Archives for June, 2006
Taking a Dinner by Stormhoek
We had our Stormhoek dinner Saturday night. Ms. Oh So Much hosted and the usual gaggle of fools attended with one extra.
Stormhoek is a South African winery. They sent us three bottles. They must not be familiar with our blog and our enthusiasm for drinking wine. Not that we’re unappreciative. It was generous of them to send us anything at all and we’re grateful. It was more than graciousness on their part. It was a near brilliant marketing plan. We wish them well. Since they sent us a sauvignon blacn, a pinot grigio and a pinotage we bought one more of each and did some comparing.
First up was the Stormhoek Western Cape Sauvignon Blanc 2005 which didn’t fare well with most of us. Amy called it “flat” and I agreed. I also detected an unpleasant petroleum taste. The Fink just plain didn’t like it and Mainer Chris (MC) called his first taste, “soapy.” He later elaborated on that saying it, “tasted like a glass of lemon juice out of a glass that was not sufficiently rinsed after it was washed with Dawn.” Now there’s a discriminating palate! I wonder if he truly would have been able to tell if it had been washed in Palmolive instead? Not content to merely insult the wine he had to kill it for all of us with some finality by declaring it also tasting like “vomit through the nose” and he wasn’t even drunk. His parting shot was that it was “worth what we paid for it.” Sorry, Stormhoek. Would it sting less to know that Mrs. Dink, while not loving it, thought it was “definitely not bad?”
In the other corner of the ring was a Simi Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc 2003 which was well received by most. Amy called it “fruity, uplifting, uncomplicated and delightful.” B.F. Wayne commented on it’s noticeable acidity. Even The Fink, who showed up with a clear bias against anything not red, conceded that it “tastes ok for a crappy white wine.” MC noticed some slight effervescence but he was alone in that. We all agreed that it was much favored over the Stormhoek but I’m beginning to wonder what it means that our tastes are so similar. Do we not have unique preferences? Are we succumbing to group think? Thankfully, Uncle Fucker stepped up and chastised us all with a constipated look on her face and sneered, “all fucking sauvignon blancs taste the fucking same!”
The Stormhoek Pino Grigio 2004(?) fared better than the s.b. MC graciously offered that it had a “nice, even taste.” I think he meant it as a positive but I don’t have a clue what it actually means. I tasted pear, honeydew and some mild earthy minerality. Most everybody agreed that it was generally a nice and easy wine.
BY contrast the Kris (Italian) Pinot Grigio wasn’t so nice. MC dubbed it “tart” to which Mrs. Dink added, “too!” I thought it was thin with a finish so slight the taste disappeared before I finished swallowing. Amy called it “‘kris’py” but she was just trying to be cute.
As the evening continued and more bottles opened our notes became more sporadic and thin.
To be continued…
WBW #22 Roundup
Tim at Winecast.net has posted WBW 22 Summary: Lite and Flavorful (most of the time, anyway). The summary will be a good resource for a while so I suggest bookmarking it.
WBW #22, Montagnana Cardinale 1999 (B+)
I was hoping to find a Zinfandel to drink tonight but I couldn’t find anything light enough. My local packy used to carry a couple of Cline summer zinfandels that I’m sure would have fit the bill but they’re no longer available. I put my eyes to the test checking as many zinfandels, syrahs, meritages and rhone blends as I could before finally taking the easy way out. The Italians know how to make full bodied, luscious wines and still keep the alcohol to a minimum. There were several wines to choose from, even some ripasso wines. I opted for something new and unknown: Montagnana Cardinale 1999. The label actually said “Montagnana in Chianti” but this was no DOC chianti. It was a delicious Indicazione Geografica Tipica wine of Toscana. I couldn’t find out anything about it at the store or online so all I have are my senses. I wouldn’t call it a typical chianti — not that there is such a thing — but it was reminiscent of others I’ve liked. It was good on it’s own before dinner but really took off when washing down some pasta with red sauce and italian sausage. Inky, dark purple color, medium to full bodied, tannic and very dry. There were some fruit and berry (mostly cherry) flavors but what stood out were the dark flavors: chocolate, wood, hummus, mushrooms and tobacco. This is a big, bold, beautiful wine that weighs in at exactly 12.5% alcohol.
Stormhoek Dinner Update
The wine has arrived for our Stormhoek dinner this Friday. They sent three bottles: a sauvignon blanc, a pinot grigio and a pinotage. That won’t last very long with this group of 8 wine fools so we’ll have to supplement. Our original plan for this month’s gathering was to explore some Spanish wines but I still think we should put that off for next month. I’m going to suggest that we get three more of the same varietals they gave us and do a face off.
Australia Wine Festival 2006 at King Plow Arts Center
Large tasting events are great fun but a lousy way to taste wine. After the fifth or sixth different wine they all start to taste alike with only the occasional blockbuster managing to actually make a distinctive impression. I attended last night’s Australian Wine Festival solo cause Ms. Oh So Much became Ms. Oh So Stranded In Savannah after car troubles.
