Category: Quaffing

Quaffing

NV Finca del Rey Malvasia Moscato

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, med- lemon, pale rim
Nose: med intensity, youthful, canned stone fruit, hint of mango, floral
Mouth: dry, light to med- body, low acid, med- length, low to med- intensity, med- alcohol
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

Bought this after the 2013 Vancouver International Wine Festival on March 1st because I was getting a little tired of spitting things. I’ve seen this bottle for a while and its look has changed from a faux-classic cream-coloured label (with an indication of Malvasia Muscat, now to Malvasia Moscato. Hmm?) to something a little more plain and bold in a weird way. There’s something about the bottles that tell me what they’re like on the front side – that turn me off, but it’s not a bad marketing technique for the lower-priced bottles.… read more

Quaffing

2010 Fattoria Colmone della Marca Bianco del Moro

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, water white with peachy tinge
Nose: clean, low to med- intensity, youthful to developing, vanilla, spice, floral, subtle woodiness, apple
Mouth: dry, med body, med- to med acid, med+ alcohol, med- intensity, med- length, bitter citrus rind
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

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Blind tasting time!

A clear, almost colourless wine. I wasn’t sure whether or not the hint of peachiness in the wine was due to the red stains in the wine glasses we were using or because of some strangely coloured grape. Like Gewurztraminer.

The nose was weird. I captured little to no fruit – just an ethanol-like spice, a slight neutral vanilla fruitiness, and neutral wood. Further smelling revealed a flutter of apples and more notably, nuts.… read more

Quaffing

2011 Ata Rangi Sauvignon Blanc

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, watery rim
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, floral, mineral, flutter of citrus, hints of honeyed spice
Mouth: dry, med- bodied, med to med+ acidity, med to med+ alcohol, med- intensity, med+ length
All in all: Good quality; drink now, but I would personally screw around to see what would happen with age.

After I’ve heard such hype for this wine, I really hate to say that I was underwhelmed by it. After a long dry spell of wine stemming from a promised exam study session complete with delayed gratification, I decided to whip this guy off of my rack because New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is what you need when you have a white with an intense aroma profile.… read more

Quaffing

holiday wines with the co-workers

Posted on by Josh

Overdue post, but it’s all good. Some time in December one of us hosted another staff get together complete with an amazing multiple-course home-cooked meal, which included:

– roasted celeriac soup
– kohlrabi slaw with cranberries and walnuts
– beet salad (with goat cheese)
– braised white beans
– roast chicken

It was so good that most of the food is still weirdly vivid in my mind despite this being around 4 weeks ago. Alas, I don’t remember the wines as well – I do remember one of us trying to act as a lion for a charades clue. The phrase was “The Chronicles of Narnia”.

Oh, and one of us was sick which sucked, which means we had no mashed potatoes.… read more

Quaffing

NV Cul-de-Sac Cabernet Sauvignon

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, med- ruby
Nose: clean, med intensity, youthful, dried cherry, confectionary (turkish delight), cola, bubble gum
Mouth: dry, med- body, low acidity, med- length, med+ alcohol, low intensity, low tannin, slight tartness, dilute
All in all: Do not want.

Haha, after having come together for a small meeting at school (UBC Wine Tasting Club  collaborated with le Club Français UBC), I did a bit of wine research and writing blog posts and what have you. You know, instead of doing homework. So, after, instead of going home from school like a good boy, I caved in on my own desires and stopped by a different branch of the private liquor store I work at. I ended up spending a ridiculous amount of time there, and left with 6 bottles even though I planned to maybe buy 1 or 2 at the most.… read more

Quaffing

2010 Finca La Amalia Malbec Reserva

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, deep ruby, tinge of purple
Nose: med+ intensity, developing, raspberry, oak, pepper, jam, touch of barnyard, blueberry, spice
Mouth: dry, med+ bodied, med tannin, med+ acid, sour cherry, med- to med length, med+ intensity, med+ alcohol
All in all: Good to very good quality; drink now, but can age.

Many of my co-workers have come to agreement that Malbec is the new Shiraz in terms of its trendiness. I think it’s true – all too often wines made from Shiraz or Malbec can be made in a jammy, fruit-forward, and crowd-pleasing style with lower complexities. That being said, there exist Malbecs that aren’t just simple fruit bombs. I can tell Malbecs are still a little bit under the radar since my computer thinks Malbec isn’t a word. … read more

Quaffing

2009 Cascina Castlèt Barbera d’Asti

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, medium ruby, a little hazy?
Nose: med+ intensity, developing, cherry, hint of red fruit roll-up, wood spice, smoky, oak, touch of floral, vanilla
Mouth: dry, med- body, low to med- tannin, med+ acid, med to med+ alcohol, med+ intensity, med length, black pepper, expressive, cherry, savoury finish, blue fruits
All in all: Good to very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing.

The store was not as busy as I thought it would be. There were a couple of costumes here and there but nothing too wild. Which was great! I find Halloween @ UBC to be such a pooper, though, because no one dresses up – and even though I sort of hate Halloween, it kinda sucks when you’re all up in the Halloween spirit and end up embarrassed because you’re the only one in a 200-person lecture that decided to dress up.… read more

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

Quaffing

nine bottles for six bodies

Posted on by Josh

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

Quaffing

2005 Domaine Mersiol Grand Cru Frankstein Pinot Gris

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, deep lemon
Nose: clean, med intensity, honey, floral, wood spice, sweet and oxidative notes (caramel), secondary aromas dominate, ripe apples
Mouth: off-dry to med sweetness, med+ body, med- to med acidity, med length, oily mouthfeel, bitter finish
All in all: Very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing.

So I had this wine picked out for me. Really interesting stuff. Beautiful deep lemon colour, coupled by an interesting nose quite reminiscent of a Vouvray I tried a couple weeks back. Instead, though, the honey and woodier spices were more pronounced, with the fruit taking a bit more of the back seat role in the vehicle that was this wine. Oh man. My analogies. Oxidative notes were present and integrated well with the spice notes.… read more