nuther weekend ... could have been worse

1)tea time
confuron cotetidot gevrey chambertin 2004

cherry; plum, ... fur(?), dried flowers/ herbs; plum, cranberry (?) on palate, bit sweet initially; light bodied, tannins a bit rough, pleasant acidity (some might think it still excessive now); not very long; 12.5%; with the brett thing and the cost over here ...no joy. FIZZLE!

pio cesare barolo 2003 (their basic one)

garnet; plum, black/blueberries, flowers(violets?) on nose; plum,dark cherry, bit of cinnamon?, bit of stalkiness (woody not green) on palate; lots of tannin (but nice and ripe), crisp acid; medium bodied; long; nice drop even at this stage; comfortingly consistent, 13.5%. BANG!2) dinner ... tuna pasta, goat's milk cheese and homemade bread.

kumeu river chardonnay 2004

straw/light gold; peach/nectarine,citrus (lemon rind?), oak, caramel, bread on nose; juicy nectarine/peach (like biting into fresh fruit, impressive), orange/grapefruit and nuts on the palate, rich mouthfeel; lots of tannin, could do with a bit more acid to balance the fruit, wood and overall richness; longish; medium/big bodied; fruit and freshness seem to die off after 20-30 mins in glass, then it becomes somewhat dull and oaky; 13% or 13.5%, cannot remember; drink it very fast ... then its a blast. POP!

after the trainwreck

domaine roger sabon chateauneuf du pape reserve 2004

dark cherry; plum, cherry, blackcurrant, funky (mushroom, damp earth ... nice), vanilla, oak (bit smokey), herbs (rosemary? sage?... lambchops beckon); rich, almost fleshy fruit and wood follow onto palate; balanced acid and very fine tannins; very smooth mouthfeel; medium/full bodied; easy drinking (no negative connotations here);14%; delicious (even though grenache is not a fave); enough of everything to develop further, but what the hey, just drink up. BANG!

bbbad to the beaune (another brett attack)

domaine henri boillot beaune "les epenottes" 1er cru 2005

tried 2 bottles of the stuff a few months ago. man, it was ugly. due to my usual lapses in memory (... but then again, the mind has a way of blanking out really bad experiences), tried another on saturday. holy wet dog, batman. my fault entirely. FIZZLE!

many use equine terms to describe wines with this problem but the closest i've been to a gee gee is the horsehair stuffing in the seats of a friend's e21 bmw, whereas the canine odour of my dearly departed pets comes to mind...phew.

come to think of it, might break out the old camelhair jacket for a whiff ......"ah, chateau anchovy 2007, excellant bouquet, redolent of violets, blackcurrents, vanilla and dead dromedary" ......

friday evening

felton road pinot noir (otago) 2007
their basic one, apparently they have some individual vineyard bottlings.

deep clear cherry; raspberry, cherry, mushroom, alcohol on the nose; cherry (ripe and juicy), prickly acid, fine tannins, some oak, not bone dry; smooth, medium bodied; short, weird abrupt end ... the fruit just disappears after the mid palate, aftertaste that lingers at the back was woody and herbal (chinese herbs).14%. will probably develop but who cares (its not bad but theres lots of other stuff out there), won't be coming down this road again. POP?, FIZZLE! i guess.

weekend market, bangkok

slaves for sale?

sell both of them and quick, we need the dough.
one down, another to go.

monday night oasis

got to drink at last.
chandon de briailles pernand vergelesses 1er cru 'ile des vergelesses' 2005 (mouthful init?)
cherry, bright; raspberry, cherry, mushroom, damp earth (whiff), some stalkiness, alcohol on the nose; follows through onto palate; nice mouthfeel, lots of fruit, but not really rich or plump, acid very obvious, loads of fine and ripe tannins; light/medium bodied; long; does open up a bit when left to breathe for about 1 hr.; still a little young; better in a couple of years maybe even longer; better with food now; 12.5%; in all a very agreeable drop. BANG!

saffron

valhalla,no

had 2 glasses of valpolicella after dinner last night. not unpleasent but not something of choice. can never get over the ripe sweet fruit not being balanced by some decent acid. thank god for the company.

