More seafood stew. . .
Date: Sat, Aug 2, 2008 Wine Tasting
There are several manifestations of seafood stew on Wino sapien (1, 2), this is by far the easiest and quickest. If you are really caught short, just use the tinned tomatoes, garlic, lemon zest, parsley and wine for the sauce. . .
Add the following ingredients to a fry pan and allow it to simmer and thicken for 10 minutes.
- Splash of olive oil
- 2 fresh tomatoes - diced
- Half a can of diced tomatoes
- 3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
- A few stands of saffron
- Zest of half a lemon
- Small handful of fresh parsley
- 3 slices of Chorizo sausage
- 1 cup of white wine
Wine? I opened a fresh bottle of lively Pinot gris to drink while cooking. One glass went into the sauce and the rest was consumed with the meal.
Tales of the city #5
Date: Thu, Jul 31, 2008 Wine Tasting
Seagulls have no respect. . . On a day punctuated with rain, I decided to pull my daughter out of school so we could spend some time together, meandering around our city. We started with breakfast, and the most notable thing (besides the soggy bacon) was the increase in price. Compared to 12 months ago, the same looking plate cost 20% more.
Alkoomi Frankland River Sauvignon blanc 2007. Pale, tart and lemon like, this smells of blossom and passionfruit and is pleasingly electric. More riesling than sauvignon. . . (90). Now.
Perth is the capital of the resource rich state of Western Australia. Mining money has been flooding in for the best part of 10 years, and the city is being remade. There are cranes on every corner and the changes are quite dramatic. King St, where I had breakfast is becoming even more gentrified, with the addition of Tiffany & Co to the existing duo of Gucci and Louis Vuitton. I wonder which local business will disappear next. . .
Rosemount Estate GSM McLaren Vale 2003. (Cork, 15% alcohol). A caricature. Alcohol laden, warming and soft, this smell and tastes of ripe fruit (prunes), creamy vanilla and oak. Technically correct and very hedonistic. (88). Now.
Seeking shelter from the rain and progress, we headed for the Art Gallery of WA. I pointed out some old favourites to my four year old. Fred McCubin, Charles Blackman, Lucian Freud and Rosalie Gascoigne. There is also a current and captivating Grace Crowley exhibit.
Two books on wine. . .
Date: Thu, Jul 31, 2008 Wine Tasting
Two very dangerous books for the weak willed wino with access to credit. . .
The Halliday Companion grows each year - in terms of tasting notes and producers. This edition (2009) has profiles for 1661 wineries together with 5778 notes. This fact rich paperback, remains a great resource (especially when visiting wine growing regions), whilst the notes are as succinct and insightful as ever. I no longer use it as a buying guide, but I am always interested in comparing notes and assessments - retrospectively of course. For the wine nerd it's a form of calibration and tutoured tasting.
1001 Wines you must try before you die. Despite hating the title and the whole concept of the 1001 series, this particular manifestation is quite difficult to resist. With multiple authors (44 including Andrew Jefford, Clive Coates, Hugh Johnson, Huon Hooke, Jamie Goode and Sarah Ahmed) this is laden with beautiful photos and mouth watering wines. If you are a wino with obsessions about lists and completion - this is your worst nightmare (how for instance will you get your hands on that bottle of 1945 Mouton Rothschild or 1795 Barbeito). For the curious who are less fanatical, there is wide range of accessible and affordable wines in the compilation (such as Mateus and Tahbilk Marsanne).
Vieux Télégramme Châteauneuf du Pape 2005
Date: Sun, Jul 27, 2008 Wine Tasting
Châteauneuf du Pape, France. Grenache, Mourvedre 14.5%. Cork. Approx $A60
In the background of the photo, is a page from the whimsical and odd, Tales from Outer Suburbia, the new book by local illustrator Shaun Tan.
Made from younger and less esteemed vines than its more famous sibling, this is still quite a superb drink. It's pleasing scented and structured and has the requisite vigour and rustic generosity one would expect. Savoury with an undercurrent of cherry, dried herbs and lavender. This is rounded and silk like to begin, with the opening being all ripe cherry. In time it becomes harder and more sinewy, with a faint note of aniseed as well as a chalk like edge to the conclusion.
Very good - excellent.
92.
Now - 2018.
technorati tags: wine
Apparently I'm a pinot gris. . .
Date: Sun, Jul 27, 2008 Wine Tasting
There is a very clever wine blog full of beautiful words and seductive images, written by an expat Aussie. I noticed that the author had done a quiz only to discover she was a pinot gris. . .
I decided to take the test as well, half expecting that I would be a cranky and obsessively structured Cabernet sauvignon. I was surprised to find that I too was a pinot gris (despite trying to change my answers, several times, in order to get a different grape). The quiz seems to associate Pinot gris with fashion, flirtation and modernity. As a sometimes cranky wino I had previously associated Pinot gris with nondescript blandness.
I decided to test these polarising views by opening a bottle of the gray one. . .
