bayon sketch

gooner stuff will now be in BLIND GUNNER

here
wish i knew how to migrate the earlier stuff there ...

many ways to skin a ...

but we could not even find one ... frustrating game. for sure they were defensive but ... aren't we are supposed to beat teams like this? rescue jobs are great but the 2 missing points are irreplaceable ...

gooners 1 (cesc in stoppage time ...arghhh!): black pussies 1

some stats,
attempts at goal: us 18, them 8
corners: us 7, them 1
one rvp goal disallowed

wengker and the block cats ... no point moaning, deal with it, man.

nightcap

at a friend's.

1)chateau gaumaran 2002 (medoc ... supposedly merlot led ... dunno)

none of us had seen one before. this sample came via hongkers. a search on the net revealed very little, even then in french.

seems like this is one insular label with a serious seige mentality......some weird (albeit badly translated) stuff on a site featuring this stuff:

Natural demand side of our French wine and safeguard our AOC and our know-how!

Technologies French wine is much more healthy and hygienic than s'autorisent producers in the southern hemisphere.

There was no difference between a Chilean sauvignon, California or New Zealand.

The New World wines are wines chemical which is a price while our French wines express their soil and a way of working.

The New World makes use of oenological practices (outlawed by Europe) who try to artificialize wine and transform a name of a universal standard drink "high technology".

Prefer the cork and at the same time, safeguard the ecosystem of the Mediterranean oak forest cork!

The use of cork has been certified by a favorable carbon (test implemented by Oeneo bouchonnier).

dull blood red, bit of bricking; bit of plum initially, then slowly revealed more exotic? and savoury scents, mushroom, damp earth, pickled jalapeno, soy, capsicum, latter 2 intensified as time went by; almost salty palate of said soy and capsicum/chilli (there's even a prickly aftertaste like the real thing!); fine tannins and moderate amounts of acid; textured mouthfeel like some of those riberas; longish; 12.5%; POP!,barely, didn't gag. don't even know if this is a typical bottle. anyway, a curiosity.

2)dr. loosen uziger wurzgarten riesling kabinett 2003

last of 2 dozen obtained by my aforesaid friend, rest were polished off when fresh.

gold; citrus (more oranges than lime/lemon), pear, apple (red not green, my 13 yr old friend opined), honey, kero; more than off dry; fruit follows onto the palate, orange blossom honey?, someone said pineapple, oatmeal, chalk/mineral; mouthfeel plump, rich but not flabby; enough minerality and acid to prevent things from decending into lolly water territory (03 had a sweltering summer); long; 8.5% BANG! nice one.

a miss

ceretto barolo zonchera 2001

the usual place had a coupla bottles of this stuff. thought it might be nice to see it now as the last time was about a year ago. nowadays, it's the 03s and 04s on the shelves.

as bad luck would have it, the sample uncorked had basically gone south. think our friend brett, had a hand. whiff of bandaid ... whoa boy ... then absolutely nothing ... flat ... no flavours whatsoever, nada. was just a slightly acidic rose coloured liquid. FIZZLE!

rejected it and waited for the management to concur ... they did. would not have continued with it even if they had not. decided not to chance it and try the other bottle ... same shipment, same ullage.

had to go with the old standby:

pio cesare barolo 2003

thankfully, it was as expected. BANG!
barbequed ribs and other porky stuff ... uurgh ... really got to start eating something else.

quiet tea time thursday

domaine courbis cornas "champelrose" 2005

purple/ruby; blackcurrents, cherry, mushroom, sarspirilla/cream soda?, soy, dried flowers/violets/ hint of jasmin, some creamy wood; same fruits on the palate, a mineral feel, broadens with time, graphite?; backbone of powdery/furry tannins; balanced by fresh and bracing acidity; linear and long; 13%; young and needs food now (think fat pork) although i enjoyed it without; has time on its side ... 2 mo years?; BANG!

eng and chang with big boots?

"their best moment was the opening goal when adebayor, having sliced through the portuguese champions' defence on to cesc fábregas' delightful ball, waited and waited before cutting back from the right for the arrival of van persie, who had strained every sinew to get there ahead of his markers. The dutchman returned the compliment for the second goal, albeit from a right-wing corner that adebayor headed down and in." ...here

like part of the script of a hollywood "sarkker" movie ... urghh!

four but coulda been more

rvp 2: yoyo 2: fc porto 0

great result but one cannot help feel the lack of sharpness at the last moment when goin for goal. could easily have been a half dozen.

to put the win in perspective, the portmens' defence was just woeful ... and bruce banner did not transform.

up next, more puddytats ..........

