Picture a jar crammed full of pennies. Now picture Interwined stuffed at the bottom of that jar. Also, put that jar out in the sun, surrounded by rotten eggs. That is about a close as one could get to imagining a journey on the London tube during rush hour last week.
What's worse is that the cost of the journey is about the same price for a nice bottle of wine!
Interwined likes to pass the time on the tube thinking about wines, of course, and pairing food and wine, and cheese and wine, if it's late in the evening, pairing chocolate and red wine, etc. But what sort of wines pair well with a packed subway car?
Oddly, summer wines!
(TIP: Don't overuse exclamation points, the point becomes diminished when you do!)
A 2004 Riesling from the German winery, Schloss Schonborn, in the Rheingau proved to be the perfect pair. This wine had a slight greasiness with a flinty aroma. The body is soft and easy and swirling is unusually fun. Hint of apricots and a lower than average ABV means you can have two glasses before flinging yourself headfirst into a wall of stinky flesh and not lose your cool.
Forget the pennies imagery, come to think of it. Getting on a packed tube feels more like you're a rusty key being sunk into a bucket of cream cheese. German Riesling with packed public transport: 8.8 points.
Other runners up include a Verdicchio from central Italy. Verdicchio oftens look like a chardonnay, but tastes better. In this case the clear, hay yellow hue of the wine was tinted with light green (thus the use of 'verde' in its name). The first day it was opened it was crisp and lively, if too tart. The second day all had balanced out. By the fourth day, a day that most Chardonnays would spoil by, this Verdicchio tasted like a chardonnay!
!!!!
A great grape to look for and experiment with.
There is a biodynamic rose on the go right now… so check back this week for a review.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Rose wine, Summer Time, Languedoc, Australian Cabernet Sauvignon
As the days heat up, the sun heralds a rush to the wine shop for 'seasonal' wines. Roses, blush wine, chilled whites. Mundo Pinot Grio.
Well, that will be the first few sentences of every single wine blog out there, people. But not here. White-washed wine writing makes Interwined see red.
Look, you can drink any wine in any weather. Kick around the idea of sloshing a bottle of Brouilly or Pinot Noir in an ice bucket. Or even an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon. Well, actually, that advice is kinda stupid when looked at in reverse: sticking Chardonnay in the oven for Christmas. If that oven isn't on, and that wine isn't going in the roasting tin to do whatever it is wine does to the chicken, then it just isn't right.
Interwined's former NYC roommate (a current MySpace friend) once decided he needed to chill out with a beer and a walk before an big time network TV interview, arranged by yours truly. Quickly: he was meant to comment on whether the book "How to Get Women," fulfilled its sexy promise. So, of course, the little guy was worried, weren't you [name deleted after threatened legal action].
So an hour before the walk, he put some beers in the freezer to get cold quick. By the time of the walk, he had ice brews. So he decided to, then, put the beers in the (hot) oven to liquefy. But, he forgot to take the bottles out before going on the walk. Needless to say, the interview took place in an apartment that smelled exactly like a overcrowded, fermented nursing home.
So, ovens and alcohol don't mix. Except for cooking. Even then, you're playing with fire. (ouch!)
TIP: When writing, avoid a play on words. Only work in conversation, and even then, rarely.
Many rose wines from the South of France tend to be dry, often mainly Syrah, but Mouvedre and Grenache factor heavily enough. Languedoc-Roussillon is the largest growing region around here, on the Med, and the largest in France.
So, quality is often iffy when you don't know the producer, the soil, the microclimate, you know, all the things you aren't going to know.
So, find a negociant. That is, some French guy who drives around, drinks a wine, and says, "yeah, this is good," then takes it and sells it. But not after putting his name on the bottle.
Case in point. Went into a wine shop after seeing a bottle of Languedoc rose with Gerard Bertrand's name on it. Wanted to buy that wine, but the store was out. So, for the same price, 6 GBP, purchased another Gerard Bertrand, a Roussillon. Huh? Exactly. What?
I think it will still sourced from the South of France, only way south, in the Basque regions, because of the tell-tale red and gold striped flag on the label.
The 2006 Sang & Or is tarty and full-bodied. Hint of watermelon. An unpleasant hotness from unharmonious alcohol levels. Smells crisp and delicious, finishes dry, way dry. 8.3 points, which is good for a Rose.
Come to think of it, a good red wine to chill would be the 2004 Wolf Blass Cabernet Saugvignon, for around 7 GBP. Cedar and dill will flourish with a little chill. The hard-nosed alcohol edge and grapiness will diminish. 8.5 points, much better than the 2003, BTW.
