Month: May 2018

Domaine Rimbert Petit Cochon Bronze Rosé

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn RoséLeave a comment

I drank this wine “sparingly” over two
days.

Day One…

After the septic system repairs were made
at a cost that didn’t make me vomit, I rolled
the chaise lounge THING out into the garden facing
south.

I collected the wine, ice bibs, glass, tennis balls
and settled into a late afternoon “unwind”.

No food. Just this wine and the Lab which did a good job of comforting
me.

I have no description of the wine.

If you made me guess, I would say Languedoc, not getting a clue from the
label. (Due to my cluelessness.)

I would NEVER guess the grapes.

This confirms my “taste preference” bias which
dictates that I explore this region whenever I get
the chance. As long as the reds are lighter in body.

Day Two…

More asparagus with chicken picatta.

I could have used a bit more of this wine today, but
it is Spring and I have lots of work to do.

Let’s make a note to look for this “pig” the next
time I’m shopping.

If I keep enjoying these rosés, I’m going to get
real picky about the reds.

On the other hand, I haven’t had a PN for a few days
and I’m having withdrawal symptoms.

(Daydreams of rainbows, excessive drooling, repetitive cooler
contents checking, etc.)

Foris Pinot Noir

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Pinot NoirLeave a comment

This is just pure bliss.

It’s not that I find the wine exceptional
in any way, shape, or form; it’s just that I find it
perfect for me.

I’ll just hold up a “TEN SIGN” and be done with it as
far as “judgement” goes.

And that’s why I’m always on the lookout for
a Romanian PN.

Oh no! It’s Baaack.

home

But the bad news seems to be that only the Canadians like perfection
at a ridiculously low price…
Chevalier De Dyonis Pinot Noir

And while I’m flitting around the globe incoherently, SOMEONE
from Oregon/Borgogne/Barolo should go to Georgia (the country) with the sole
purpose of teaching them how to make delicious DRY wines that the
inhabitants of the rest of the planet might enjoy with their Big Macs and
frozen pizzas.

A few years ago, I found the Chevalier De Dyonis PN at Lukas. Missouri I presume.
One of the most stunningly pale wines that I have ever “tasted”.

I loved it so much that I saved the bottle to be used as a container
for “vinegar production” from the leftovers of more “flavorful/sludgy” reds.

The fact that the Foris PN is “evoking” these thoughts is a testament
to how well aligned this wine is to my “psyche”.

It appears that this is my first attempt at Foris.

I wouldn’t want to miss another chance of enjoying this one any
more that I would would want to start another day without being able
to go to Indian Lake (the way the Indians do)…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnjwW9aUn08

I had to take a break because the Jehovah’s Witness
folks showed up “unexpectedly”.

They weren’t wearing go-go boots and didn’t have any Romanian wine
worth drinking either. Actually they didn’t have ANY wine.
Hmmm. No wonder they pray a lot.

Beware of proselytes NOT bearing libatious gifts.
(I’m paraphrasing…)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+29%3A5&version=KJV

I don’t like operating WITHOUT a net, even if I have to stumble around a bit.

Surely the Foris winemaker is the spirit on Silver Mountain that stores his wine
at the end of the rainbow.
(Disclosure is coming.)

L’Epicourchois Luc Percher Cour-Cheverny Blanc

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn RomorantinLeave a comment

After taking 15 minutes to paste in the wine name
here, I’m actually getting down to business.

My first few sips leave me perplexed.

Oooooooh! A blended SB…

http://www.weygandtmetzler.com/domaine-lepicourchois/

From Loire/Cheverny.

Was I already drooling when we put this one in the basket?

I picked this this one today to have with asparagus and put a
splash of wine in the skillet to provide the steam since
the asparagus was not fresh out of the bath.

This is REALLY heaven.

Not trusting my ASSUMPTION that the Menu Pineau was the
wonderful SOFTENER in this wine, I consulted the big WINE
book.

Bingo.

Although I love the classic Bordeau blend, this blend softens
the SB without the “oiliness”.

I’m not saying oiliness is bad or that I don’t like it, it’s just
this wine is DIFFERENT and FREAKING good.

One memorable meal was at “40 Sardines” (Michael/Debbie)
when I noticed they had a straight Semillion on the wine menu.

I remember the wine.

Interestingly, in the period two days or so, a yearning for
Loire wine descended upon me and I didn’t even know that I
has this wine in the cooler.

Serendipity happens.

I’m having a hard time describing the wine. The color can
lead you away, if not totally astray.

I’m reminded of sweet old hay.

Maybe slightly mulled hard apple cider.

