Tag: Washington

Tasting

Is it too late now to say Syrah-ry?

Posted on by Josh

I have a substantial place in my heart for New World Syrah. Though my favourite is probably British Columbia’s Nichol, My first (legal) bottle was the 2007 vintage of BC’s Burrowing Owl – a 19th birthday gift from my best friend, and a winery from BC whose wines have the tendency to puff their chests across grape varieties. Like, yeah, we get it – your Pinot is weirdly thick and you have Freudian tannins.

Anyways: a American Syrah seminar at a Rhone Rangers tasting in Presidio, San Francisco (feat. Arizona!). I remember zoning out for a split second only to come back to my senses when a winemaker made a joke about pH levels and the entire room burst out in laughter.… read more

Life · Tasting

Vancouver International Wine Festival 2015: “All About Syrah”

Posted on by Josh

Legit tried to give my ticket away or sell it just hours before like a chump, because the previous day’s Australian Shiraz tasting made me seriously question what possessed me to buy a ticket to an event where I was subject to taste eleven more Syrah wines. No ma’am. I couldn’t even give my ticket away to someone for free, as he reluctantly looked at me as if I’d just knocked on his door and asked if his life had been saved by Syrah yet.

I thought it was a bad sign when some sort of false fire alarm went off right when the beginning of the event rolled around. As soon as I was going to test if the rhythm would match up with an Iggy Azalea song, the blaring Windows 98-like noises stopped.… read more

Life · Quaffing

Pre-Vancouver International Wine Fest 2015

Posted on by Josh

Days are leading up to the wine fest. Not that it’s daunting or anything – if that’s how I’m making it seem – but I’m purposefully not training my palate for the Shiraz-fest to come in favour of gracing my mouth with more refreshing whites. I’m sort of mirroring the sunny weather we’ve been having in the form of alcohol, and I find that it also helps to have some inspiring wine when you feel anything but. Yesterday’s Martin Códax “Burgáns” 2010 Rías Baixas ($25) was just that – perhaps not as fresh as it should be at that age, but bringing an unintentional spotlight to its funky hint of brine, along with something that seemed a bit nutty and yeasty amongst its peachy fruit.… read more

Tasting

Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 – Speed Tasting i.e. Tinder for Wines

Posted on by Josh

Speed tasting. It’s one of the unique events of the Wine Bloggers Conference that’s always explained to you if you’ve never heard of the WBC before, kind of like the warning nod of the hangover to the newly legal. It’s always described as “speed dating but with wine” – though in this case, it’s only a one-way road of looking at your date in disgust. So there’s a plus, and it’s sort of like a Tinder swipe-left-or-right sort of situation.

In the essence of the Live Wine Blogging event, you have 50 minutes to taste through 10 wines. In each 5-minute session, the winery representative pours you wine and gives you a bit of a quick overview before moving on to the next table.… read more

WSET Diploma

2011 K Vintners Viognier

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon-green, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, mineral, floral, white flowers, lime, lemon, hint of stone fruit, lemon, pineapple, oak, nutmeg, sweet spice
Mouth: dry, med+ body, med+ acid, med alcohol, med+ intensity, med+ length, floral, citrus, spicy apple
All in all: Good quality: although personally appearing neutral in characteristics, a marked floral complexity follows a balanced finish and a concentrated palate. Drink now; not suitable for ageing.
Identity guess: Mid-priced (Trebbiano/Pinot Blanc/Viognier) from Italy; 2 years old.
Is really: TBA-priced Viognier from Washington; 2 years old.

2011 K Vintners Viognier

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 8]

Even after having had an identity guess for this wine, I still noted down a marked floral character from this.… read more