Tag Archives: wine blog

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE, WELL, NOT-SO-SUBLIME

BeaujolaisNouveau Insignia, ,

THE SUBLIME:

Two nights ago, at another dinner with our friends Richard Clark and Mary Stec at their home, Richard pulled out two amazing bottles of wine – a 1992 Joseph Phelps Insignia and a 2007 Aubert Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay.

2014-11-23 18.37.27

Wine - Aubert 2007

Two AMAZING WINES!!!  The Insignia was rich, lush, fruity – it seemed young, rather than 22 years old. After sitting in the glass for about 15 minutes, it opened beautifully and rewarded our short wait with a beautiful wine experience. A couple of years ago, Dorianne and I went to an 11 year vertical tasting of Insignia, from 1995 through 2005. This wine would have fit right in, naturally.

The Aubert on the other hand, was perfect as soon as it was opened. There is a significant sense of sweetness, which I described as caramel, on the nose, with undertones of spice and fruit. This wine had a viscous mouth feel, not unlike the Insignia in this regard, and had a very nice finish. This was my first experience with this wine and winery. It ain’t cheap, but it offers a very special experience.

THE NOT-SO-SUBLIME:

Yesterday, we stopped at Trader Joe’s to get some groceries. I decided to get some wines for Thanksgiving (see earlier post – Link). The display of Nouveau Beaujolais was right there, so why not? I picked up a bottle of 2014 Georges Deboeuf to have with dinner last night.

It was probably aWine - beaujolais-nouveau-2014 mistake to have this wine the night after enjoying the superb Joseph Phelps Insignia and the Aubert Chardonnay. That said, the Beaujolais Nouveau is sort of like soda pop without the fizz. I actually found it to be more palatable than Dorianne did. I had the wine with some chevre and sourdough bread, then with a bowl of homemade chicken soup.

I found it more enjoyable as I drank it, although the first couple of sips were difficult (I think I was still in the thrall of the previous evening’s wines.)

So, we have done our bit for the Beaujolais Nouveau craze in 2014. Time to move on.

Oh, I bought two bottles.

Well – looks like an addition to the Thanksgiving table!

AFTER YOU SEE THIS, YOU’LL NEVER OPEN WINE ANY OTHER WAY

WineOpener, ,

Link:   The Most Hipster Way to Open a Bottle of Wine

Wine Opening

Jonathan Ross, a sommelier at Eleven Madison Park, is responsible for resurrecting the old world tradition of using heated tongs to open wine.

Placing the red hot metal around the neck, it makes a clean break leaving the cork intact. The method originated in Portugal as an alternative to opening very old bottles of wine with corks that tended to crumble from age.

A BOTTLE OF WINE A DAY IS NOT BAD FOR YOU? NEW RESEARCH.

Wine Education, ,

Another article based on research showing the overall benefits of drinking wine.

Here is a salient quote: “The weight of the evidence shows moderate drinking is better than abstaining and heavy drinking is worse than abstaining – however the moderate amounts can be higher than the guidelines say,” Dr Poikolainen reportedly told The Mail.

What are your thoughts on this?

Wine Improves with Age

MY PHILOSOPHY OF WINE

I really enjoy wine.

Wine - Paris Wine Shop Display
Paris Wine Shop Display

I enjoy shopping for wine, drinking wine, talking and writing about wine, reading about wine, making wine (I’m part of a wine co-op that produces 250 cases per year), traveling to wine regions, tasting wine, and so forth. I do not (so far anyway) collect wine as an investment or purchase wine futures.

I have wine nearly every day, mostly with dinner. I enjoy many kinds of wine and enjoy exploring everything from wine shops to wine regions to find new wines to enjoy. There are more important things to do with your life, and I do some of those things, too, but wine is a nice part of my life.

My philosophy of wine, which will largely inform this blog, is that wine is to be appreciated and enjoyed. By appreciated, I mean that it is important to recognize the amazing thing that wine is – a beverage that has been crafted for over 6,500 years by nearly every culture on the planet (even if you limit this statement to grapes only). Fine wine is crafted by amazing people who grow grapes and make wine using a wide variety of techniques, practices, and equipment. Wine is a living thing – it is never exactly the same at any level, whether from bottle to bottle or vineyard to vineyard. In fact, wine changes appreciably about every ten minutes that it is in the glass!

By enjoyed, I mean that wine is to be savored on its own AND it brings entirely new dimensions to many kinds of foods. Enjoyment also includes the wonderful social aspects of enjoying wine with friends, or with people you just met. And you can enjoy wine right away – you don’t need years of experience and wine education to enjoy wine. Appreciation of wine does increase with experience and education, but it is available to everyone.

So I encourage you to find the wines that YOU like and to enjoy them the way that YOU like to enjoy them. If that means white wine with a steak, so be it. If it means that you disagree with Robert Parker or another wine critic over how good a wine is, so be it. If it means that you prefer Charles Shaw Cabernet to Plumpjack Cabernet – well, we have to draw the line somewhere!

In short – this blog is about appreciating and enjoying wine. Not from the standpoint of the experts and the high-profile critics, but from the perspective of finding your own way in the world of wine. I will share my (and my wife, Dorianne’s) explorations and adventures with you and perhaps you will find some value in that. The goal is for you to find your own way. So, get ready to pop a cork or unscrew a cap, and let’s begin!