Imagine yourself in October, sitting on a spring-cut hay
bale, watching apples being pressed, while sipping on last
year’s hard cider stirred with a cinnamon swizzle.

The more I snort this one, the more I smell the hay.
Amazing.

Say goodnight Dick. Arbois.

I will have sweet dreams tonight since I can do this again
tomorrow.

We will soon have asparagus coming out of every unobstructed
orifice.

Post Script:

I blew IDing the grapes in this one. Here are Zach’s notes…

…the L’Epicourchois is Cour Cheverny, not just Cheverny, so it isn’t the blend, it is a much rarer straight Romorantin grape. And not just a paltry 60-year-old vine selection, but up to 110-year-old vines!

Cour Cheverny is the older location within the Appellation that is the last bastion of the almost extinct Romorantin grapevine, which is a sister of Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, Aligote and about 20 other grapevines. Its parents are an ancient mutation of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc…

Averaen Pinot Noir

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Pinot NoirLeave a comment

I’ll try not to make any “Greek” references
and I’ll hang the diphthong on the line to dry.

I love this wine.

AGAIN and AGAIN.

The fruit is a little darker than those
dancing cherry wines and there is more “earthiness”.

My culinary delicacy today was “canned and well aged” Trader Joe’s
Beef Chili.

I use the chili as a dip for Tostitos Cantina Thin & Crispy
chips.

I warm the chili in the cast iron skillet and smash the
“stuff” so that is is more “homogeneous” or “dip-like”.

At first I was not impressed (with the chili) but eventually
came around to it and forgot about the wine.

Imagine that.

Now let’s focus on the wine.

The smoothness tells me that there was some “oak time”.
This too…
http://www.averaenwines.com/electricwines/

The good news is that it does not seem to obliterate
the acidity that I love.

I may be getting to the point where I can detect the balance/difference
between acidity and tannins. I certainly look hard enough.

But…

Oh no, You Too?

We can start our search for the perfect PN with all those
wines on the Averaen page. Sheesh.

One of us should get a KS or MO liquor distributorship
license and import those wines. The other should
open a retail wine store named “No RiffRaff”.

Or just let Michelle Vianello handle it.

Does Lukas handle their Drouhin PNs?

That might be a good treat if the style fits.

There’s just a bit of “greenness” in THIS wine.
I can’t place it.

I cheated and read the description on the website.
No PARTICULAR help. Looks like a “kitchen sink”
description to me. EVEN I was thinking mint, but
that is too obvious. Let’s come up with something
distinctive.

Just a minute…

This is a first. I just poured some wine into
the ice bib WITHOUT the stemless glass being in there.

No harm. Little mess on the table top and I’m amused.
It smells good in here now.

So, I declare the “greenness” to be crushed spring-
fresh Lamb’s Ear leaves. I’m snorting some right now.

There’s a musky/herbiness to it and the “mint” character is
subdued.

What kind of leaves do you like to snort when you drink
fine wine?

Amazing.

And JUST MAYBE, as I lick the last few drops off my desk,
I can taste those exotic oak barrels.

Day Two…

I finished this off with the Adam/Lesley pulled pork.

Exceptionally good stuff folks. (Food and wine.)

Chateau l’Argentier Vieilles vignes de Cinsault

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn CinsaultLeave a comment

I wish to declare “force majeure” on this one.

I don’t know where to start.

Maybe because I EXPECTED to be greeted by a spider
wearing tennis shoes when I opened the bottle.

Maybe because I was thinking it was Carignan.

In an attempt to eradicate feelings of insanity
I tried to make a connection between Cinsault and
Carignan.

From wikipedia…

Other varieties that are sometimes confused with Carignan
but have been conclusively proven by DNA analysis to be
distinct include the Sardinian wine grape Nieddera that
is related to the Pascale di Cagliari grape which also
grown on the island and sometimes confused with Carignan,
Cinsault which shares the synonym Samsó in Catalonia with Carignan, <<<<< HUH?
the Italian wine grape Tintilia del Molise that is grown in the
Lazio and Molise wine regions of central Italy and the Spanish
wine grape Parraleta that is grown in the Somontano DO of Aragon.[4]

The problem is that I'm not "intellectually confused", I'm just
"plain confused".

And from https://learn.winecoolerdirect.com/cinsault/

Cinsault Taste & Aroma

The taste of a wine produced with Cinsault grapes can vary
drastically. Because this grape is often used as a filler or
blending grape,
it can produce anything from a rose to a Carignan. <<<<<<<<<<<< WTF?
The taste and aroma can vary depending on the other grapes
used and the individual processing methods.
It’s common for a Cinsault-based wine to have a strong aroma of:
blah, blah, blah, and
reptiles that emit strong odors of varmints when threatened

I give up.

