Tag: France

WSET Diploma

Not enough dirty socks, but good anyways: Pfaffenheim 2013 “Pfaff” Pinot Gris

Posted on by Josh

Pfaffenheim 2013 "Pfaff" Pinot Gris[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 5: Alsace]

I’m a big fan of Alsatian Pinot Gris. I was supposed to make a post on one by another producer last week but drank it too quickly to leave any trace of sobriety (“I’ll just buy another bottle, srjgkglrahhh”), and plus I knew the theme of the upcoming class was Alsace, so tasting a Pinot Gris was definitely something that was going to happen, anyways.

The wine was notably Pinot Gris (if not Gewurztraminer) from just looking at it with its coppery tint from pinkish grapes (another reason to love it?). Not as exuberant on the nose like Gewurztraminer or Muscat, but there are hints to stone fruit, mineral, peach, some sort of sweet orange floral notes, and a bit of mango.… read more

WSET Diploma

Gewp: Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2012 Gewurztraminer

Posted on by Josh

Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2012 Gewurztraminer[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 5: Alsace]

Indisputably Gewurztraminer on the nose (if not Muscat), where it was like liquid Bed Bath and Beyond. I might as well have taken a big whiff of my grandma’s purse, and it probably would have been more accurate had she been the source of my late aunt’s durian-eating habits. I mean I guess the wine isn’t so much durian-driven than it is lychee and peaches, but still.

I noticed a bit of bubble by just looking at the glass, as did some other classmates, and indeed there was just a hint of spritz on the palate that other people detected. What’s interesting is that we had the exact same wine no more than a couple months prior, and then it seemed perfectly fine, but an in-bottle malolactic fermentation was a possibility for the bit of spritz for this time around.… read more

WSET Diploma

Vanilla, but not in an oaky way: Hugel 2011 Pinot Blanc

Posted on by Josh

Hugel 2011 Blanc de Blancs[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 5: Alsace]

Pinot Blanc is one of the exceptions to Alsace, where the region itself is an exception to the non-varietally labelled wines in France. Unlike Alsace, the rest of French wines are typically labelled by their appellation rather than the grape – so unless there’s an informative back label, the average consumer might get lost with regions that sound like they’ve come from a George R. R. Martin novel. It’s a big conversation. Alsace, for the most part, dodges this.

Many (political) reasons led to this general rule, but then there’s poor little Pinot Blanc, which may very well have some Auxerrois in its blend despite the fact that it’s labelled “Pinot Blanc”. … read more

WSET Diploma

First impression over the second: Charles Sparr 2011 Cuvée Tradition Pinot Noir

Posted on by Josh

Charles Sparr 2011 Cuvée Tradition Pinot Noir[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 5: Alsace]

We’ve started off with the red in our flight of eight Alsatian wines, because Alsatian Pinot Noir is arguably softer and more delicate than its steely whites. I don’t remember the last time I’ve even had an Alsatian Pinot Noir, but it makes total sense that the cool climate region chooses Pinot Noir out of all red grape varieties to specialize in. Alsace tends to produce lighter styles compared to Burgundy with noticeably paler colour and softer texture, but for me it’s been personally hard to generalize because you just don’t see it much in this market, ever. The grape puts a small dent in the total plantings of grapes in Alsace, at around 10 percent.… read more

Quaffing

Château le Puy 2009 “Expression Originale du Terroir”

Posted on by Josh

Château le Puy 2009 "Expression Originale du Terroir"I’ve finally finished doing the Bordeaux portion for the WSET diploma, but that’s just mostly note-taking and reading. I still need time to dedicate the thick pages to memory, but I thought I’d hold a mini-celebration and open a bottle of Bordeaux, anyways. It’s just an excuse to drink, really. Tomorrow I’m sure I’ll find a dirty quarter on the ground, and it’ll be an excuse to open a beer.

I bought this guy months and months ago while needlessly going on a wine shopping spree at some other store. It was the last bottle they had of it (I’m always a sucker for things like that), and it was somehow mentioned in Drops of God, which is a wine-themed manga I have yet to read.… read more

Quaffing

Alain Vesselle NV Tradition Brut

Posted on by Josh

Alain Vesselle NV Tradition BrutBordeaux is proving to be a huge section of the WSET Diploma, and so I bought myself a bottle of Champagne as a encouraging self-bribe to get through the damn section. A region so based in its trade, producers, and viticulture leads to meaty entries in the Oxford Companion to do with who married who to get their name on this Château and so forth, along with the different polysaccharides that Botrytis cinerea produces during its metabolism. It’s literally like reading those hideously long entries in the Bible on family trees (or was that Lord of the Rings?), combined with a university chemistry textbook. I’m only approaching the right bank’s regional entries now as I prematurely decide to open this bottle of Champagne, because I can’t wait and I’m thirsty as fuck.… read more

WSET Diploma

I need to drink more Burgundy: Domaine Pavelot 2010 “Les Vergelesses” Pernand-Vergelesses

Posted on by Josh

Domaine Pavelot 2010 "Les Vergelesses" Pernand-Vergelesses[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 4: Workshop]

Out of the three wines we tried in our flight of, this was definitely the most old world – that is, the most earthy and austere, with fruits in the red section of the spectrum but geared towards a bit of a pleasant sour unripeness, so much that if you had me smell (but not taste) this blind not knowing the other two wines in the flight, I may have guessed something like Sangiovese, which is sort of known for just that. Sangiovese has much more tannin and scratch, though, while this was quite soft.

I remember studying a bit of Pernand-Vergelesses mostly when committing Burgundy’s Côte d’Or to memory for the CMS Certified Sommelier exam, and my imprecise definition of the area is a mere blob of an appellation within the Savigny-lès-Beaune appellation in the Côte de Beaune. … read more

WSET Diploma

When life gives you rot, make it noble: Château Coutet Sauternes-Barsac 2000

Posted on by Josh

Château Coutet Sauternes-Barsac 2000[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

I was in the middle of tasting the first three wines in our second flight when I saw the instructor pouring the first bits of the fourth wine into her own glass. Bordeaux class, so Sauternes, unquestionably.

Yeah, gurl.

How often do you get to try one of the most prized dessert wines of the world? I’m not bragging, because all we get is a wee dram enough for tasting, and God knows I’m poor as fuck from WSET diploma tuition, anyways. This is as close as it gets, except for that time I knocked over my boss’s glass of Château d’Yquem. It shattered all over the floor and in perceived slow motion, I’m sure.… 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