Month: August 2018

Backsberg South Africa Pinotage Rosé 2018

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn RoséLeave a comment

2018-08-22 Backsberg South Africa Pinotage Rosé 2018.jpg

#2, of the 6 for $60.

Holy Moly.

OTWN: I’m not afraid of
being blindsided by wine.
Yoda: You WILL BE.

And now I’m grovelling
at the feet of OUR wine
goddess in an attempt to
have her pour an ever
increasing number of
surprising wines on me.

Judge: You are charged
with being uninformed,
uninitiated, and otherwise
confused about the complexity
and enjoyability of wines
that can be obtained from
disparate locations on
your planet. How do you
you plead?
OTWN: Can I have a drink
while I think about it?

This insanity started quite
innocently last night as I
was sitting on the “patio”
enjoying the mild temperatures
and smells of cow dung.

My “lunch wine” was of
“insufficient quantity”, so
I decided to “sip” a bit
of SOMETHING before my
requisite bath.

This wine was chosen.

Last night was an
“adjusting period” as
I tried to drink
“just a little bit”.

TODAY, I’m getting
to enjoy this beauty
in its full glory.

And that is, WITHOUT FOOD.

This has to be the
perfect APERITIF.

Why?

Because it is in
no hurry to effect
the desired result.

Lunch can wait, have
another sip.

Sheesh.

But, but, but, what
is the wine LIKE?

This wine is like
the feeling you have
when you wake up and
realize that you have
had the forethought
to purchase wine like
this for the TIMES
THAT YOU NEED IT.

What time IS IT anyway?

I’m hungry now.

Thanks Simon.

And if life wasn’t
challenging ENOUGH, the
question of color raises
its chromatographic head.

MAGENTA???

I just poured the
wine into my lap trying
to observe its color.

YMMV.

Hang in there.

Michel Gassier Costières-de-Nîmes Nostre Païs 2012

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Red Blend, UncategorizedLeave a comment

2018-08-18 Michel Gassier Costières-de-Nîmes Nostre Païs 2012.jpg

#1

Of the 6 for $60, three
will be “challenging”.

A buttery, oaky Chard,
a Cab, and
this fire breathing Rhone.

I can feel the alcohol
in my nostrils as I exhale.

Somebody needs to invent
a swizzle stick for wine
that absorbs alcohol.

Moving on…

The wine is cloudy.

The flavor is “confusing”.

One could say “complex”
but that would imply
something desirable.

I don’t know about
this one.

It DOES have a distinct
flavor, I’m just not
wired into it yet.

Late 50s medicine chest???

I’m not having any
difficulty drinking it.

It’s just so AWFUL.

I can’t believe it.

Give me another sip.

Surely the winemaker is
doing time in a French
prison for releasing this
to the public.

And SOMEBODY let this
stuff sit around in a
warehouse for five years
or so.

OTWN: What were you thinking
when you let this wine be
produced?
St. Peter: We wanted to
find kind souls who would
sop it up so that others
would not have to endure
the torture of drinking it.
OTWN: Step aside, and hand
me that crystal PN glass.

Drinking delicious wine is
a journey.

So if you don’t mind pretending,
you can come along.

Day Two…

I decided to put this
wine up against the
frozen lasagna to see
if I could tame it a bit.

(I heated it up.)

((The lasagna.))

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.

This is much better.

I’m actually ENJOYING
the wine today.

What is the wine LIKE?

I don’t have a clue.

It’s like southern France,
only a little more “eastern”
than I’m used to.

I imagine that this is
one of the more “intriguing”
blends from the Rhone.

A detective novel is not
interesting unless it includes
all the usual suspects.

Which grape is guilty of
making a dragon out of
this wine?

I don’t know.

Syrah is guilty until proven
innocent.

im Schlafe merkst du nicht…

Sweet dreams.

Definition…

Cloudiness: euphemism for
the crud you will find at
the bottom of the bottle.

Hand me that sling blade
so we can divide up the
last pour.

Hang in there.

Cave de Lugny Les Charmes, Mâcon-Lugny Chardonnay 2015

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Chardonnay, UncategorizedLeave a comment

2018-08-16 Cave de Lugny Les Charmes Mâcon-Lugny Chardonnay 2015.jpg

Just last night I was
wondering why I don’t
transition to more whites
and rosés.