Well, that will be the first few sentences of every single wine blog out there, people. But not here. White-washed wine writing makes Interwined see red.
Look, you can drink any wine in any weather. Kick around the idea of sloshing a bottle of Brouilly or Pinot Noir in an ice bucket. Or even an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon. Well, actually, that advice is kinda stupid when looked at in reverse: sticking Chardonnay in the oven for Christmas. If that oven isn't on, and that wine isn't going in the roasting tin to do whatever it is wine does to the chicken, then it just isn't right.
Interwined's former NYC roommate (a current MySpace friend) once decided he needed to chill out with a beer and a walk before an big time network TV interview, arranged by yours truly. Quickly: he was meant to comment on whether the book "How to Get Women," fulfilled its sexy promise. So, of course, the little guy was worried, weren't you [name deleted after threatened legal action].
So an hour before the walk, he put some beers in the freezer to get cold quick. By the time of the walk, he had ice brews. So he decided to, then, put the beers in the (hot) oven to liquefy. But, he forgot to take the bottles out before going on the walk. Needless to say, the interview took place in an apartment that smelled exactly like a overcrowded, fermented nursing home.
So, ovens and alcohol don't mix. Except for cooking. Even then, you're playing with fire. (ouch!)
TIP: When writing, avoid a play on words. Only work in conversation, and even then, rarely.
Many rose wines from the South of France tend to be dry, often mainly Syrah, but Mouvedre and Grenache factor heavily enough. Languedoc-Roussillon is the largest growing region around here, on the Med, and the largest in France.
So, quality is often iffy when you don't know the producer, the soil, the microclimate, you know, all the things you aren't going to know.
So, find a negociant. That is, some French guy who drives around, drinks a wine, and says, "yeah, this is good," then takes it and sells it. But not after putting his name on the bottle.
Case in point. Went into a wine shop after seeing a bottle of Languedoc rose with Gerard Bertrand's name on it. Wanted to buy that wine, but the store was out. So, for the same price, 6 GBP, purchased another Gerard Bertrand, a Roussillon. Huh? Exactly. What?
I think it will still sourced from the South of France, only way south, in the Basque regions, because of the tell-tale red and gold striped flag on the label.
The 2006 Sang & Or is tarty and full-bodied. Hint of watermelon. An unpleasant hotness from unharmonious alcohol levels. Smells crisp and delicious, finishes dry, way dry. 8.3 points, which is good for a Rose.
Come to think of it, a good red wine to chill would be the 2004 Wolf Blass Cabernet Saugvignon, for around 7 GBP. Cedar and dill will flourish with a little chill. The hard-nosed alcohol edge and grapiness will diminish. 8.5 points, much better than the 2003, BTW.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Italy, England, Denbies, Carpineto, Imus… Justin Timberlake Marries American Idol
So, those of you who landed on Interwined after googling any of the above terms, welcome aboard.
Two dinners. The first guest brought a bottle of 1990 Carpineto Chianti Classico Reserva (primarily Sangiovese grape). Back then it went for $13 bucks, today the bottle is probably worth ten times that. It was ranked at 87 in Wine Spectator by Italy expert James Suckling. And, as usual, he is right: "Very firm and solid with complex berry, mineral and plum character. Full in body and tannins but quite refined and elegant." The years have since eroded the full-body and stronger tannic structure, but the wine is now extremely refined and elegant. Also there are mushrooms. Chestnut mushrooms. Probably would score 89 point on the WS scale if tasted today, but as a gift from good friends (who also cooked, spaghetti with grouper and sardines with fennel): 93 points.
But there is a point here to be made about aging potential. The Carpineto was "drinkable now" back in 1990. If the wine would have instead been rated as "better after 2000" then the wine would have been nearly undrinkable in the 90s. Tight, tannic, mouth puckering, eye watering. It's important to distinguish that such characteristics are examples of a wine's quality, not its lack of….
Easter dinner was a first for Interwined, where everything was English. The turkey was reared in the black forests of England and lived free range. Doubts persisted on whether the butcher's claim to this effect was valid. But once roasted with some chicken fat and oregano, the bird flesh hinted notes of wet earth, wood and thistle. Truly an animal of the forest. Gobble, gobble.
Incidentally, the Turkey also went perfect with the English wines Interwined's guests brought round. The first time Englaish wines have been sampled, in the seven years in England.
Guess it is 'bout time.
