Tag: Red

Quaffing

Château le Puy 2009 “Expression Originale du Terroir”

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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

WSET Diploma

Mud House, in the middle of our street: Mud House 2010 Pinot Noir

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Mud House 2009 Pinot Noir[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 4: Workshop]

The third wine in our flight of three was most certainly the ripest in its fruit and probably the most intense as well (though the instructor aptly reminded us that this isn’t necessarily an indicator of quality).

The fuller-bodied and ripe red fruit along with the fair amount of acidity shouted New Zealand to me, and the guess of Martinborough was something I sort of partially pulled from thin air. Apparently Martinborough Pinots tend to be the most Burgundian, tending towards spice and plummy fruit, while Marlborough is lighter and more cheery in its red fruit. Central Otago Pinot Noir expresses itself toward that darker end of the red fruit spectrum and usually has a bit of a green note which I’ve heard manifests itself in a sage-like aroma.… read more

WSET Diploma

Halloween candy: Mark West 2012 Pinot Noir

Posted on by Josh

Mark West 2012 Pinot Noir[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 4: Workshop]

The second wine in our flight of three was clearly the lowest quality, though perhaps premature conclusions were drawn just from smelling the three without having tasted them yet. It’s that sort of jammy strawberry and vanilla thing, but it’s not a complex strawberry compote sort of deal. Maybe kind of like those Campino candy things without the yogurt connotation (and maybe even worse than that), but maybe candy is on my mind because I haven’t had my fair share of Halloween treats this year. Hrmph. I suppose this comes close. I mean it’s an orange label.

The palate seals the deal with a lightly-bodied wine and almost no acid to balance out the sweetness, but I suppose the saccharine fruit superficially lengthens the flavours on the back palate.… 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

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

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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

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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

“Pelican” – The Maccabees: Château Cabannieux Graves 2009

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Château Cabannieux Graves 2009[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

If you didn’t know anything about wine and looked at the label would you think “Graves” meant “graves” and that the picture was of a cemetery? Just, like, a random thought. It’s Halloween on Friday or whatever.

I don’t remember much about this wine including why it was chosen in our first flight of four. What I remember is that the flavour profile was very similar to the second wine in our flight but with slightly more complexity with scents of cigar boxes and brushes of mint along with the developing fruit.

Now that I remember it, there was probably a discussion on how wine from Graves, which is in the southern part of Bordeaux, generally matures quicker than more structured wine from the left bank.… read more

WSET Diploma

“Daniel in the Den” – Bastille: Château Lafon-Rochet Saint-Estèphe 2009

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Château Lafon-Rochet Saint-Estèphe 2009[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

Exciting! Besides the 2005 Château Clerc-Milon I had earlier this year at the Vancouver Wine Fest, I can’t say that I’ve tasted legit classed Bordeaux before. The whole thing is an antiquated list that still dictates prices and prestige at most, so it’s cool getting to try something that has that ingrained reputation. That might seem backwards for someone who studies wine, where it seems like I’d want to try more esoteric and weird things, but Bordeaux is one of those regions where exports are so crucial and centric to its spirit, that it’s interesting and equally as important to understand what the hell people are pulling their dicks out of their pants for.… read more

WSET Diploma

Everyday vanilla Bordeaux, if that’s even a thing: Château Lamothe-Cissac Haut-Médoc 2008

Posted on by Josh

Château Lamothe-Cissac Haut-Médoc 2008[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

Among all the wines we tasted this sesh, this was admittedly one of the more forgettable ones, so much that I can’t seem to come up with much to write about – it wasn’t horrible by any means, but just middling and anything but idiosyncratic. It’s an example of vanilla ice cream Bordeaux, I suppose, but not the shitty cheap supermarket brand nor ice cream with vanilla harvested by blind nuns in a remote area of Mexico.

The wine had a lighter body, a bit of bitterness, and a bit of heat on the finish making me dismiss this as a simple mid-priced generic Bordeaux. Despite simplicity and having some sort of kink in the braid, the wine had lasting flavours.… read more