked meat

van mieu sketch solo

late lunch

chateau puygueraud 2000 (cotes de francs) [merlot led with bits of cab franc and malbec]
dark ruby; plum, berry, cedar, floral, secondary; some fruit still evident but melding together with the wood, fleshy, someone said spicy (malbec?), hint of raw meat?; tannins and acid mellowed; balanced; medium bodied and length; 13%; BANG!; goes down easy; very nice for the price.

friday night

st urbans hof ockfener bockstein kabinett 2007
straw; low keyed citrus (lime/orange), wet stone like, someone said jasmine ; off dry, citrus, hint of red delicious, mineral/chalk, savoury/ almost salty?, hint of toast?; lovely juicy acidity; medium length, grapey citrusy off dry finish, dried apricots?, refreshing; 8.5%; BANG! nice one. with some grilled cod and chicken ... food was not happening.

walking sticks

rocks and steps

weekend past

1)grand corbin despagne 2005 (75% merlot, 24% cab franc, 1% malbec) [st emilion]
young, almost purple; plum, blackcurrant, smoke, a little vanilla, cedar, mushroom/earth, hint of musk/violets?; follows onto palate, mineral/stones; lots of furry chalky tannins and acid... said young didn't i, and with the fruit it will keep, i happen to like the tannins here; lean kind of feel now; medium bodied and length; 13.5%; BANG!(-)

2)basel cellars cab sav 2002 [walla walla ... i kid you not, washington state]
fruit from 4 different parcels, vinified separately ... blah, blah, blah ...
ruby; plum, blackcurrant, cedar, bit of vanilla, earth/ mushroom, a little funky ... old world like?; clean flavours, ripe fruit on the palate; fine tannins, acid to back that up; medium bodied, longish; 14.5%; BANG!(-); supposedly 100% new wood but pleasently surprised it's not fruit and wood monster.

3)godolphin 2005 (shiraz 80%/ cab 20%) [barossa]
speaking of fruit bombs ...
reddish purple; plum, blackcurrant, cedar, vanilla, hint of cocoa, someone said butterscotch/toffee; cherry, sweet ripe plummy jammy fruit (hmm... 4 adjectives); lotsa fine tannins; acid AWOL; smooth, plump and lush?; medium/heavy bodied with a longish ripe/jammy fruit finish; 14.5%; did i mention ripe? POP! didn't think much of it but others begged to differ. am told this is a big bob fave ... and as a friend would say, hmmm.

4)gunderloch jean baptiste kabinett 2007 [rhinehessen]
straw; lime, bit of peach; off dry, bit lean, mineral; nice sharp acidity; short; 7.5%; ho hum; POP!

5)delas freres crozes hermitage tour d'albon 2005
ruby, purple tinge; initial whiff was really herbal and spicy (long pepper/ green peppercorn very obvious), cherry, grilled meat, sweet; cherry, herbal, meat, someone said bread and butter pudding and apple cider?, clove, balsamic, chalk/mineral/ stone; lot of fine tannins with nice juicy acidity; overall, a wee bit hard now; medium bodied and length, nice herbal finish; 12.5%; nice one; BANG!(+) extremely well priced. remember "cheap wine"?

madness

lunch with the people from the office. someone brought along a bottle of stock standard cognac and the eight who partook, polished it off. needless to say, no work got done thereafter. stuff was very aromatic (raisins, vanilla and cream predominated) but was not very complex and a little short.

boots

stocktake

green valley

halo

waterproof 2

tapioca girl

mo roots

how's your shutter-count?

salsa again