WSET Advanced

NV Henkell Trocken

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon-green
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, fruit (peachy), mineral, sweet, light notes of tropical fruit
Mouth: dry, more aggressive bubbles, med- bodied, med- to med acidity, med length, med intensity, med- alcohol
All in all: Good quality; drink now; not intended for ageing.

Compared alongside 1999 Lanson Gold Label Champagne.

I have used Henkell Trocken as a wine for a wine tasting I held once, because it’s a cheap and fun almost-all-purpose bubbly. Personally, I find it boring, but for the price, it’s a great and cheap bubbly. The intensity and “tropical fruit” you see in my tasting notes were really more of the class consensus – I wrote down that I found it had a light to med- intensity with a predominant mineral and green fruit nose.… read more

WSET Advanced

1999 Lanson Gold Label Champagne

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, med- lemon (to gold), watery rim, bubbles
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing to fully developed, sourdough, toasty, biscuity, green fruit, citrus
Mouth: dry, high acidity, med to med+ alcohol, med- body, long length, med+ intensity, delicate bubbles
All in all: Very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing.

Compared alongside some NV Henkell Trocken.

Ah, of course – the quintessential Champagne for the beginning of WSET class tasting. Of course, though, I stumble into class just in time for class to begin.

I don’t remember why, but in comparison to the previous Champagnes I’ve had, this one seemed just a touch lacklustre. I felt that, although the overall nose was intense, that the yeasty notes were not as pronounced in comparison to the nose as a whole.… read more

WSET Advanced

2006 Louis Jadot Chardonnay Meursault Genevrières

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale to med- lemon
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, flinty, leesy, apple, oak, butter, nutty
Mouth: dry, med bodied, med+ acidity, long length, med+ alcohol, med+ intensity, citrus, mineral
All in all: Very good quality; Can drink now, but has potential for ageing.

Tasted against the 2010 Joseph Drouhin “Laforet” Chardonnay.

Although I did record my tasting notes and the quality of this wine, the fact that this expensive-as-shit wine wasn’t entirely memorable sort of worries me a bit, and I’m wondering if it just didn’t have enough character in the end. I did note that this wine was well-balanced but could have had more complexity for the price.

Buy this if you’re filthy rich. Otherwise, for the same price, you can buy a cheaper bottle of Chardonnay, dinner, and still have leftover money to do so for the next day or so.… read more

WSET Advanced

WSET Advanced Course and Wines

Posted on by Josh

My goodness – the six-day WSET Advanced classes really are intense – but not because it’s six days, but because I have to wake up at 7:30AM for two sets of three days in a row, when my current lazy summer schedule calls for me waking up past ten. I really don’t mind the long wine tasting sessions, except for the fact that the coffee buzz starts to wear off after lunch and all your energy goes into digesting, and you happen to find yourself at the literal almost-snore stage of drifting off during the time your wine instructor is in the middle of showing a video on German Riesling. To make matters worse, the lights are off during these videos, and then I realize it’s 12th grade history class all over again but with alcohol.… 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

Life

Birthday 2012!

Posted on by Josh

My regular birthday occurs at such an inconvenient time, so I decided on sone pseudo-arbitrary future date on which to PAR-TAY. In terms of wine, though – my friends are all across the board. Some don’t drink wine (ouch), some do, some prefer beer, some don’t drink at all – you know. I tried to select a bunch of wines that would be crowd pleasers, but not in that sort of overly sleazy way.

I ended up only being able to review the 2011 Chateau Cailleteau Bergeron Sauvignon Blanc and 2011 Wild Goose Autumn Gold beforehand, since I didn’t want to open the three sparkling wines (Cava, Moscato, Brachetto) that I did have until we wanted to drink them. We didn’t get to open any reds I had except for this generic and jammy Argentinian Malbec a friend bought.… read more

Quaffing

2011 Wild Goose Autumn Gold

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, very pale lemon – almost water white
Nose: clean, med intensity, green fruit, lychee, notes of stone fruit, sweet aromas
Mouth: off-dry, med body, med- to med acidity, med- length, tart, round, tropical fruit finish
All in all: Good quality, drink now.

Maybe it’s because of the label, but compared to the Sauvignon Blanc I tasted next to this, this was more ripe and more spring sunset than spring sunrise. Don’t worry, I’m not sure I know what that means either, and I’m not even sure why I said it. Typed it. Whatever.  

On the nose, you get a whiff of green fruits – almost-ripe apples and pears – with a touch of stone fruit, all wrapped up in this light and sweet tone.… read more

Quaffing

2011 Chateau Cailleteau Bergeron Sauvignon Blanc

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, passionfruit, floral, citrus (rind), grapefruit
Mouth: dry, light body, med- to med acidity, med- length
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

Compared alongside the 2011 Wild Goose Autumn Gold.

This is SUCH a spring wine. On the nose you get hit with a glass of passionfruit in a garden. The floral notes are well-echoed into the palate with this touch of bitter citrus rind. What was interesting was the acidity, which was lower than what I would have expected from a Sauvignon Blanc. Although an Old World wine, I’ve heard interesting comments about the fact that this wine sort of bridges between the Old and New World styles, being more fruity and outgoing in character.… read more

Quaffing

2010 M. Chapoutier Tavel Beaurevoir

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale salmon
Nose: clean, med- intensity, light red berry aromas, white pepper, earthy/woodiness
Mouth: dry, med bodied, light tannins, med acidity, short length
All in all: Acceptable to good quality, drink now

Some people at work really liked this. I was excited to try it (and even put it back on the shelf a couple of times, trying to balance the skepticism and the desire), but it didn’t do much for me.

Although decently balanced in terms of structure – and I’ll give it that much – there was something on the flavours of this wine that happened to strike both my “odd” and “boring” cards. The lightness of the red fruit disappointed me (although perhaps more typical for old world rosés?),… read more

Quaffing

2010 Tranchero Moscato d’Asti

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale straw, few fine bubbles
Nose: clean, light intensity, lychee, green apple, touch of stone fruit, orange/tangerine
Mouth: med sweetness, med acidity, light body, med finish lychee, orange, citrus
All in all: Great quality; drink now.

I bought this wine one Saturday night where I think I decided that I needed to treat myself to an entire bottle of wine and an uninterrupted evening of 9gag and SNL. It was pathetically amazing. So there.

Moscato d’Asti is such a crowd pleaser. A typical one will be sweet but light, along with beautiful fruity and floral notes. I recall aromas of lychee, green apples, notes of stone fruit, and oranges. It had a medium sweetness with a perfect balance of acidity to clean off the palate.… read more