Appellation - Côtes du Rhône
Composition - 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah, and 10% Mourvedre
Smell - Smells oddly of plums and blackberry or cassis or something. Slightly astringent, but not much. Mild smelling.
Taste - peppery, tannic, sweet. Odd that I taste peppery, but it's definitely there. Simple wine, but also a nice one. This is just a drinking wine. Every sip is pleasant, none are shocking.
Finish - not much. Bit of tannin and acid stay at the end, but the flavor is fleeting.
Thoughts - I want to keep drinking this, it certainly passes the "quickly emptied" test with flying colors. It is rather simple though. This is a hard wine to write about, I don't know what to say.
Balance - Mild, reminds me of a slightly more tannic Moulin-a-Vent from Maison Louis Tete (2007 specifically).
Recommendation - if you can find this for the $11 I paid, it is certainly worth picking up a few bottles. Far better than most roughly $10 wines. That being said, it's for drinking, not tasting.
Update: This wine didn't taste as good the second glass, and another bottle was also uninspiring. It started out promising, but on reflection, I would pass it up. I won't pick up any more, even though they are available and cheap.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Review: Brunier & Fils Le Pigeolet en Provence 2009
Appellation - Vin de Pays de Vaucluse
Grape - Grenache blend, sadly I can't recall the details. Will correct soon.
Nose/Scent - This is a strange smelling wine. Sticking your nose in the glass gives a lasting impression of some kind of almost antiseptic scent. There's an astringent quality that overpowers some of the fruity or floral notes that are obviously pleasant.
Mouthfeel - This is a light wine. There isn't much body, it's a little "thin," but it is not unpleasant.
Taste - This is a very pleasant wine to sip. It's not exciting to taste, but the apparent fruit and acid make for an easy wine to sip or drink happily.
Finish - Not much lasting effect. Some of the acid lingers and a tiny bit of tannin becomes apparent, but overall, there isn't much lasting impression.
Balance - This is a wine with just a bit of sweetness, very little tannin, and quite a lot of acid. However, the acid fits. Even though there's a lot of acid, it tastes very pleasant.
Recommendation - Great wine to have around for opening casually. I picked up a handful.
Perceived Value - For $16 at Vin Vino Wine, this seemed quite a value. It's not a blockbuster by any stretch, but it's pleasant, and never veers towards insipid or dull as many cheap wines can. I don't know if I would pay much more, but I'm very happy at this price.
Grape - Grenache blend, sadly I can't recall the details. Will correct soon.
Nose/Scent - This is a strange smelling wine. Sticking your nose in the glass gives a lasting impression of some kind of almost antiseptic scent. There's an astringent quality that overpowers some of the fruity or floral notes that are obviously pleasant.
Mouthfeel - This is a light wine. There isn't much body, it's a little "thin," but it is not unpleasant.
Taste - This is a very pleasant wine to sip. It's not exciting to taste, but the apparent fruit and acid make for an easy wine to sip or drink happily.
Finish - Not much lasting effect. Some of the acid lingers and a tiny bit of tannin becomes apparent, but overall, there isn't much lasting impression.
Balance - This is a wine with just a bit of sweetness, very little tannin, and quite a lot of acid. However, the acid fits. Even though there's a lot of acid, it tastes very pleasant.
Recommendation - Great wine to have around for opening casually. I picked up a handful.
Perceived Value - For $16 at Vin Vino Wine, this seemed quite a value. It's not a blockbuster by any stretch, but it's pleasant, and never veers towards insipid or dull as many cheap wines can. I don't know if I would pay much more, but I'm very happy at this price.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Wine Aging
I have been wondering about wine aging for quite a while. So many of the best wines I have tasted have been aged for quite some time. As I have started getting more wine, and getting more into wine, some of it stays around the house longer than just a few days or weeks.
At the same time, I was tasting more wine than before. Often, I tasted wines that hadn't been bottled yet. Almost without exception, the best wines I taste aren't yet at their prime.
So, I started really wondering about how wine aging works. I had two real questions. First, how important is precise temperature control? Second, why not age wines at 64F or 71F (but rock stable) to bring them to their prime sooner? I can't find good answers to either of these. It seems like cellars used to be around 55f, so 55f is accepted. But it does not seem as though there's much in the way of proper analysis of wine aging. Why not?
http://www.wineperspective.com/STORAGE%20TEMPERATURE%20&%20AGING.htm
http://wineanorak.com/cellaring_wine_temperature_humidity.htm
At the same time, I was tasting more wine than before. Often, I tasted wines that hadn't been bottled yet. Almost without exception, the best wines I taste aren't yet at their prime.
So, I started really wondering about how wine aging works. I had two real questions. First, how important is precise temperature control? Second, why not age wines at 64F or 71F (but rock stable) to bring them to their prime sooner? I can't find good answers to either of these. It seems like cellars used to be around 55f, so 55f is accepted. But it does not seem as though there's much in the way of proper analysis of wine aging. Why not?
http://www.wineperspective.com/STORAGE%20TEMPERATURE%20&%20AGING.htm
http://wineanorak.com/cellaring_wine_temperature_humidity.htm
Some Thoughts
Over the last 7 years, I have toured Piedmont, Tuscany, the Mosel River region, Austria, Burgundy, Napa, Sonoma, the Willammette Valley, the Santa Cruz Mountains and Northern Virginia tasting wine. I have never had a cellar, I have never spent a huge amount of money on wine, but I've always enjoyed wine. I like thinking about wine. I like tasting wine. I like drinking wine. I enjoy the company of people who enjoy wine.
I really have no particular goal here, but maybe someone will find this interesting, and maybe someone will answer my questions in the fullness of time.
I really have no particular goal here, but maybe someone will find this interesting, and maybe someone will answer my questions in the fullness of time.
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