Sparklers too.

I’m not wondering today.

This wine is fantastic.

This looks to be my
Chard adventure outside of
my beloved Chablis region.

The obvious thing is the
“expected” reduced acidity.

Next is the oily/waxy feel
and flavor that bounces
from olive oil to honeycomb.

I’m skeptical of the olive
oil.

Something slightly green, but
not herby.

I don’t know.

And then I just got the
impression of melted glacier
ice.

From an area near to, but far
enough away from the till so
as to be influenced by it but
not contaminated by it.

Maybe some kind of mineral
sensation peeking through
the insane purity of the wine.

It’s almost sweet.

The bottle verbiage tells me
that there should be a citrus flavor.

Whatever. To the acid tormented
palate, it is quite subdued.

And that can be NICE.

Citrus flavor without turning
your mouth inside out.

So good.

Day Two…

Unbelievable.

Pears.

Juicy, ripe, slurpy pears.

And MAYBE with a drop or
two of citrus juice.

I HAVE a new quest.

Hang in there.

Mud House Central Otago New Zealand Pinot Noir 2016

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Pinot Noir, UncategorizedLeave a comment

2018-08-14 Mud House Central Otago NZ PN 2016.jpg

I THINK this is a repeat and I
can see why.

It’s a PN that I can
just ENJOY.

No goofies.

No explanations.

No confusion.

Perhaps a bit “rich”.

Perhaps a bit “pruney”.

But totally ME.

As it turns out, IT
MAY NOT BE A REPEAT.

I can’t find a prior note
on it.

However, I did find it
on a May 2017 receipt.

I ALMOST missed making
a note on this one TWO
TIMES.

Horrible.

I found a previous email
which says basically what
I have discovered again here.

Bingo.

Hang in there.

Casas del Bosque Valle de Casablanca Chile Pinot Noir 2015

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Pinot Noir, UncategorizedLeave a comment

2018-08-11 Casas del Bosque Valle de Casablanca Chile PN 2015.jpg

(Pardon me for starting
this wine after that
low ALC Austrian rosé.)

I started the day with
good intentions and
actually accomplished
some things only
an option trader could
appreciate.

And then…

I unscrewed this puppy.

I’m not sure I want
to take the first sip.

This thing smells
SO GOOD.

It’s not because it
smells like something
I like.

It’s because I CAN’T
FIGURE IT OUT.

Will the first sip spoil
the allure?

Will it taste as good
as I imagine?

I DON’T KNOW.

I just keep smelling it.

I’m expecting a nutty
astringency like pecan
shells.

I knew it. I could “smell”
the alcohol!!! 14.5% is way
out of my comfort zone.

How did I get home with
this one?

It’s getting hard to
refrain from sipping.

Here goes…

A bit milkier than I like
and BAM.

Massive HEAT. I just
don’t like that.

We’ll see how this goes.

If it’s not Mrs. Paul’s…

This wine DOES have
CONSIDERABLE REDEEMING
QUALITIES, but I will
have trouble enjoying then.

How does PN get so HOT
in a cool growing environment?

100% sunshine perhaps.

Where’s the fog and low
hanging clouds when you
need them?

Obviously in my head.

No matter, I’ll play around
with lighting the air coming
out of my nostrils as I exhale.

Now that I’m having fun,
I might as well ENJOY the
wine.

It won’t take much of it
to change my mood.

St. Peter: How did you
enjoy your stay on Earth.
OTWN: The nights were
kind of cold.
SP: Didn’t you find
that Chilean PN we sent
you?
OTWN: Yeah, but I drank it in
August. In Kansas.
SP: Go stand in the corner.
OWTN: What? With all those
beer drinkers?

And then there is the
issue of this wine being
a “reserva”.

TO ME, this means that the
wine has been abused
for an excessively long
period of time as a
punishment for committing
SOME KIND of wine crime.

Judge: You have been charged
with becoming overly ripe.
How do you plead?
Chilean PN Grape: Guilty.
Judge: What do you have to
say for yourself.
CPNG: I couldn’t help it.
I was planted in full sun.
Judge: I sentence you to
six months in French oak.
And after that, a discounted
retail release in Siberia
as community service.
CPNG: Whew, thanks. I thought
you might make me move to
New Zealand.