Both from Denbies winery, England's largest, the wines proved perfect for the locally sourced food. The Bacchus (grape) wine from 2004, was crisp with a hint of lemon. Grassy. Long finish. The body was a little heavy, but it was not nearly the train wreck expected. Perhaps bringing such a bad rep to the table made the wine appear more delicious.
Doubt it. 8.6 points.
The pudding wine from Denbies is number one in one regard: the worst wine name, ever. The 2005 Surrey Gold even came in a frosted bottle, leaving the wife to first wonder aloud "who brought the Vodka?" The name, the look. Denbies, work on it.
The wine is just fine. Kinda floral (some jasmine) and easy going. Light and not too syrupy, the funny thing is that the wine finishes dry, when sweet was expected. Individual. 8.4 points.
Two dinners. The first guest brought a bottle of 1990 Carpineto Chianti Classico Reserva (primarily Sangiovese grape). Back then it went for $13 bucks, today the bottle is probably worth ten times that. It was ranked at 87 in Wine Spectator by Italy expert James Suckling. And, as usual, he is right: "Very firm and solid with complex berry, mineral and plum character. Full in body and tannins but quite refined and elegant." The years have since eroded the full-body and stronger tannic structure, but the wine is now extremely refined and elegant. Also there are mushrooms. Chestnut mushrooms. Probably would score 89 point on the WS scale if tasted today, but as a gift from good friends (who also cooked, spaghetti with grouper and sardines with fennel): 93 points.
But there is a point here to be made about aging potential. The Carpineto was "drinkable now" back in 1990. If the wine would have instead been rated as "better after 2000" then the wine would have been nearly undrinkable in the 90s. Tight, tannic, mouth puckering, eye watering. It's important to distinguish that such characteristics are examples of a wine's quality, not its lack of….
Easter dinner was a first for Interwined, where everything was English. The turkey was reared in the black forests of England and lived free range. Doubts persisted on whether the butcher's claim to this effect was valid. But once roasted with some chicken fat and oregano, the bird flesh hinted notes of wet earth, wood and thistle. Truly an animal of the forest. Gobble, gobble.
Incidentally, the Turkey also went perfect with the English wines Interwined's guests brought round. The first time Englaish wines have been sampled, in the seven years in England.
Guess it is 'bout time.
Both from Denbies winery, England's largest, the wines proved perfect for the locally sourced food. The Bacchus (grape) wine from 2004, was crisp with a hint of lemon. Grassy. Long finish. The body was a little heavy, but it was not nearly the train wreck expected. Perhaps bringing such a bad rep to the table made the wine appear more delicious.
Doubt it. 8.6 points.
The pudding wine from Denbies is number one in one regard: the worst wine name, ever. The 2005 Surrey Gold even came in a frosted bottle, leaving the wife to first wonder aloud "who brought the Vodka?" The name, the look. Denbies, work on it.
The wine is just fine. Kinda floral (some jasmine) and easy going. Light and not too syrupy, the funny thing is that the wine finishes dry, when sweet was expected. Individual. 8.4 points.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Here to Stay
This week marks the week that Interwined was awarded Permanent Residency status in the United Kingdom, and therefore Europe.
There is nothing to stop us now (insert fiendish laughter).
First person to hear the news was my Student Loan officer.
Hello Melodie in Indianapolis! Who's the deadbeat now?
The 2005 Saint Emilions are just now coming out and they look vibrant and fresh, if a little too ripe. Nonetheless, these 'mainly Merlot' blends show a great deal of limestone and muscle. A fact sure to be reflected in higher-than-average prices.
A recent excursion on set reminded Interwined of its own humble start about ten years ago. The launch of the wine lover began at a small restaurant in the suburbs of New Orleans. As a waiter, a good waiter, solid wine knowledge is a must. And the first bottle of wine chosen by Interwined, was Hawk Crest California Cabernet Sauvignon.
This decision was based on only one deciding factor: Interwined like the pretty bird on the label.
And did it go down well? Well, what do you think?
So imagine the surprise when this week's blog research led to Soho Wine Supply, in London. Soho Wine Supply is one of Interwined's favourite destinations for its favourite hobby: buying wine. A small space, with a decent selection at great prices. However, it is not the place to give a hyperactive cat a strong cup of coffee. Oh no, it is very quiet there.
But back to the blog. See, around the same time that first bottle of Hawk Crest passed over the scanner at the check-out of the local Winn-Dixie, a promise was beginning elsewhere.
That promise was that Chile was the next big thing. We had the Mondavis down there, they said, the Rothschilds. Arid climate, decent land, cheap labour force… and winemaker know-how. A formula sure to result in inexpensive wines that knock the socks off.
