This is a wine that does not smell good. It looks ok - a medium-pale ruby with a hint of orange. But it has an animal-like odor, barnyard and cow sweat, and something with a metallic tang, almost like blood. As much as the idea of this puts me off, I'm going to taste it anyway. If I must....
Huh. Not bad at all. I don't get any of the nastiness in the mouth that I got on the nose. The flavors are dominated by ripe cherry, but there is a pleasant earthy quality as well. I get a touch of residual sugar, which, along with the high alcohol content, give the wine a good weight in the mouth. The alcohol might be a touch high, leaving me with a tingly tongue, and I think the grapes might have been a little overripe when they were picked. I suspect this has something to do with the unpleasant aromas, and the fact that the finish evolves into a cooked or dried cherry for me. But all in all, it's quite a nice wine that I'm hoping will stand up to the spicy andouille and black bean soup simmering on the stove.
The foul aromas on the nose certainly detract from my overall enjoyment of the wine, but it certainly wasn't as bad as I was expecting. 82.
Showing posts with label 82. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 82. Show all posts
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
2002 St-Cosme Cote-Rotie
2002 was a disastrously bad year in France's Rhone Valley. It was cool and rainy, making for unripe, water-logged grapes. The wines tend to be herbal and rustic, and not very tasty. For that reason, I was able to buy a wine for $30 that would probably be going for $60 or more. I love saving money! The trade-off, of course, it that the wine could be disgusting.
It's a dark crimson at the core, lightening to brown and orange towards the rim of the glass. This is to be expected for an 8-year-old wine, as red wines tend to get lighter and more brown with age. The aromas do put me in mind of some herby green things, most particularly tobacco and green pepper, but more than that I get earthiness, molasses, and even some red cherry.
In the mouth...hoooooooooo, that's sour! Holy. Moses. It's like sucking on a cherry-flavored lemon. Given that I have been known to suck on lemons, this is not necessarily a bad thing for me, but I expect the general populace wouldn't agree. The tannins are more refined than I was expecting, and there is some smoke and cherry (make that sour cherry) flavor, but the wine is thin in texture and acid really does overwhelm everything. The finish is surprisingly long and pleasant, with evolving earth and smoke, which makes me want to take another sip even though I know what is in store.
All in all, I have to agree with the estimation that 2002 Rhone wines are not to be sought out, and are probably past their drinking peak at this time. More time in the bottle probably isn't going to help this sucker. But it wasn't awful, and I expect that I would really like a more favorable vintage of this wine. You know, if I could afford one. 82.
It's a dark crimson at the core, lightening to brown and orange towards the rim of the glass. This is to be expected for an 8-year-old wine, as red wines tend to get lighter and more brown with age. The aromas do put me in mind of some herby green things, most particularly tobacco and green pepper, but more than that I get earthiness, molasses, and even some red cherry.
In the mouth...hoooooooooo, that's sour! Holy. Moses. It's like sucking on a cherry-flavored lemon. Given that I have been known to suck on lemons, this is not necessarily a bad thing for me, but I expect the general populace wouldn't agree. The tannins are more refined than I was expecting, and there is some smoke and cherry (make that sour cherry) flavor, but the wine is thin in texture and acid really does overwhelm everything. The finish is surprisingly long and pleasant, with evolving earth and smoke, which makes me want to take another sip even though I know what is in store.
All in all, I have to agree with the estimation that 2002 Rhone wines are not to be sought out, and are probably past their drinking peak at this time. More time in the bottle probably isn't going to help this sucker. But it wasn't awful, and I expect that I would really like a more favorable vintage of this wine. You know, if I could afford one. 82.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
2009 Four Sisters Sauvignon Blanc Central Victoria
I'm often suspicious of Australian white wines. Far, far too many that I have tasted have had an overwhelming quality of...rubber. I don't know if it's the heat, the sun, the soil, or some other element of terroir, but I just don't enjoy drinking something that tastes like a hose.
There a bit of a latexy aroma here, but far more prevalent is the telltale "green" smells of a sauvignon blanc. In fact, when I sniffed it first, I thought "greenhouse!" There are leaves and flowers here, as well as a sort of white peppery quality that I puzzled over quite some time before realizing it was basil. In fact, Thai basil to be overly specific. Who would have thought?!.
There's a bit of sweetness on the palate, though it's by no means a "sweet wine" (after the Pedro Ximinez sherry I tasted last night, maple syrup seems merely "off dry" - like drinking pureed raisins, it was). Besides the sugar, the first thing I noticed was a lack of acidity. My mouth just wasn't watering. These two things can go hand in hand. In a warm climate, which Central Victoria can be, grapes can ripen to produce exquisite levels of sugar (sometimes too much for the yeast to ferment before they poison themselves with alcohol, thus leaving some "residual sugar" in the finished wine), but often at the expense of acidity, which decreases over time.
The bottle is sitting across the room and I don't feel like getting up to look at the alcohol content, but I would expect it's pretty high, given the prickling at the back of my mouth. Between that and the sugar, the wine has a fairly high viscosity and a very smooth, silky texture. Extremely pleasant, indeed! There is some prominent fruit on the palette as well, which has a slight bitterness that puts me in mind of grapefruit. Overall, it's a pleasant wine, and a good value one as well; it just lacks a bit of the acid structure that could have taken it to the next level. And the bitterness of the grapefruit on the palette becomes more like "rind" than "fruit" as the wine evolves in my mouth. So, eh. I'd give it an 82.
There a bit of a latexy aroma here, but far more prevalent is the telltale "green" smells of a sauvignon blanc. In fact, when I sniffed it first, I thought "greenhouse!" There are leaves and flowers here, as well as a sort of white peppery quality that I puzzled over quite some time before realizing it was basil. In fact, Thai basil to be overly specific. Who would have thought?!.
There's a bit of sweetness on the palate, though it's by no means a "sweet wine" (after the Pedro Ximinez sherry I tasted last night, maple syrup seems merely "off dry" - like drinking pureed raisins, it was). Besides the sugar, the first thing I noticed was a lack of acidity. My mouth just wasn't watering. These two things can go hand in hand. In a warm climate, which Central Victoria can be, grapes can ripen to produce exquisite levels of sugar (sometimes too much for the yeast to ferment before they poison themselves with alcohol, thus leaving some "residual sugar" in the finished wine), but often at the expense of acidity, which decreases over time.
The bottle is sitting across the room and I don't feel like getting up to look at the alcohol content, but I would expect it's pretty high, given the prickling at the back of my mouth. Between that and the sugar, the wine has a fairly high viscosity and a very smooth, silky texture. Extremely pleasant, indeed! There is some prominent fruit on the palette as well, which has a slight bitterness that puts me in mind of grapefruit. Overall, it's a pleasant wine, and a good value one as well; it just lacks a bit of the acid structure that could have taken it to the next level. And the bitterness of the grapefruit on the palette becomes more like "rind" than "fruit" as the wine evolves in my mouth. So, eh. I'd give it an 82.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)