The whites were almost without exception unexceptional and mainly consisted of riesling, sauvignon blanc/semillon blends and chardonnay. The rieslings were mostly dry, a little spicy and very slight. The sauvignon blanc/semillon blends were the most interesting but still a little too grassy and sterile for my tastes. The chardonnays were decent enough — usually a little oaky — but I prefer mine to come from France. The one stand-out white wine was a Shaw & Smith Adelaide Hills Sauvigon Blanc 2004 ($19). I mainly drank whites only for the first 20-30 minutes but I stumbled on this one after coating my tongue with lots of red and it was a nice refresher. It was less grassy and more complex than I’ve come to expect from 100% Aussie sauvignon blanc.
There was a pretty full gamut of reds but shiraz and cabernet were the most common, naturally. I went in expecting to be impressed by shiraz but instead found some very nice cabs and came out with a new appreciation for Australian Rhone style blends.
Mitolo Serpico McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (out my price range at $57) — yes, it was named for that Serpico — was the most interesting discovery. Named for Serpico’s willingness to go against the grain and not conform this cabernet was made in the ripasso style and it was probably the best thing I tasted all night. They also make a “baby Serpico,” the Jester McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, at a more affordable $19 but the ripasso sensations weren’t as prominent. Still, I’d like to have a case in the basement.
Another cabernet that impressed was the Thorn-Clarke Terra Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 ($13) but I liked their Shotfire Ridge Barossa Valley Cuvee ($22) even better what with it’s most excellent blend of cabernet, shiraz, cab franc, merlot and petit verdot. If they’d thrown in mourvedre and grenache I’d have pissed myself in delight.
Speaking of pissed — I mean petit verdot, there were two of them available as a stand-alone varietal. One was served as the lightest wine on the Blends & Friends table and the other was served as the heaviest wine on the Rhone Ranger table. By an odd coincidence they were both called De Bortoli Wines Deen Vat Series Southeastern Australia Petit Verdot 2004 and tasted surprisingly similar leaving me confused but I liked them and would happily pay the very reasonable $12 to try each of them again.
Other good Rhone-ish blends from the Barossa Valley were Grant Burge Holy Trinity 2001 ($34) (grenache, shiraz, mourvedre) and John Duval Plexus 2004 ($35) (shiraz, grenache, mourvedre). John Duval was pouring that along with his Entity Shiraz 2004 ($35). In addition to the aforementioned Serpico, John Duval’s wines were my favorites of the night.
Giving Yellowtail some competition for drinkable, but a little too fruity, corporate quaffers were the three Broken Earth reds: a cab, a cab/merlot and a shiraz, each of which costs $7 and worth it.
The one sparkling wine I tried was a merlot and I only drank it because I thought the bubbles might actually wake my tongue up for one more run around the perimeter looking for an opening at a table I hadn’t yet visited. The Rumball Coonawarra Sprakling Merlot NV ($27) was so fucking weird I annoyed the poor woman pouring by loudly exclaiming after each of three sips, “I don’t know if I hate it or love it!” I think I hated it but was too drunk to hate anything. Dribbling was soon to follow. Surprisingly, the nice lady serving the Tintara McLaren Valley Cabertnet and Siraz ($18 each) must have thought I was a cute drunk because she played with my right nipple for a moment. In her defense she may only have been wiping off the wine I spilled on my shirt but you know how drunks tend to interpret these things. It was clearly time to leave and I did.
I woke up with a headache, a purple index finger and thumb on my drinking hand and a realization that I need to drink more wines from the Barossa Valley.
TN: Topanga Vineyards Celadon 2004 (A)
Grenache blanc from Clarksburg, Napa Valley. At first glance a slight wine, very pale straw color with a barely perceptible aroma but in the mouth this is luscious, semi-sweet, rich, creamy and crisp, all at once. This is sure to be a crowd pleaser appealing to lovers of (non-oaked) chardonnay and sauvignon blanc alike. The usual light, yellow-ish fruit flavors apply: pineapple, mango and lemon but also peach, honey, vanilla and mild earth and spice. Retail price is in the low 20’s.
Not Dead
I’m not dead, not travelling, not busy at work, not pre-occupied with other projects. Just not posting much lately. I have been spending some time looking at blog software trying to find something that has better email/subscription/notification features but the simplicity of blogger has convinced me to stick with it — at least for now. Here’s what’s coming down the pike:
Thursday, Ms. Oh So Much and I will be attending the Wine Australia Festival.
Next Wednesday is Wine Blogging Wednesday — I can’t find the link to this month’s host but the theme is low alcohol reds (less than 12.5%). I’m going to see if I can find one of Cline’s summer zinfandels.
We’ve managed to get in on Stormhoek’s 100 Dinners in 100 Nights event. Our dinner will be in Friday, June 16.
I’m sure we’ll be posting notes from all three events so stay tuned.