?

this cannot go on much longer, can it?

dinner at a lebanese place tonight ... am told the place is dry. lamb without alky ...

dry

not a drop for 6 days (unless you count a glass of overipe barbera d'alba). this is bad. shots do not help.

a 2 glass weekend

had a really tedious week. looked forward to getting a little blasted on the weekend but as luck would have it, disaster. . . still sober at 4 pm sunday. drinking mates unavailable for various reasons (weak i say, weak). solo sessions are unacceptable, not alcoholic.

saturday night
brancaia blu 2001, aforesaid couple of glasses at dinner (free, hah). pork loin wrapped in proscuitto and pastry (pork wellington?) with yorkshire pudding, salad and berry pavlova for dessert.

sunday, a bad coffee day,
1) alledged italian joint, the shot was so physically wrong [cremaless and watery, like someone made some long black (a piss weak one at that) and put a bit into the demitasse], that it was left untouched. thieves.

2)some "silly" stuff later. had some mouthfeel, smooth, some flavour ... (better than the usual sour stuff) but there was this wet fur/tea towel smell ... in both shots had.
also had some "iced coffee", weird, really seaweed smoky... islay? ... withdrawal symptoms? latter.

grey

gauntlet

elvis has left the building

jean grivot clos de vougeot 1998
dinner sunday; cold cuts and cheese; last bottle of "real" burg obtained some time ago;

garnet/slight bricking; nasty pong when uncorked, cork looked fine, in hope, left the thing standing in the decanter for about 30 mins., much less unpleasant but still bad ... heart sank although was mentally prepared for it before the corkscrew dived in ... sh*t happens ... and with this kind of drink, it happens a lot; smell of wet fur/cardboard/bark and plastic, [someone said sweaty clothes], cannot really get past it, brett? ... brett. surprisingly some of the others did not mind?!; this was definitely not the expected whiff of barnyard/truffly odour (quite nice actually) which is sometimes present, this was "Funkeee";

if you can get past the bad stuff ..., some cherry, plum, some tobacco/cedar, palate still fruity, wood not obtrusive, tannins fine and not very firm, still a little acidic, some stalkiness, but no mid palate plumpness; medium bodied; longish; would have been quite nice if ...... what a disappointment; 13% i think ... but who cares. FIZZLE!

earlier 96s, 97s and 98s were nice with food ... but details are elusive ... long term memories are not a forte, which is a pity as this punter does not expect to partake of these wines anytime in the near future.

saturday arvo

faiveley vosne romanee 2004
ruby; dried flowers, bit of strawberry, plum, [someone detected kiwifruit (?)], hint of smoke on the nose; mildly fruity palate, a little green tasting, some stalkiness, tannins fine, wee bit too acidic (needs food), mid palate not fleshy (ok , ok ... this is after all, a base model burg); light/medium bodied; medium length; 12.5% but the effects suggest it was higher ... POP!

mauro vanucci piaggia carmignano reserva 2001
sangiovese with a big dollop of cab sav and merlot;
opaque/inky black cherry; plum, blackcurrent, vanilla/butterscotch/[burnt caramel/someone mentioned sarsaparilla] on the nose; meager fruit (cherry, plum,raisin) and lots of wood the on palate, fine tannins, could do with a bit more acid, wood and fruit not integrated even at 7; smooth, medium bodied; short [shorter than a soda, that someone said!]; dull and flat overall; wood, wood, wood; a not very super tuscan ... disappointing. FIZZLE!

3D

squeeze

another playmaker for wengker?

hellooo ... we need fellas in front of and behind them!
update: we've already got our man in the middle. spain 3, russia 0.
here

further update: boy, was i ever so wrong ......... we've a hole in the middle too.