tuesday evening

isole and olena chianti classico 2003 (again ... std stuff at the pharmacy)

ruby; didn't get any strawb this time (altho one with more acute olfactory organs still detected it plus cream soda???), cherry and smoke, ok maybe something like dried strawbs; plum, cherry (broader than the last time, mineral/powdery feel, parts getting nicely intergrated; very fine tannins; light/medium bodied; longish with a very pleasant astringent, cleansing and acidic tail plus a slightly bitter finish.nice. BANG! (as before, only just because of the usual restaurant markup). stock standard chianti it may be but there's no disputing the fun it provides.

works with spaghetti pesto with prawns!?, butter and sage buccatinni, grilled lamb rack.

the incredible bulk

supposedly the spearhead for the portmen ... big, strong but am not sure he's thaaat fast ... bit like good old cyril regis. methinks nothing that cannot be handled ... think he still sucks his thumb ...

just shoot billy gallas full of steroids and amphetamines and: "don't worry about a thing,'cause every little thing gonna be all right. don't worry about a thing,'cause every little thing gonna be all right!" thanx bob.

hey, we could roll out the upgraded nu kit now ...

the penny dropped ...

wengker has just realised that his team is vertically challenged ...!!!

commenting on our defensive weakness, he apparently said: “our centre backs are not very tall. I don’t know what we can do. it’s not only our centre backs who defend. as a team we are a bit short.”

whale oil beef hooked, would'nt have realised that fact if he had'nt mentioned it! (ok, an earlier post referred to hobbits... )

he's paid the big bucks and spews gems like this ... don't know whether to laugh or cry.

like stale vindaloo ...

now wengker says he's sick ... here , here and here. he should remember that too much port can also do that to you.

wee drop for lunch

had some more of this: la rioja alta, vina arana, rioja reserva 1995 (see below)
seems like it's started goin downhill ... there's an overt fruity acidity in this one which kinda overwhelms everything else. vinegar?. odd bottle maybe but i suppose at this age, stuff like this is always marginal. POP!(-)

1925-2008

hulled

gooners 1 (even then, an og by paul mcshane!!!): tigers 2


geovanni's equaliser was a cracker though ... no one could have stopped that.

and wengker's take? "too much room ..." here.

le gaff also said: "we had the chances to win the game. the commitment was on the high side but we weren't completely switched on to the level you need to be to win the game." ... errr, what does this mean?

personally think that the boys probably tawt they taw a puddytat. deja vu .....................

went home happy

drouhin domaine de vaudon chablis 2006 (their next to base model)

bandaid...oops, blew away completely in a short while...phew; greenish straw; lemon, apple, peach on the nose; lemon/citrus fruit, pear, mineral/chalk (very little); interplay of juicy fruit and acid; not bone dry on entry; slightly broader and less minerally than you might expect a chablis to be but not plump like a burg; linear and very balanced; long; medium bodied; can develop but why wait?; 12.5%. BANG! very very nice.
bruno giacosa barbaresco 2001 ("casa vinicola" label/basic/bought-in grapes)

decanted 45 mins; light ruby (you'd think this drink was thin and tasteless); nice broad nose of plum, dried flowers/violets, mushroom, dusty cedar, all beginning to meld, a bit of tar; plum/dark fruits, cinnamon (very little), hint of coco?; flavours broadened midpalate; fine tannins and balanced acidity; long; medium bodied; probably even nicer in a coupla years; 14%. BANG! a joy.

bruschetta, mussels (tomato/garlic/chilli), pork sausages, roast pork, barbequed ribs...and friends.

riesling redux

lagar de cervera albarino 2006 (rias baixas)

straw; nectarine, lime rind, granny smith; peach, nectarine, lime rind, minerally, round, a little savoury; off dry and gentle entry; balanced acidity; longish with a slight pineapple-like flavour at the back; nice smooth drop; 12.5%; no kero of course but seemed like an aussie riesling with the volume turned down a coupla notches ... like stuff from nz? POP!(+) too expensive here...when comparable antipodean rhieslings cost about 30% less.

tagliatelle alio olio with oyster mushrooms, pork sausages and chilli flakes ... for free.

$$$...sometime it's not a rich man's world

brighton and hove albion 2: adug town 2 [reg time] ...5:3 [pen] carling cup

nice init?

hope jumpin jack's not just a flash ...

until recently, it was the boy-man... now it's this young fella's turn to be lionised by the british press...

neil ashton wrote: "with comparisons already being made to liam brady, little jack wilshere suddenly has the world at his feet."

well lets hope it's not on his shoulders...

there's no doubt that he has great potential but for f*ck's sake, he's only 16 and one goonerling doesn't make a summer...at least not for english football.

by the way, liam brady's irish ...

kids in the candystore

goonerlings 6: blades 0 (carling cup)

i'd hoped that the wee ones would blunt the blades ... but ... speechless.

hobbits in the team?...just a thought.