Category: WSET Advanced

WSET Advanced

2008 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale to med- lemon, aggressive froth upon pour
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, mineral, citrus, reserved fruit
Mouth: dry, med+ body, med+ acid, med+ to long length
All in all: Very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing.

2008 Schramsberg Blanc de BlancsSheesh. I’m wishing I had more time to get to know the sparkling wines better because we were rushed through them due to time constraints. Oh well.

I later tried a Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs (2007 vintage, I believe) some time later that autumn (for an amazing send-off dinner for a friend), and I remembered why I loved Californian sparkling wines. Unfortunately the information from trying the 2008 Blanc de Blancs didn’t sink in well enough, and I didn’t realize that I’ve tasted a wine from this iconic producer in the past.… read more

WSET Advanced

2004 Pierre Gimonnet Brut Reserve Blanc de Blancs

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med lemon, aggressive froth upon pour, bubbles
Nose: clear, pronounced intensity, yeast, mineral, citrus, butter, bread
Mouth: dry, med to med+ body, med+ acid, med+ to long length, med+ to high intensity, med- alcohol, delicate bubbles
All in all: Very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing.

2004 Pierre Gimonnet Brut Reserve Blanc de BlancsAlthough blasphemous, I really have to admit: sometimes I’m not the biggest fan of Champagne, and I rejoyced when I found out that I wasn’t alone.

For me, it’s just the fact that the intrinsic acid of Champagne can often be too zippy for me. Complexities derived from the traditional method of sparkling wine add legitimate and intricate bready, yeasty, and biscuity tones, but the price usually (and personally, most importantly) doesn’t justify it for me.… read more

WSET Advanced

2009 Pieropan Soave Classico

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med lemon, watery rim
Nose: clean, med- intensity, developing, oak, nutty, floral, stone fruit
Mouth: dry, med body, med acidity, med intensity, med- alcohol, med length, citrus, mineral
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

2009 Pieropan Soave Classico

I’ve read about the definition and forgot about a million times, but the term “classico” refers to the original area in which these wines and grapes originated from. For example, since its inception, places like Chianti have extended to include regions like Chanti Rufina, which generally use the same grapes with different elements of terroir. “Classico” refers to those original areas in Italy.

Although Italian whites are known for their neutrality, they can often have a certain subtle nuttiness to them as well.… read more

WSET Advanced

2010 Vietti Roero Arneis

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, watery rim
Nose: clean, youthful, med- intensity, lemon, minerality, touch of stone fruit
Mouth: dry, med bodied, med+ acidity, med+ intensity, med+ alcohol, med+ length, lemon, peach, minerality
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

2010 Vietti Roero ArneisI’m currently really into reviewing my Italian wines and regions and I have no idea why I’m suddenly into this phase, since I haven’t had some kind of weird Italian wine epiphany following some godly sip of something. Anyways, I love to delve really far into a region (book-wise only unfortunately), and revisit my tasting notes. Most of the time, I think “WOAH, I had the opportunity to taste THAT?” and get angry that my knowledge was more limited back then (despite the fact that it was only last June), and sometimes I doubt what I had rated these wines, since after reading about them, I have a greater appreciation of what they’re supposed to be like.… read more

WSET Advanced

2011 Quintay “Clava” Sauvignon Blanc

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, watery rim
Nose: clean, pronounced intensity, youthful, grapefruit, green bell pepper
Mouth: dry, med bodied, med+ acidity, med length, med+ to high intensity, citrus, grapefruit
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

Chilean Sauv Blancs, to me, are distinct such that they have a little more of that methoxypyrazine-ness (green bell pepper, green bean) along with a heavier and sometimes an almost stewed characteristic. I know some people who hate methoxypyrazines so much that they almost think it’s a flaw and needlessly evangelize so to new wine drinkers (cue FNH 330 prof, here), but it’s an interesting aroma to appreciate.

