Tag: Rosé

Quaffing

Oh Land – “White Nights” (Big Ugly Yellow Couch): 2009 Blue Mountain Brut Rosé]

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, pale orange, bubbles
Nose: clean, developing, med- intensity, biscuity, bread, yeast, delicate red fruit, hint of apple, strawberry
Mouth: dry, med bodied, med+ acid, med alcohol, med finish, med+ flavour intensity, mineral, savoury red fruit, some toast, biscuit, tart strawberry, cranberry, citrus, fine and mouth-filling mousse
All in all: Good (to very good) quality: the wine rules with finesse, elegance, and balance, though some intensity and complexity are further in the background. Drink now, not suitable for ageing.

2009 Blue Mountain Brut RoséI did it. I promised myself I wouldn’t spend more money on alcohol, let alone on a bottle that’s more than 30 dollars on the shelf for a lonely Friday night, but I really couldn’t help buying the new and hip bottle that recently made store status.… read more

Quaffing

2011 Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir Rosé

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, med- salmon
Nose: clean, med intensity, developing, earth, mineral, cranberry, citrus, spice
Mouth: dry with sweet impression, med- body, med+ acid, med length, med alcohol, med+ intensity
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

2011 Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir RoséSunny weather calls for sunny wine. I haven’t bought rosé in a long time, nor has the weather and time called for it (even though I twitch every time a customer shoots down the idea of drinking rosé any other time but the summer).

Today I had the opening shift so I get off earlier, and it’s a beautiful day with no clouds. Therefore, I am on my patio happily enjoying this wine. It’s starting to get cold outside, but geez let me enjoy this moment with the 17 minutes that I have with this sleeveless shirt and these work-inappropriate shorts.… read more

Tasting

Joiefarm Wines – 2012

Posted on by Josh

I had the opportunity to try six of Joiefarm’s wines today, all being part of the new 2012 vintage.

Hilariously pronounced by many customers (“Joey”) – some with confidence, some hesitant, and most with charm – these wines are popular with the locals, but personally, I’ve never been drawn to their wines. They take advantage of BC’s relatively cooler climate and vinify mostly white grapes, although their PTG has been praised by Jancis Robinson (all hail the queen). All good checkboxes for reasons to buy, but perhaps it’s the 20-30 dollar price point (which honestly, makes sense for some good BC wine anyways) or perhaps it’s the weird combination that the labels bring: simple but somehow ugly. That’s just me, though.… read more

Quaffing

holiday wines with the co-workers

Posted on by Josh

Overdue post, but it’s all good. Some time in December one of us hosted another staff get together complete with an amazing multiple-course home-cooked meal, which included:

– roasted celeriac soup
– kohlrabi slaw with cranberries and walnuts
– beet salad (with goat cheese)
– braised white beans
– roast chicken

It was so good that most of the food is still weirdly vivid in my mind despite this being around 4 weeks ago. Alas, I don’t remember the wines as well – I do remember one of us trying to act as a lion for a charades clue. The phrase was “The Chronicles of Narnia”.

Oh, and one of us was sick which sucked, which means we had no mashed potatoes.… read more

Tasting

I NEED A BIGGER KNIFE. (UBC Wine Tasting Sesh #2)

Posted on by Josh

Long-ass day. Doesn’t seem so bad in retrospect, but I woke up early for a 9AM thing at UBC, took the 99 to the last stop for work, and then needed to travel all the way back to UBC to lead Part 2 of the sort-of-intro-to-wine themed tasting, all while wearing pants that weren’t jeans, one of those shirts you’d hate to spill wine on, and shoes that didn’t fit just enough to make my feet cry. The garb was fitting for all of the day’s events but for this day in particular, I would defs have lead a wine tasting wearing nothing but seven layers of random comfortable 7-foot-long linens, cinnamon-bun-Homer-Simpson style. I was that uncomfortable (ugh rain + sickness).… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Duval-Leroy Brut Rosé Champagne

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale orange, bubbles
Nose: clean, pronounced, developing, more ripe fruit, bready, red fruit (strawberry), smokey/mineral
Mouth: dry, med to med+ body, med+ acid, long length, med+ intensity, med- alcohol
All in all: Very good quality; drink now, but has potential for ageing.

Tasted against the NV Lugny Rosé Crémant de Bourgogne.

I’m not going to deny a glass of (rosé) Champagne. Because number 1: that would be stupid; number 2: rarely do you get that chance unless you’re rich as balls; and number 3: it’s really an experience in itself, no matter how ephemeral. And the pinkness makes it more interesting.

And yes – I do admit that the differences between this and the Crémant were almost indistinguishable unless you *really* stuck your nose in there and got a real sense of the characters of the wines – but perhaps the non-vintageness of the wine was at fault.… read more

WSET Advanced

NV Lugny Rosé Crémant de Bourgogne

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, pale orange, bubbles
Nose: clean, pronounced, youthful, yeastiness, light strawberry/watermelon notes
Mouth: dry, med body (delicate bubbles), med acid, med+ length, med- alcohol, med intensity
All in all: Very good quality; drink now.

Tasted against the NV Duval-Leroy Brut Rosé Champagne.

This taste comparison was obviously set up to show the differences between a rosé Crémant and a rosé Champagne. Disappointingly enough, it was hard to pick up those definitive toasty notes in one of these wines and not the other. Amusingly enough, what this comparison showed was the potential for great Crémants to exist, something which is apparently not a common thing. Plenty of delicate bubbles, and there was some stinky yeastiness on the nose, along with some light red fruit notes.… 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