blu & gold pearl

saturday night fizzle

isole and olena chianti classico 2005

ruby; leafy/stemmy green initially, cherry, a little strawb, some mushroom, someone said sarspirilla, smoke, whiff of sulphur?; cherry, strawb, plum, berries blu; tannins about average i guess; acid AWOL ... where's that nice tart stuff? ... for a chianti, unacceptable to this punter, dull dull dull as a result; not long; light/med bodied;13.5%; barely a POP!(-); sad one; see nicer older sibling. the ricasoli is better.

maestro

twilight

jewel

accident

my proprietory crotchcam technique goes awry.

hard week ends

nice but some complexity missing compared to earlier sample ... no earth, mushroom nor soy sauce ... tannins calmed down somewhat ... but that lovely juicy acidity was still apparent albeit less sharp/agressive, raisiny finish. excellent muscle relaxant. price creeping up though, not such great value now.

little over the hill

domaine du château de puligny-montrachet saint-aubin 1er cru, en remilly 2001

ripe one, this

gold; butter/ghee, receeded as it chilled down, orange, bit resinous; rich buttery entry, secondary ... fruit, wood and acid melded, midpalate hollow, very obvious citrus finish... orange (the others insisted it was patently grapefruit); medium length; barely enough acid to keep things fresh; POP!(+)

pick me up ... laid me flat

chateau des tours vacqueyras reserve 2004

ruby; wet clay hits you first (does dissipate over time but never goes away), cherry, nougat, plum, spice/pepper; cherry, spice, someone said soy sauce, bit of grilled meat, mineral (heaps ... this facet sticks out a little but i like it), some initial alcoholic burn; very nice fine tannins with sufficient acid to balance things; 14% ... carries it well but it'll hit you 3 glasses later; medium bodied; enough flavour and interest without being fat and overblown; BANG! value; refreshing at first but the alc takes its toll ...album recomended by the contrarian ... spot on

can't keep a picman out

a stick at noon

2 mo minutes

comfort

no time last weekend ... stolen drops ...
a loosen graacher himmelreich kabinett 2007 and a lucien barrot et fils chateaunuef du pape 2005 (parts melded very nicely in this sample)... same old same old but consistent.

wait for it

chatter

frittering

... & big racing motorbikes ...

want it spicy?

coffeeshop moment

the news

food shot 2

evening

so so

pintia 2003 (toro) [tempranillo]

a denizen of the hole suggested this one ... nuther drop from the vega sicilia gang.

dark ruby, almost opaque: plum/berry, cedar, bit smoky, closed; rich ripe plum/ dark fruit, oak/vanilla (luckily only a hint ... not enough to gag), syrupy feel, still rather primary, confectionary; heaps of fine tannins ... mouth-coating, bit of mineral?, could do with a bit more acid to balance the fruit and wood (said denizen decanted the stuff and put it on ice!? ... brought out some acid ....!.); medium/big bodied; longish; 15%; someone said unexciting, another one dimentional, ... i'd agree ... boriiing; the exercise went nowhere ... did not get better over time; put it away and wait? ... maybe, nah! heaps of other things to drink ... it's cousin alion for example; POP(-) and expensive.

chateau chantegrive 2003 graves
ruby; raspberry, plum, oak, whiff of musk; plum, meaty flavours; ripe tannins; balancing acid; linear; medium bodied; not very long; BANG(-)

chateau patache d'aux 2000 medoc
somehow not as interesting nor as fun as earlier samples.

consistent evening 8-0 ... ho hum.

echoes

noodlemeisters

mom & the boys

that perfect one

curry, please

squeeze

some holiness here

both courtesy of roy's lens.

we need lifts

kotagede princess

you'll never walk alion

bodegas y vinedos alion 1999 [ribera del duero]
ruby, thrown a crust; plum, mushroom, hint of shellac/brett ... did not detract, hurray!, damp oak, smoke, cedar; rich sweet plum, mineral; still heaps of firm tannins with balancing acidity ... nice; tight/youthful; medium bodied; longish; has the structure and fruit to go further; 13.5%; currently, decant for at least 45 mins; great stuff; BANG! see younger one

at least merseyside fairies ended up ahead of us this season ... to the scouser who went missing this arvo ... salut ...

humour

hard labour day

1)ricasoli rocca guicciarda chianti classico riserva 2005
ruby; plum, cherry, violet?; cherry, raspberry, plum, bright?; fine tannins and very nice refreshing acidity; medium bodied; longish; 13.5%; BANG!

2)st cosme cote du rhone les duex albion 2006
consistent with earlier notes

3)morgenhof premier selection 2001
consistent with earlier notes

4)loosen graacher himmelreich kabinett 2007
consistent with earlier notes

... ok.... i'm just lazy today

nothing new but still nice plonk and nice company ... BANG!