2011 Quintay “Clava” Sauvignon Blanc

As said, there was a little bit more of that vegetal character and a little bit less of that floral aspect, but it was still noticeably our good old friend Sauv Blanc – the queen of the grassy; the mother of the Cab Sauv.… read more

WSET Advanced

2009 Koyle Carmenère Reserva

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, deep ruby
Nose: clean, med+ to high intensity, youthful, blackcurrant, green bell pepper, soy
Mouth: dry, med body, med- to med acid, med to med+ (but soft) tannin, med length, med+ intensity, med+ alcohol, a bit of tartness
All in all: Good quality, drink now.

Carmenère is an interesting one. Although it usually does have that methoxypyrazine character found in many Chilean wines plus that Chilean “funk”, the hallmark of Carmenère (to me) are usually the said characteristics plus darker fruits and a soy sauce character that I can find in lots of aerobic winemaking-type wines like some Spanish Tempranillos, except a bit fleshier. It’s tough explaining the “soy sauce” bit to customers sometimes without making it sound repulsive.… read more

WSET Advanced

2011 Susana Balbo “Crios” Torrontes

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, watery rim
Nose: clean, med+ to high intensity, youthful, tropical fruits, spice, ginger, soapy
Mouth: dry (but ripe), med bodied, med- to med acidity, med alcohol, med length, med intensity
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

2011 Susana Balbo “Crios” TorrontesAt its worst, Torrontes can be too floral in the soapy sense, not unlike that old lady perfume smell that Viognier can easily morph into. Then again, I’m personally not a big fan of floral things, and some of my co-workers love things like jasmine-flavoured beers where I would rather be having a red ale.

Wines like this are great for the new wine drinkers – once the newbies get bored of off-dry Riesling and Moscato, this generally inexpensive grape variety carries tropical fruit characteristics with floral tones which are just as pronounced.… read more

WSET Advanced

2011 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon-green, watery rim
Nose: clean, pronounced intensity, youthful, asparagus, grapefruit, (grassy, herbaceous, vegetal)
Mouth: dry, med- to med body, high acidity, med length, med to med+ alcohol, med+ intensity, asparagus, grapefruit, passionfruit
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

2011 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Well if it isn’t Kim Crawford. Advertisements for this wine are plastered throughout the city, and this is one of the wines that I undoubtedly remember that customers always ask for even though (and probably because) it’s heavily listed and well-known. For good reason, too – this wine screams typicality at a good price, with grassy and vegetal aromas that are intensely displayed on the nose. Could be more complex, though.

Palate-wise, this is great. High acidity makes it zippy, patio-worthy, and food-friendly.… read more

WSET Advanced

2010 Tolloy Pinot Grigio

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, watery rim
Nose: clean, med intensity, youthful to developing, almond, floral, neutral + vague fruit
Mouth: dry, med+ to high acidity, med body, med+ intensity, med to med+ alcohol, med length, citrus, minterality
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

Pinot Grigio. Who’d’ve thunk it?

I’m not a big fan of Pinot Grigio, and even recently, one of my newer co-workers and I excitedly burst into complete excitement into how we both disliked this particular variety. “Oh my God, you hate Pinot Grigio, too?!”

It’s very middle-of-the-road and generally crowd-pleasing: its characteristics don’t seem to reach many extremes very 2010 Tolloy Pinot Grigiooften. Acidity, body, intensity, and so on, are usually kept in check, which perhaps gives the quaffable and enjoyable quality – unfortunately, this varietal seems to lack character at the same time, which I find happens in many Italian whites.… read more

WSET Advanced

2011 Yalumba “Y Series” Viognier

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, watery rim
Nose: clean, pronounced, youthful, apricot, canned peaches, spice, honey, FRUIT LOOPS
Mouth: dry, med+ bodied, med- acid, med+ length, med intensity, med+ alcohol, apricot, canned peaches
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

This was a wine I featured in one of the articles that I wrote for the Ubyssey.

I had the exact same wine for my WSET Intermediate class, and even now, I still get that distinct note of Froot Loops – that slightly spicy canned stone fruit sort of smell. I have no idea what cardamom smells like, but I blind-tasted this wine again with my co-workers and apparently that’s a legitimate scent that you might get from both this wine and in actual Fruit Loops cereal.… read more