So imagine the surprise when a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile happened to be lying next to a bottle of Hawk Crest at the Soho Wine Supply. Both at around 8 pounds.
Was there ever a reason to compare two completely unrelated wines (besides the grape)? Didn't think so.
2002 Hawk Crest. The older of the two and ready-to-drink. Strongly Californian. Strong powerful nose, heavy body and a powerhouse finish, though short. A bit roasty-meaty and a bit blackberry. Not complex, but still as pleasing. Thanks for the memories Hawk Crest, but really, considering the nature of wine production, how can you remain so consistent? Curious comment, sure to have its share of detractors. 8.7 points.
2004 Cousino-Macul Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley. Other names on the bottle, such as 'Estate bottled' and 'Antiguas Reservas,' are just smoke and mirrors. Don't mean it good, don't mean it bad.
The label says 14% ABV, but the legs walk a 15.5%. Strong alcohol in the aroma confirms. Opened two hours and the smell is still there. Best opened a day prior, and immediately recorked. Some caramel, and a touch of minty lamb.
The most shocking thing about this wine is likely due to critic-bias (a name Interwined just invented to explain how a wine taster cannot completely discount their own subjectivity based on their own experiences). For example, for reasons best left unexplained and unexplored, the Cousino-Macul smells, and even tastes, vaguely of Hawaiian Punch. 8.6 points.
OK, so the review didn't exactly back up the aforementioned argument. But still unconvinced Chile is pulling its price-for-value weight.
Anybody feeling the same vibe? Drink up and tell on.
There is nothing to stop us now (insert fiendish laughter).
First person to hear the news was my Student Loan officer.
Hello Melodie in Indianapolis! Who's the deadbeat now?
The 2005 Saint Emilions are just now coming out and they look vibrant and fresh, if a little too ripe. Nonetheless, these 'mainly Merlot' blends show a great deal of limestone and muscle. A fact sure to be reflected in higher-than-average prices.
A recent excursion on set reminded Interwined of its own humble start about ten years ago. The launch of the wine lover began at a small restaurant in the suburbs of New Orleans. As a waiter, a good waiter, solid wine knowledge is a must. And the first bottle of wine chosen by Interwined, was Hawk Crest California Cabernet Sauvignon.
This decision was based on only one deciding factor: Interwined like the pretty bird on the label.
And did it go down well? Well, what do you think?
So imagine the surprise when this week's blog research led to Soho Wine Supply, in London. Soho Wine Supply is one of Interwined's favourite destinations for its favourite hobby: buying wine. A small space, with a decent selection at great prices. However, it is not the place to give a hyperactive cat a strong cup of coffee. Oh no, it is very quiet there.
But back to the blog. See, around the same time that first bottle of Hawk Crest passed over the scanner at the check-out of the local Winn-Dixie, a promise was beginning elsewhere.
That promise was that Chile was the next big thing. We had the Mondavis down there, they said, the Rothschilds. Arid climate, decent land, cheap labour force… and winemaker know-how. A formula sure to result in inexpensive wines that knock the socks off.
So imagine the surprise when a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile happened to be lying next to a bottle of Hawk Crest at the Soho Wine Supply. Both at around 8 pounds.
Was there ever a reason to compare two completely unrelated wines (besides the grape)? Didn't think so.
2002 Hawk Crest. The older of the two and ready-to-drink. Strongly Californian. Strong powerful nose, heavy body and a powerhouse finish, though short. A bit roasty-meaty and a bit blackberry. Not complex, but still as pleasing. Thanks for the memories Hawk Crest, but really, considering the nature of wine production, how can you remain so consistent? Curious comment, sure to have its share of detractors. 8.7 points.
2004 Cousino-Macul Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley. Other names on the bottle, such as 'Estate bottled' and 'Antiguas Reservas,' are just smoke and mirrors. Don't mean it good, don't mean it bad.
The label says 14% ABV, but the legs walk a 15.5%. Strong alcohol in the aroma confirms. Opened two hours and the smell is still there. Best opened a day prior, and immediately recorked. Some caramel, and a touch of minty lamb.
The most shocking thing about this wine is likely due to critic-bias (a name Interwined just invented to explain how a wine taster cannot completely discount their own subjectivity based on their own experiences). For example, for reasons best left unexplained and unexplored, the Cousino-Macul smells, and even tastes, vaguely of Hawaiian Punch. 8.6 points.
OK, so the review didn't exactly back up the aforementioned argument. But still unconvinced Chile is pulling its price-for-value weight.
Anybody feeling the same vibe? Drink up and tell on.
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