Tag: Cabernet Franc

Tasting · Travel

Finger Lakes: first spits and fire pits

Posted on by Josh

More wine in this post, I promise!

For some reason I was not tired after The Night Of No Sleep. My body knew. On a rainy morning dodging puddles and people, Christine, Amy, Leeanne, Sujinder and I bussed up to Elmira from NYC. This of course involved a cryptic and boisterous man who sat behind our group and modified the intensity of his New York accent depending on who he was talking to on the phone, including Joey, which included a mild conversation about picking up sodas at the dollar store; and then Beryl, to whom he aggressively told to check her mailbox and to “not worry about it” (severed hand?!). Obviously the world knew our NYC experience wasn’t over yet, and we’ve accomplished a lot before anything officially #WBC15.… read more

Life · Travel

JOSH IS ALONE IN NEW YORK CITY: Day 1

Posted on by Josh

So this year, the Wine Bloggers Conference is held in New York, and a small group of us decide to spend some time in NYC as a pre-pre-conference excursion before heading to the Finger Lakes. But it was only literally just a couple of days before our flight to New York that I found out my airplane buddy Donita could no longer go due to a health issue, so besides the couple of Vancouver friends I would meet up with later, I came to the realization that I was going to be mostly alone in a city I recently denounced as being crowded and scary. THIS IS IT, YOU GUYS. GOD IS TESTING ME.

I was late to the interview to my current job because I couldn’t figure out how our own buses work and I’ve lived in Vancouver since I was born.… read more

Tasting

#WBC15 Tinder Wine Session #2

Posted on by Josh

I’m pretty sure Mykha’el and I sat at the same place for our second round and we were still relatively pretty empty for a table (which was awesome) but this time we were also with fellow wine baes Brianne and Cory.

Standing Stone 2013 Saperavi (Finger Lakes, New York) $30
Deep purple. Lots of compelling dark berry fruit and some plum. Peppery and bunch with a curvy body and soft structure. Fruity depth and very satisfying. “My Boxer” by Oh Land? Apparently the only winery in the Finger Lakes that does a Saperavi.

Fox Run 2012 Lemberger (Finger Lakes, New York) $21
Stinky, perhaps a bit reductive.… read more

Life · Quaffing · Tasting

Post-Pride and Pre-WBC15 Wine Dump

Posted on by Josh

Bit of a tasting note dump between the Maryland trip and Vancouver Pride, since I am not drinking for a week in a simultaneous effort to recover from Vancouver Pride antics and to prepare my liver for the Wine Bloggers Conference in New York. Huzzah. I am surprisingly doing well so far, and I have stepped into the world of non-alcoholic beer.

(I’ve failed miserably.)

There’s not really a common thread here, except for maybe the general Old World?

I’ve also found out that my travel buddy had to cancel her attendance to both the Wine Bloggers Conference and our pre-conference trip to NYC due to a health issue, so I’m semi-alone in NYC (semi- because I’m meeting up with some Vancouver friends still) and I’m a little scared but also super excited. … read more

Life · Quaffing · Tasting · WSET Diploma

Exams and grand slams

Posted on by Josh

It’s done. I’ve completed (or performed, rather, since we’ll find out whether or not I’ve actually completed the thing come September) the last unit I needed to complete for the WSET Diploma! I’m tempted to prance around maniacally while getting drunk really quickly on this fantastically sunny day, but September will have to wait for even bigger celebrations, I suppose. Which calls for fancy Cava instead of Champagne, maybe?! I mean, no, of course, but I bought this already so let’s.

In a couple of days I envision myself in a state of academic and mental paralysis. I will have a weird need to study, and I will give in. Someone make me watch a TV series or something!

Alta Alella “Laietà” 2011 Gran Reserva Brut Nature Cava (Cava, Spain): Fresh, lemon curd, some earth, yeast, blanched almonds, and sea spray.… read more

Life · WSET Diploma

WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 9: Workshop #2

Posted on by Josh

Okay, let’s be real here: it’s the holidays, and during the entirety of the WSET diploma, there was inevitably going to be at least one class that combined horribly with a hangover, and that day was today. I’m stubborn and quasi-meticulous: I’ve never missed a class nor have I ever not written about a wine we tried, but I just don’t have the willpower to give birth to separate posts this time around. Not that anyone’s really counting on me, anyways. Insert booing crowd here.

The last workshop we had consisted of one flight of three wines and some written practice. Today consisted of two flights of wine and no written practice (thank the gods), and we promised our instructor that we would practice on our own as if we were promising our parents to not have a house party while they were gone for a week.… read more

WSET Diploma

“Time of the Season” – The Zombies: Château La Cabanne Pomerol 2005

Posted on by Josh

Château La Cabanne Pomerol 2005[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

Pomerol and Saint-Émilion are the two famous appellations on the right bank of Bordeaux. Pomerol is the softer and the less drier appellation of the two, not to say that it’s necessarily sweeter, but perhaps just riper and broader in its fruit. Merlot rather than Cabernet Sauvignon reigns supreme on the right bank: this particular blend is 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc.

My palate was going at this point, as the 7th wine of our fight of 8, but there was a subtle nose of dried red fruit, dried black fruit, plum, a hints of leather and graceful herbaceous notes. There was a bit of opulent “plum jam”, according to the instructor, along with a soft texture and silky tannins.… read more

WSET Diploma

The Burger King of Wine: Mouton Cadet Bordeaux 2012

Posted on by Josh

Mouton Cadet Bordeaux 2012[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

I predicted that this was Mouton Cadet just because it feels almost integral in a class about Bordeaux, and the profile clicked well: youthful fruit that isn’t particularly aromatic or muted, dotted with unripe herbaceous character and a disjointed hint of confection. There’s oak, apparently, which is impressive for such a mass-produced bottle, and there’s also some earthiness which anchors its identity, at least, to the old world. Though relatively balanced, the wine seems just a bit thin and simple.

I sing the same ditty every time we approach one of these mass-produced wines, and even moreso for the more doctored wines of the world: Mouton Cadet in itself isn’t horrid, but neither is it great for the price point.… read more

WSET Diploma

Movember: Château La Serre Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2010

Posted on by Josh

Château La Serre Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2010[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

Okay. So it’s clear that I didn’t know as much about wine as I do now if we recall my 20-year-old self. Let’s just let that old blog post sink in. I can’t find myself to delete or change it because it’s a valid thought in my wine journey: can’t you see newcomers finding Saint-Émilion boring?

Saint-Émilion is an appellation on the right bank of Bordeaux, where Merlot is king. Saint-Émilion and Pomerol are the well-known and most prestigious areas in the right bank, where Merlot arguably finds itself in its most concentrated form. As we would soon find out, Saint-Émilion is the gutsier wine of the two appellations, and is supposedly less obviously from the right bank than is Pomerol.… read more

WSET Diploma

The antithesis of Apothic: 2009 Charles Joguet “Les Petites Roches” Chinon

Posted on by Josh

2009 Charles Joguet "Les Petites Roches" Chinon[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 2: Loire Valley]

The last time I’ve had an old world Cabernet Franc was over a year ago when I had a Saumur-Champigny in class (wine class, that is). I’m sure I’ve forgotten what the classic example tastes like which is a weird shame because the style of wine, on paper, seems relatively uncomplicated and definitive: raspberry-dominated with red fruits, pencil shavings and perhaps brettanomyces amongst the earth, leafy greens, a medium depth of colour and body, and noticeable but reined tannin.

Maybe I’m not used to more aged examples – or just better examples in general – of the style, because the wine seemed much more full-bodied and in the darker black cherry fruit range than I expected.… read more