Having made fun of this
wine until it’s intoxicating
effects took hold of me,
I now shift my attention
to ACTUALLY APPRECEIATING it.

The “aromatics” are STUNNING.

And maybe that French oak
gives the wine a bit of
smoothness to go with the
astringency.

If you can think of
a wine cellar as a
“correctional facility”,
then what does that say
about Gamay?

Tomorrow is going to be
a better day for this wine.

………

Day Two…

Hitting a brick wall always
feels better when you know
it’s coming.

Perhaps if I didn’t “detect”
the alcohol, and perhaps if
I couldn’t look at the REALLY
HUGE number on the bottle, then
MAYBE I would not have been
“put off”.

But I did detect it and the
bottle does declare it.

IT’S NOT MY FAULT.

Still, it looks like I’m
going to survive two days
of this one and will come
out of the experience with
an enhanced committment to
stay away from the fire breathers.

Day Three…

I didn’t survive.

I’m taking a day off.

Sheesh.

Hang in there.

Prieler Rosé Vom Stein 2015

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Rosé, UncategorizedLeave a comment

2018-08-10 Prieler Rosé Vom Stein 2015.jpg

I can’t help being Goofy,
I’m having A Momentary
Lapse of Reason…

This is the only
thing I can think of as
I sip this wine.

Suspended animation,
a state of bliss.

Almost sweet.

Fruit salad slurpee.

I don’t care WHAT
the flavors are.

THEY’RE DELICIOUS.

When I pulled this one
out of the cooler this
morning I HOPED for something
like this, but THIS
is way beyond my
expectation.

“Program…”
6am: Check global markets
7am: Coffee
8am: Check outstanding
stock options positions
prior to market open.
9am: After assessing
current market situation
and adjusting positions
accordingly, select
wine to be consumed
with lunch and move
(the wine) from cooler
to fridge.
10am: Start “cooking” lunch.
10:30am: Hurry up.

There’s no excessive
acidity nor is there a
cloying sweetness.

Just a seductive
“in between”.

I have fruit flies
arriving from Iowa.

There are no rotting
melons in the garden
this year, so
it must be the wine.

What’s in this bottle?

Since it’s Austrian, let’s
guess that it’s that PN
“similar” grape whose name
escapes me.

Not Zweigelt, the other red
from Austria. (St. Laurent?)

Let’s see.

OK, I missed by the sum
of a vineyard’s row lengths.

Here’s the Skurnick link…
https://www.skurnik.com/sku/rose-vom-stein-prieler-2-2-2/

And Terry Theise’s comments on the 2015 vintage…
(Search for Prieler)
https://www.skurnik.com/terry-theises-2015-austria-vintage-report/

And a link on the grape…
https://www.austrianwine.com/our-wine/grape-varieties/red-wine/blaufraenkisch/

One minute you think
you know something about
wine, and the next minute
you are an idiot.

Ahhh, ignorance…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxjbC7AI5FY

Learning never tasted
so good.

First when there’s nothing
But a slow budding flower
That your anticipation seems to hide
Deep inside your mind

All alone, I have made
little pools full of drool
In a fermentation made of steel
Made of stone

Well, I hear the crush
Close my eyes, smell the fumes
Wrap around, take a hold of my heart

What a feeling
Being’s believing
I can have it all
Now I’m drinking for my life

Take your palate
And make it happen
The MUST comes alive
You can drink right through your life

Now I hear the cork pop
Close my eyes, I am seduced
In a flash, it takes hold of my heart

What a feeling, being’s believing
I can have it all
Now I’m drinking for my life

Take your palate
And make it happen
The MUST comes alive
Now I’m drinking through my life

What a feeling

What a feeling (I am Wine now)
Being’s believing (I am Rosé now)
The MUST comes alive
You can drink right through your life

What a feeling (I can really have it all)
What a feeling
(The MUST comes alive when I call)
I can have it all (I can really have it all)

Have it all (MUST comes alive when I call)
(Call, call ,call, call, what a feeling)
I can have it all (being’s believing)
Being’s believing (take your palate)
(Make it happen) Make it happen
(What a feeling) What a feeling

What did YOU think this
song was about?

Hang in there.

Laxas Rías Baixas Albariño 2017

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Albarino, UncategorizedLeave a comment

2018-08-08 Laxas Rías Baixas Albariño 2017.jpg

Everything seems to be
moving so fast.

