|
The majority of wine writers/tasters/specialists spend their life ‘analysing’ the mysteries of wine. The consumer is just interested in drinking it! Wine is a personal pleasure – everybody has different tastes and nobody can say that one particular wine is better than another.
When somebody comes into my Cave and asks me for a bottle of wine – there are a few fundamental questions which I need to know:
Approximately what price; what do they like in a wine i.e. what do they usually drink at home; and what is the wine destined for ( is it for an aperitif; or if it is for a meal – what are they eating with it; and is it for immediate consumption or for laying down).
But, let’s not complicate the issue and just have some ‘serious’ fun. Just for a change, become a wine writer – a Robert Parker! Buy something different - or even your usual wine - and write a ’pretentious’ tasting note!
Appearance, aromas, palate and conclusion – using words like cat’s pee (yes – found in Sauvignon Blanc); tar – found in some Barolo wines; pencil shavings (see below); leather; chocolate; animal/stable/ musk; hay, wet leaves, undergrowth; use expressions such as earthy, mineral, flowery, the aromas of your youth - anything your imagination can come up with – and you might find that it is not just bull – it can be fun – and I bet you will find wine tasting far more interesting.
Some of my more interesting – ‘fantasy’ wines – which are so much fun to write tasting notes for, are as follows:
Antoine Arena, Grotte di Sole, Red, 2006
From Patrimonio in Corsica. A totally ‘natural’ bio-dynamic wine.
When I first tasted this wine with Antoine in October of 2008, it was ‘hibernating’ (what we call ‘closed’ in wine language). Aromas of dark fruits and maquis ( the local Corsican scrubland). Redcurrants and herbs on the palate.
8 months later it retains its deep, vivid, rich black cherry colour. When I first opened it, it was obviously still ‘asleep’ – totally closed in fact. Undergrowth and animal aromas snuck out of the bottle. The palate was taken over with ‘bubbles’. Antoine uses nitrogen to protect his wine , not sulphur dioxide. But decanting the wine the ‘petillance’ disappears and the wine soon wakes up.
The temperature is important – 18° - 20° is ideal.
The lively, youthful, aromas escaped – a complex nose of dark fruits, no more maquis, but plenty of pencil shavings showing the minerality of this extraordinary ‘Terroir’ wine. Even I was astounded!
Dry, beautifully balanced with fresh acidity, and fine grained, silky tannins. A lively, peppery wine full of flavour. Incredibly seductive, long and elegant across the palate and a tenacious finish – I would’nt spit – I couldn’t waste a drop!
Miss Terre 2004, Chateau Haut Lavigne, Côtes de Duras, Red.
Again – with Nadia’s natural wine making, this wine took a day to open up! At first I was disappointed – totally unbalanced and very ‘closed’. But it eventually overcame its shyness and disclosed discrete aromas of cassis and cedar with a touch of spice and menthol. Medium bodied , fine grained tannins and a mellow mouthfeel, with a very interesting finish – imagine the flavour of eating
After-eight chocolates and drinking a glass of vintage port at the same time!
Moglia , Vin de Joie, 2008
12% vol. Vin de Table with an unusual combination of grape varieties : sauvignon, colombard and petit manseng, rather reminiscent of the popular Tariquet.
I tasted this with my father who found aromas of his youth - ‘meadowsweet’. Dad says try lying on a grassy bank in Ireland in May! I got Linden tree which is in flower all over the countryside at the moment.
The palate was reminiscent of lemon/lime sorbet with a fresh, vivacious finish. On the bottle it is described as a ‘vin de femme’, with rich ripe aromas of exotic fruits, It is designed as an aperitif – ‘joyeuse et festive’ with some residual sugar to soften the mouth watering acidity. An inter-course wine – to cleanse the palate.
Mitch
|
