Author: Josh

DipWSET, Certified Sommelier, garbage person.
Quaffing

2010 Alain Brumont Gros Manseng – Sauvignon Blanc

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, med lemon
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, mineral, pink grapefruit, citrus, nuances of stone fruit, slight grassiness
Mouth: dry, med+ acid, med bodied, med- length, med alcohol, med+ intensity, tart citrus explosion, mineral
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

Unpopular opinion, but I mostly hate Halloween. I mean, it’s nice to hang out with friends, eat candy, carve pumpkins, and eat pumpkin-flavoured things, but seeing drunk-ass half-dressed teenagers à la Mean Girls gets tiring, annoying, and mind-grating, and all I want to do on Halloween is lock myself in my room and do homework. Of course that all changes when you go on Facebook seeing everyone have fun but you, and you wish you weren’t such a bitter old man stuck in a college-boy’s body.… read more

Tasting

I NEED A BIGGER KNIFE. (UBC Wine Tasting Sesh #2)

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Long-ass day. Doesn’t seem so bad in retrospect, but I woke up early for a 9AM thing at UBC, took the 99 to the last stop for work, and then needed to travel all the way back to UBC to lead Part 2 of the sort-of-intro-to-wine themed tasting, all while wearing pants that weren’t jeans, one of those shirts you’d hate to spill wine on, and shoes that didn’t fit just enough to make my feet cry. The garb was fitting for all of the day’s events but for this day in particular, I would defs have lead a wine tasting wearing nothing but seven layers of random comfortable 7-foot-long linens, cinnamon-bun-Homer-Simpson style. I was that uncomfortable (ugh rain + sickness).… read more

Quaffing

nine bottles for six bodies

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Yeah – part of my job is that I get to taste a lot of wines. It’s really helping with stressful midterm season, and my co-workers and I decided to taste some stuff at one of our houses (Thanks! I’m sure we annoyed your neighbours oops). Unfortunately one of us was sick and couldn’t make it, which really sucks because we tasted some pretty cool things, but I guess more wine for us OH WELL.

Also, we all had these blind with the exception for the last one, which is always fun. I’m glad everyone waited for a co-worker and I to close and travel to the place – I’m sure everyone was itching to open the first bottle, which was delish.… read more

Tasting

wine 101 @ UBC

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So yeah! I led the first tasting of this school year at the UBC Wine Tasting Club. It was awesome and complete with me spilling wine while demonstrating swirling, me speaking horrendously quietly and fast while avoiding the tens and tens of eyes on me, and me silently freaking out and wondering if people were getting bored as I barked on and on about the noble grape varieties. Which is great, because that’s me being normal.

Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating.

What was also fantastic was that Holly brought her Le Nez du Vin set which was amazingly fun. People were trying to quiz each other with smells or just smelled the little vials in general. My favourite picture was the one with the goat-looking beast with weird fangs (“Musk”).… read more

Pairings

What wines pair with a zombie apocalypse?

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So one time I wrote a cover letter. In the midst of it, while talking about my interest in wine, I half-jokingly stated that I could find wines to pair with a zombie apocalypse. Because why not? My major in university combines areas of science and art; wine itself combines science and art; so why not pair wine with brains, despair, and the rotting undead? (The cover letter was for some computer science co-op job. I’m such an idiot.)

And so I gave it serious thought.

Clearly, in a post-apocalyptic sitch, we’re gonna need to find a balance of delicious and practical. It’s inevitable. I mean – deliciousness is nice, but you’re going to have to really think – will the slender Alsatian bottle give me the best swing?!… read more

Life

omg

Posted on by Josh

Okay so clearly I haven’t updated in like, ever. Typing up tasting notes for all those wines proved to be a challenge and I eventually got sucked up at work and on personal programming projects. Who knows if I’ll ever get to those blog posts, but that’s okay. Because here’s a post.

I got my WSET advanced results back. I don’t normally brag, but I got a pass with distinction! #awyiss. Yeah. Exciting. And annoying for you. I’m sorry.

Also, I’m helping to lead a wine tasting at UBC this Friday. We’re going over the basics. Hurrah!

I thought I had lots to say but I don’t. So here’s a picture of a wine we might have on Friday.

… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Duval-Leroy Brut Rosé Champagne

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Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale orange, bubbles
Nose: clean, pronounced, developing, more ripe fruit, bready, red fruit (strawberry), smokey/mineral
Mouth: dry, med to med+ body, med+ acid, long length, med+ intensity, med- alcohol
All in all: Very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing.

Tasted against the NV Lugny Rosé Crémant de Bourgogne.

I’m not going to deny a glass of (rosé) Champagne. Because number 1: that would be stupid; number 2: rarely do you get that chance unless you’re rich as balls; and number 3: it’s really an experience in itself, no matter how ephemeral. And the pinkness makes it more interesting.

And yes – I do admit that the differences between this and the Crémant were almost indistinguishable unless you *really* stuck your nose in there and got a real sense of the characters of the wines – but perhaps the non-vintageness of the wine was at fault.… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Lugny Rosé Crémant de Bourgogne

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale orange, bubbles
Nose: clean, pronounced, youthful, yeastiness, light strawberry/watermelon notes
Mouth: dry, med body (delicate bubbles), med acid, med+ length, med- alcohol, med intensity
All in all: Very good quality; drink now.

Tasted against the NV Duval-Leroy Brut Rosé Champagne.

This taste comparison was obviously set up to show the differences between a rosé Crémant and a rosé Champagne. Disappointingly enough, it was hard to pick up those definitive toasty notes in one of these wines and not the other. Amusingly enough, what this comparison showed was the potential for great Crémants to exist, something which is apparently not a common thing. Plenty of delicate bubbles, and there was some stinky yeastiness on the nose, along with some light red fruit notes.… read more

WSET Advanced

2007 Lammershoek Pinotage

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Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, deep ruby
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, smoky, meaty, black cherry, leather, medicinal
Mouth: dry, med bodied, med acidity, high intensity, med tannins, med+ length, high alcohol
All in all: Good to very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing

My goodness, what a wine. I tasted the exact same wine a year ago in my WSET Intermediate classes, and I seemed to be more intrigued by it the second time around. Right off the bat, the nose is both repulsive and interesting – notes of charred meat and pungent spice attack the nose, with a balanced intensity and rather good quality on the palate. Fruit takes the backseat role on this one. At first I was turned off by the unconventional nose, but it intrigued me more and more as I went back to smell it.… read more

WSET Advanced

2010 Joseph Drouhin “Laforet” Chardonnay

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, sweet, peaches, tropical fruit
Mouth: dry, med- body, med to med+ acidity, med length
All in all: Good quality; drink now; not intended for ageing.

Tasted against the 2006 Louis Jadot Chardonnay Meursault Genevrières.

Initially the really ripe fruits had me guessing a New World Chardonnay from a hot area (unfortunately I didn’t pick up on the acidity), but lo and behold, this was an entry-level Burgundian Chardonnay that borders on that New World ripeness.

Although this is a good entry-level Chardonnay on the lower end of the mid-price range, I feel like I wouldn’t go back to it because there are either wines with a bit more complexity for the same price point or cheaper wines with just-as-ripe fruit.… read more