Can I just have a Corbieres with the usual suspects present
in appropriate amounts?

So maybe it's not tennies.

Ahh. Yes. A tuxedo clad fox.

How elegant.

I'm trying to lure the fox back into the bottle
so I can save some (wine) for tomorrow.

Day Two…

I think the fox drowned.

There's a brighter nature to the wine (and ME?) today.

The fresh cut asparagus is warming in the buttered
skillet with a few precisely cut slices of garlic while
I warm up to the wine.

This is better. Maybe a bit of air helped this one/ME.

Low ALC, light body, tart enough, cherry flavor, and
maybe more tannins than I'm used to in the lighter wines
that I enjoy (PNs primarily).

It looks like this is the wrong kind of wine for asparagus,
but that's too bad.

I'm going to be eating a lot of asparagus this spring.
(It was my New Year's resolution.)

I'm impressed with the "purity" of the wine. Maybe
the correct wine word is "clean".

We'll see what happens when we encounter the fox again at
the bottom of the bottle.

I'm actually missing the fox now. Let's see what asparagus
does to the wine.

So, my conclusion is that if you cook the asparagus
"correctly" and it becomes actual FOOD, it would go with
any dry wine that has respectable quality.

I'm enjoying this well enough but my mind wanders to a
Bandol rosé.

I have several white/rosé wines to try the asparagus with.

Next stop will be a rosé.

Recipe:
Rinse asparagus. Leave water on asparagus.
Trim asparagus down to three inches.
Slice three cloves of garlic one eighth in thick,
across the grain. (Use a micrometer to check your work.)
Melt one to two tablespoons SmartBalance in
a nine inch cast iron skillet.
Add asparagus and garlic slices.
Add only enough asparagus to the skillet
such that each "spear" lays on the skillet bottom.
Sprinkle with coarse kosher salt.
Cover and cook on low for several minutes.
Maybe five minutes.
The excess water on the asparagus will steam
the asparagus and make it tender.
Toss the stuff around a bit.
As the water boils away keep the heat at a low
enough temperature to achieve a slight simmer.
Keep covered as the SmartBalance goes to work.
Maybe another five minutes.
Toss the stuff around another bit.
Check to see that the asparagus has started to
brown and the garlic is not TOO brown.
If the garlic looks totally brown then it got too hot.
Turn the heat off and let the UNCOVERED skillet remain on
the cooking surface.
After a few minutes you are in business.

These "first-out-of-the-ground" spears are almost
sweet and nutty.

This batch of asparagus is gone and now I can focus
on the wine.

As bizarre as this might seem, the "hardy" asparagus
actually outfoxed the wine.

It seems quite pale NOW. I could close my eyes and be
convinced I'm drinking a rosé.

I'm cracking the big Wine book on this one to try to
LEARN SOMETHING.

I feel like Thomas Jefferson in his later years in
that I am VERY FOND of the wines from southern France
except that I like them WITH FOOD rather than AFTER.

Location. Location. Location.

Timing is always a challenge, even for an ex-pres.

Oops. I just got transported again.

I'm drooling as I think of a Chinon rosé which I have
never experienced.

I'd take a lighter red if I can get it.

And back to the Cinsault…

The wine has "lasted well" for some reason.

Interspersed sips seemed to be satisfying enough.

No reason to hurry. Every reason to linger.

The food might be wearing off now and I'm picking
up a subtle bit of cinnamon/pecan tannins.

Since this one was done in concrete, where are the
tanning coming from?

Is Cinsault thicker skinned than PN?

Very soft, very subtle, but noticeable.

Maybe I'm getting close to that fox. Maybe I'm just
getting tuned in. Maybe this wine was just PLAIN
GOOD from the get go.

I'm trying to imagine how to BEST ENJOY this wine.

I'm lost. I should have tried some of the smoked turkey.

I might be sneaking up on the fox. Shhh.
Don't wake her up.

Water crackers and Mozzarella.

No, triple cream Brie.

And this wine fits MY definition of "claret", as informed by the
Latin language.

In today's world, and due to our "modern" taste preferences, I
don't know if a Bordeaux (nebulously defined) "claret" can exist.
It's worth the pursuit nonetheless.

When I was a kid, I thought Burgundy was a "heavy" wine and
a (Bordeaux) claret was "lighter". There is no reason for me
to have been thinking "correctly", that's just what I thought.
So I want a "claret" from Bordeaux.

(I know the fox came from Languedoc, I'm just daydreaming
in an uncontrollable fashion.)

And it's gone. No fox.

AS IT TURNS OUT…

I had this back in June and was equally
"impressed". Similar effusive notes.