Every other day I’m
drinking a DIFFERENT
wine with lunch.

It’s tough keeping up the pace.

Maybe I should take a
“seasonal approach”.

That would be OK if
summer was 20 years long
and I could enjoy
Albariño from TIME to
TIME.

My first impression
of THIS WINE was of
OILY RICHNESS and a hint
of honeycomb.

I don’t remember much
after the first few sips
because my mind started
to wander in a most
delightful way.

I’m currently into
gummy/sticky Thai rice
with WHATEVER.

The wine went well with
the Andre’s meatballs in
caper sauce.

If this wine isn’t
“perfect for me” it is
because it is a bit
light on acidity.

Day Two…

An instant replay
of yesterday…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDCuXx5riR0

EXCEPT THAT I’m
drinking the wine
AFTER mid-morning
fresh peaches and bran muffin
on the ramp up to lunch.

This wine does not
hit me over the head
with any particular
FLAVOR.

That’s OK, I like
being conscious
WHILE I’m drinking.

Policeman: Move along. Move along.
OTWN: What happened to all
those people lying on the ground?
P: They uncorked some CA Chard.
OTWN: Ouch. What hit them?
P: Green apples. Want a taste?
OWTN: Let me grab my helmet.

I prefer illusiveness over
overtness when it comes
to wine flavors, so this
wine is WONDERFUL.

Full of favors to be named
later.

I’ll just enjoy being
dumbfounded for the time being.

Not so much that it
doesn’t occur to me that I
should spend MORE TIME
drinking Spanish white
wine.

I wish I had MORE TIME.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Cursed metronome.

OooooooEeeeeee.

The last few sips of
this one were
heavenly richness INCARNATE.

Lunch anyone?

ME? I’m still conscious but
undecided about lunch.

Dave, get me out of this…

Hang in there.

Bodega Lanzaga Rioja 2016

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Rioja, UncategorizedLeave a comment

2018-08-06 Lanzaga Rioja 2016.jpg

I love having wine
for lunch and I’m always
thinking about whether
the leftover (food) “stuff”
will go with this or that wine.

I didn’t know that Rioja
goes with bagpipe practice.

(I have to warn ya…)

After I get over the
brain damage, I’ve got
to get me a metronome…

But, but, but, what
about THIS wine?

If I get the RIGHT Rioja,
then no complaints.

No complaints.

My “problem” is that
Rioja is never “right enough”.

This forces me to
try it again and again.

What a horrible fate.

I’m always trying to “fix”
Rioja in my mind.

I supposed I would be
better off going to…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKOhDNsS4OQ

I’m pretty sure that there
aren’t any Rioja-fixing-
bagpipe-playing oenologists
there, so what would be
the point?

Heaviness of flavor and
texture is the issue.

(Rioja is fine, I’m just
red wine challenged.)

I’m tempted to try some
“post uncorking” blending
on my own.

Add some of that light
Spanish wine to it to see
if it gets better or worse.

Worst case, I have TWO wines
to drink with lunch.

I’m reminded of this
scene…

except that the dilution
WOULD BE with a white
wine instead of water.

I’m not sure I would
dilute a Bandol under
ANY circumstance.

Child Abuse!

No wonder he became a
bond trader.

And perhaps you’ve wondered
why all the silly youtube
links…

“Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra”

Hang in there.

Cloudline Pinot Noir 2016

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Pinot Noir, UncategorizedLeave a comment

2018-08-04 Cloudline PN 2016.jpg

God bless comprehensible
wine labels.

And God bless PN.

In reverse order, lest God
runs out of blessings before
we go wine shopping again.

How are blessings measured
any way?

What is the “unit of measure”?

Mother: God blessed us with
a baby girl.
OTWN: How big was it?
M: SHE’S six pounds,
eleven ounces.
OTWN: No, I mean the blessing.
How big was the blessing?
M: Gee, I don’t know.
On what scale?
OTWN: I don’t know.
Obviously not by the pound.

But, but, but, what about
the wine?

This wine is a BIG blessing.

Especially if you like
stinky tennies.

FOR REFERENCE…

I don’t mind stinky
tennies, especially if
they are worn by Gina
Carano or an Oregon PN.

I must have an unusual
“sensitivity” to SOMETHING.

