MEK’s blog

the morning after...happy 2010

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:46:55 +0000

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Those delicious wines in 2009…

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:16:58 +0000

Those delicious wines I tried in 2009…

There were many wonderful wine tastings this year and terrific producers. Larger than life and ebullient Michel Chapoutier explored 2006 vintage meandering though the Rhone, North and South. The aristocratic Frenchman, Christian Moueix opining on the beauty of Petrus and Trotanoy. And of course, the philosophical musings of Andre Ostertag, charming us about the benefits of “good farming” and the wines of Alsace.

I set a challenge and applied specific criteria to the ranking of these wines. From the regions I had explored this year, I was allowed to select only one wine. I would also record the best vintage, having tasted 1966 Chateau Batailley through to a Torrontes 2009, that’s quite tricky. Then mention the most hedonistic wine tasted this year, that is, the most ridiculously expensive.

It was a fun little exercise. Trawling through my notes, I was heady from the nostalgia, the pungent spices, fruits and vegetal notes that were lifting off the page. Yum.

My favorites, in brief:

1) The region is Alsace and the wine is a Riesling. Trimbach, Cuvee Fredrick Emile, 2001
Pale gold in colour, with a discernible nose of lime, linden, apple, peach, petrol and honey. These flavours are as perceptible on the palate as on the nose. A dry wine with a good level of acidity and no tannins. Medium to full body and a wonderfully long finish. Very good quality, whilst drinking now it can age to develop those extraordinary petrol and honey aromas. I would say it probably goes best with food.

2) The Vintage of 1990.
In particular, Chateau Batailley in Bordeaux. A gloriously balanced wine. Aromas of black fruits and oak-aged smokiness, with hints of chocolate and silky smooth tannins. My two other favorites from this Vintage were from the Rhone area. Chateauneuf du Pape from the Chateau de Beaucastel, which had a vegetal base to it, and notes of toffee emanating from the second, J-L Chave’s Vin de Paille. Outstanding.

3) The most expensive bottle of wine.
1989 vintage of Domaine J-L Chave, Hermitage (rouge). Far from feeling hedonistic, this is my favorite wine region. My notes read: a garnet coloured wine with an orange hue. Menthol, tobacco, spices and vegetal notes. It was a little sherry-like (which was a positive remark). Outstanding.

I was not given the prices per bottle for either the Petrus or Trotanoy, I would imagine these wines of the Pomerol far exceed the prices of Hermitage. If I recall, the wine journalist seated next to me, and Monsieur Moueix who was up on stage, were appropriately drooling and in praise of these two wines of 1998.

Heaven can wait another year!

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getting around the whites...

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:56:18 +0000

tasting at home... spot the makeshift spittoon. It's amazing what one can find lying around the house!

IMG_1107

systematic approach to tasting. amazing to see the differences in appearance - whites are not whites. lemon, gold, lemon green. aromas: honey, petrol, citrus, apricots and yeast. taste: sublime!

grapes: trebbiano, chardonnay, riesling, gewurztraminer.

a simple italian, a new world chardonnay, a dry new zealand riesling, an off-dry alsace riesling, a burgundian chardonnay, a german gewurztraminer...

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an entertaining way... corrigan's

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:57:46 +0000

An entertaining way to talk about wine.

Anecdotes, le nez du vin, great food and excellent company. The credit goes to Dawid Koegelenberg, General Manager of Corrigan’s. He brings theatre, entertainment, and a character and flair to what could otherwise be staid, dull and lifeless.

Battling against the surroundings of a rather listless, dull private room, Dawid was terrific.

Guess the wine in a blackened glass – red or white. An interesting ice-breaker. And teaching us the sense of smell. Four bottles which contain different wine aromas (le nez du vin) – honey, lime, walnut and apricot.

Food and wine matching at Corrigan’s. It gets the big thumbs-up from me.

Some highlights: Spanish Manzanilla with crispy olive filled with goat’s cheese and spicy harissa. Unctuous. Nutty aromas, firm structure of the sherry stood purposefully alongside the spiciness of the dish.

And the Maury Vintage 2007 (French sherry) was matched superbly with the chocolate fondant and chestnut dessert.

Yummy.

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it's business time... flight of the conchords

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:17:01 +0100

smashing. terrific. wonderful. oooooooooh, jermaine.

Flight of the Conchords- Business Time

Flight of the Conchords - Bret, You Got It Going On

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riesling...2008

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:02:25 +0100

Wonderful floral aromas. Dry, zesty and a high acidity wine. I detected lovely citrus (grapefruit) notes on the palette. Keep the bottle sealed (screw cap) and it refrigerated well, keeping the aromas and refreshing acidity for 5-6 days.

Riesling

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dogville...just terrific

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:08:30 +0100

Saw Dogville at the week-end. Absolutely terrific film. Now I can agree with folks when they say Nicole Kidman can act - I was struggling with that concept for years.

Dogville [DVD] [2004] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Intelligent and daring film - a critique of capitalism from a man who has never stepped on the soils of USA. Lars von Trier, the director, playwright and producer(?).

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cheers...

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:08:53 +0100

it's my birthday today. i thought i'd raise a glass of champagne and say "cheers" to my neighbourhood..

Food & Drink

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a little piece for liffey...

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:43:19 +0100

A little piece for Liffey…

A little grape called Semillon, found in St-Emilion and Medoc in the Bordeaux region, along with the Sauvignon Blanc grape. Aided by noble rot, the Semillon grape turns itself into a wonderful, unctuous, sweet wine called Sauternes. Simply gorgeous. This is grape royalty.

Sauternes

The flavours of Sauternes are “..marzipan, apricots, mangoes, honey, nuts, toast, honeysuckle…all wrapped up in a creamy, silky, unctuous texture, enthralling and rich…” Oz Clarke

Heaven.

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a little place called coonawarra...wow

nobody@vox.com(MEK) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:24:14 +0100

I arrive late to the tasting. It’s across town and it’s rainy - not a taxi in sight.

Noisily I descend the stairs of the blue bird wine cellar. Slurps abound and a quietly spoken gentleman occupies the interests of everyone in the room. I go unnoticed.

It's Australia evening at the cellar. I look for our host.

He was surprisingly well groomed - Italian blazer (for sure), hair immaculate, I could go on ...I thought the tasting notes said he was a cattle farmer's son. My prejudices laid out before you, i was expecting cowboy hat, cotton jeans, spurs and chewing tobacco. Oh, I was so wrong. I later read he was educated in London, worked in the futures securities market, returned home after a period in London and is now a respectable vineyard owner. Not sure he picks the grapes – a very difficult picture to conjure up.

Reschke is a vineyard in the lower part of the south eastern region of Australia called Coonawarra.

What wonderful little wines. I tasted their entire latest vintage (2004) and was amazed at the quality of wines. As a big Rhone fan, I thought their shiraz was on the nose – peppery, big black fruits and good round textures. There were several interesting cabernet sauvignons too; the only underwhelming wine was the sauvignon blanc.

Unsure about the wine names (empyrean, bos and vitilus) – seems like someone recently passed their latin exam.

Wonderful little vineyard to look out for.

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