Stefano Lubiano Pinot Grigio 2007. (Tasmania, 13%, Screwcap, Approx $A30). Bright and juicy, this was perfect with my plate of take away fish and chips. . . Smelt of pear skin, talc and musk. Quite tart and citrus laden, almost Eden Valley riesling like in its form, though with less length and more texture and grip. Flirtatious, short and somewhat generic. Fine for a one night stand rather than a serious relationship. . . (88/100)
A Wordle tasting note
Date: Sat, Jul 26, 2008 Wine Tasting
A maven friend first introduced me to Wordle. What followed was several days of futile attempts at creating a wordle tasting note. Thwarted by my technical limitations, I soon gave up. . .
A few days ago, one of my readers, Jim, kindly sent me a completed Wordle tasting note, based on my review of the Giaconda Aeolia. It was a lovely and welcome gesture.
Domaine Leroy Bourgogne 2004
Date: Thu, Jul 24, 2008 Wine Tasting
Burgundy, France. Pinot noir. 12.5%. Cork (fully stained and slightly bulbous in the middle - the bottle neck's bore being variable in diametre).
Even before opening this bottle, there is much to say and think. The bottle itself is quite beautiful, and quite possibly the heaviest one (with wine it weighs 1.75 kilograms) I've come across.
Additionally, and probably of more importance, it is from 2004, the year Lalou Bize-Leroy decided to declassified all of Leroy's cru fruit. The Bourgogne supposedly contains grapes from a variety of classed vineyards including Pommard "Vignots", Savigny "Narbantons", Volnay "Santenots", Clos de Vougeot, Clos de la Roche and Corton-Renardes.
The liquid itself is quite amazing. Obviously unfiltered, it is surprisingly pale and incredibly scented - both in terms of character and volume. Stems (which to me smell of ginseng root), raspberry, spice and earth. It's nose is incredibly alluring and persistent. I found myself uttering and scribbling various expletives and superlatives. In the mouth it is tight and wiry, poised and delicate. There is a lovely flow and grace about this wine which is notable for its acidity, complexity and length.
Excellent.
95.
Now - 2013+
technorati tags: wine
Coq au vin
Date: Thu, Jul 24, 2008 Wine Tasting
I think I used well over 200g of butter to make this version of Coq au vin, good thing for the French paradox. . . The original recipe is from Julia Child's book, Mastering the art of French cooking. A copy of the recipe is reproduced here, so I will spare you the detail. I did take a variety of short cuts, such as not boiling my bacon prior to use and not bothering with blending my butter and flour to create a beurre manié.
The end result (after around 90 minutes of preparation and cooking) is indulgently rich, and the sauce demands a wine that can cut through the butter. I chose a bottle of red Burgundy which was superb.
Related posts: Coq au vin.
William Downie Mornington Peninsula Pinot noir 2007
Date: Wed, Jul 23, 2008 Wine Tasting
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. Pinot noir. 13.5%. Diam. Approx $A50.
Has the same lovely label as before, but the bottle is heavier and endowed with a wider bottom and a deeper punt. The wax capsule also seems more stubbornly attached than before. . .
This needs patience, but already it is perfumed, earthy and altogether more serious than the previous vintage. It smells of rose petals, loam and ginseng and is silky and bold in the mouth. In time the finish should integrate and the char and sappy oak should soften and recede.
Very good - excellent.
92+
2009 - 2013+
Day 2: More subdued nose, but much better in the mouth. Quite creamy and more seamless.
technorati tags: wine, australian wine
Family secrets. . .
Date: Mon, Jul 21, 2008 Wine Tasting
A dear friend delivered a freshly made and cooked sausage recently. Beautifully proportioned (thick and curved) and terrifically flavoured (fennel, paprika and chili I think), it was rapidly and noisily devoured.
More delicious than the sausage was the knowledge that this has been hand made, according to an Italian family recipe. I love the idea that a cross section of generations can come together to make food (tomato sauce, sausages, pancetta. . .), and in the process share tradition, knowledge and warmth.
Despite my affection and respect for family, there are very few formalised (and seasonal) traditions in my life. Things are more ad hoc, which makes me sometimes wish, that life was more Italian (and pork oriented. . .)
For want of a nail
Date: Sun, Jul 20, 2008 Wine Tasting
It's been a little while since I ventured out for a cooked breakfast, so I especially enjoyed this morning's offering (Cantina, My Lawley, Mamma's plate for $A20). Surrounded by my nearest and dearest, it was not hard to feel optimistic, relaxed and comfortable. It was a pleasing hiatus from the general doom and gloom that seems to have pervaded the year.
In keeping with the darkness, I've been ruminating about medical errors and mistakes (thankfully not of my doing) for many months. After breakfast, I was meandering through a local book store and chanced upon a nursery rhyme. . .
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Medical errors are often like this, a cascade of seemingly minor oversights, each leading to greater problems, which eventually become insurmountable. It's no surprise that some of my colleagues (who are all generally obsessives in the first place) become trapped by the apparent risk that resides in each decision filled day.
Les Heritiers du Comte Lafon Macon Milly Lamartine 2005
Date: Sat, Jul 19, 2008 Wine Tasting
Macon Villages, Burgundy, France. Chardonnay. 13%. Cork. $A50
I spent the day pruning rose bushes, before preparing my son's second favourite meal. I decided to reward myself with a bottle of my favourite white grape. . .
Potentially excellent and potentially better that it's older sibling. Sadly this was ever so slightly cork tainted. Not enough to be undrinkable, but certainly enough to detract and distract.
technorati tags: wine