No matter. I just think
of Gina and the wine tastes
great.

This particular PN TASTES
perfumy.

Dumbfounding. For me.

I’m impatiently struggling
to “appreciate” this wine
and THAT’S NOT GOOD.

Relax. Wait for it.
Appreciate it.

OK. I’m swilling the
wine around in the glass,
inhaling forcefully through
one nostril, trying to
create a “wine funnel” into
my brain.

THAT kind of patience wasn’t
particularly helpful.

Maybe, just maybe, I might
be tasting that cherry
cough drop flavor now.

Like dancing cherries sporting
Van Dykes.

I like the one on the left.

I just tasted something “milky”
but it is not associated with
the lactic acid “mouth feel”.

Just a flavor.

Due to its seductiveness,
this wine has flooded the
engine. I need to let the
old cylinder head dry out.

OR, just full choke it and
keep cranking.

It’s getting harder to decide.

So… There is some of that MLF
smoothness, but it is kept at
bay by the acididy.

Isn’t PN wonderful?

I was trying to determine the
“oak treatment” for this one.

No luck.

I did find this…

Click to access CL-PN-16-TECH.pdf

And God bless female
winemakers of the opposite
sex.

Can anybody tell which
eye she used to watch over
Cloudline?

This wine is now stoppered
and back in the fridge with
the lion’s share available
for tomorrow’s venture into
wine consumption bliss.

I’ll need sleeping pills
tonight or I’ll be up all
night waiting for lunch.

Day Two…

This is so nice.

Lunch was “de-formed” and
braised (in chicken broth)
Andres meatloaf over sticky
Thai rice.

This is “shovel ready” food.

It’s a good thing that food
goes with wine, or I would
starve to death.

With a full belly and several
sips of the wine down the hatch,
the wine and I are “mellowing”.

Fun Thing…

Start the day over with
this wine AND a bottle of
Barbaresco.

Pour into glasses and
“blind” them.

Enjoy during lunch and see
if I can tell which is which.

Repeat until proficiency is
obtained.

And embrace doltification.

Hang in there.

Camino Roca Altxerri Getariako Txakolina 2016

On By optiontraderswinenotesIn Uncategorized, White BlendLeave a comment

2018-08-03 Camino Roca Altxerri Getariako Txakolina 2016.jpg

Grapes: 100% Hondurrabi Zuri

Click to access Roca%20Altxerri%20Txakoli%202016%20Technical%20Sheet.pdf

If incomprehensible names
were worth points, this
wine would be off the scale.

There is nothing to do
except pop the cork and
dive in.

TOTALLY WONDERFUL.

Especially after that
“unexpected” Loire CF.

This reminds me of
Vinho Verde, but with
a bit more flavor punch.

I tasted lemon, but the
“winemaker” notes say
grapefruit.

On day one I drank most
of this low ALC beauty
while munching on potato
chips and a grilled
turkey/Muenster sandwich.

On day two, I’m having
the LITTLE THAT REMAINS
for a liquid brunch.

How much more pleasurable
would our lives be if
we “customarily” had this
kind of wine during our
10AM work break?

It is difficult to imagine
our “well corked” society
becoming THAT evolved.

I doesn’t take much FOR
ME (Form E to IRS employees)
to imagine a BETTER WORLD…

“Mobile Enotica” service
for businesses.

At 10AM, the bell rings
and all the employees rush
out to the parking lot to
greet the “wine truck”.

The truck stops, the driver
gets out, and then pops
open the sides of the truck
to reveal iced down,
gorgeous little 350ml
bottles of every LIGHT wine
elixer imagined by man.

Let me go over to the “red”
side to see if they have
a Georgian PN (or reasonable
facsimile).

No? I’m filing a complaint
with HR.

Gee, brunch is almost over
and I’m already having
withdrawal symptoms.

I know. I’ll learn to fly.
On my own. Without wine.

Aw shucks, I ain’t got wings…

Tom should have
eschewed the Zin.

I refuse to not repeat things
on the grounds that I may not
re-incriminate myself.

St. Peter: What do you
have to say for yourself.
OTWN: I was a good person
but I tended to repeat
myself, over and over,
ad infinitum, as far as
the eye can see.
SP: Go stand in the corner.
OTWN: What? With all those
evangelists?

What’s for lunch?

Hang in there.