Thursday, 26 April 2012
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
8 Hour Shift in a Wine Shop
7 ½ Hours:
Intense contemplation of the world of wine,
the future and the universe in general
½ an Hour:
General retail duties
Monday, 27 February 2012
Winespot: Polish Hill Riesling
Wine: | Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2011 |
Origin: | Clare Valley, Australia |
Grape(s): From: | 100% Riesling Vino Wines - £23 |
Nose: | Quite restrained but showing an enticing floral, citrusy bouquet. Limes, lime blossom and wet stones all apparent, but not exactly leaping out of the glass. |
Palate: | Intense, dramatic and tighter than a ducks butt. There’s outstanding purity of fresh limes and exotic flowers, mouthwatering acidity and an underlying streak of stony minerallity (think pebbles from a riverbed). Great finish. |
Verdict: | A great example of an age-worthy Riesling. While drinking well now, the 2011 Polish Hill is like a tightly wound spring, waiting to burst open its full potential - if you have the willpower to keep some for a decade or two you’re in for a real treat. Outstanding. |
About Winespot:
Winespot will be a new, regular feature of my blog where I will share with you a wine I have spotted on my travels and deemed worthy of sharing. No chat, no jargon, just a quick review of an interesting wine.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
In Search of the Fruits of the Earth
This is a Truffle Hog:
This little critter will grow up to spend most of his days rummaging his nose through wet, musty earth trying to find something special. This is not unpleasant for the Truffle Hog, in fact it's a process for which he has a natural affinity. The rewards, too, are plentiful. For when he finds that something special, it is not only worth the search, but it is a delicacy so uniquely flavoured and intense that it can be considered amongst the royalty of culinary delights.
A rare glimpse into the life of the humble Truffle Hog was granted to me recently when I stuck my nose into a glass of Tenuta Vitanza Brunello di Montalcino 2003.
Overwhelmed at first by the wet earthy, mushroom aromas, I almost had this one down as faulty. But I persisted. And I rummaged. And like our little piggy friend my snuffling through the earth and wood paid off - with a deep, intense (but delicate?) core of superb fruit character. Black cherries and redcurrants were there in abundance, but i really had to root them out, so layered were they beneath the earthiness and nutty oak characters.
The palate shared a similar format, this time tannin was first off the blocks. Big, bold, chalky tannin at that. Similar fruity flavours to those on the nose and a nice refreshing acidity balanced the tannin to some extent but it wasn't until I had tucked into some Italian food and my mouth had a good coating of olive oil that this wine really showed its true potential. It just went on and on, and every sip unveiled some new level of delight.
There was red and black berries, there was wet leaves, woodsmoke, leather, cherry compote, mushroom and vanilla.
The finish went on past dessert and into the future.
A true delicacy.
Deep, complex, lingering, and well worth the rummaging around on the forest floor.
Sniff some out if you can, you won't regret it!
This little critter will grow up to spend most of his days rummaging his nose through wet, musty earth trying to find something special. This is not unpleasant for the Truffle Hog, in fact it's a process for which he has a natural affinity. The rewards, too, are plentiful. For when he finds that something special, it is not only worth the search, but it is a delicacy so uniquely flavoured and intense that it can be considered amongst the royalty of culinary delights.
A rare glimpse into the life of the humble Truffle Hog was granted to me recently when I stuck my nose into a glass of Tenuta Vitanza Brunello di Montalcino 2003.
Overwhelmed at first by the wet earthy, mushroom aromas, I almost had this one down as faulty. But I persisted. And I rummaged. And like our little piggy friend my snuffling through the earth and wood paid off - with a deep, intense (but delicate?) core of superb fruit character. Black cherries and redcurrants were there in abundance, but i really had to root them out, so layered were they beneath the earthiness and nutty oak characters.
The palate shared a similar format, this time tannin was first off the blocks. Big, bold, chalky tannin at that. Similar fruity flavours to those on the nose and a nice refreshing acidity balanced the tannin to some extent but it wasn't until I had tucked into some Italian food and my mouth had a good coating of olive oil that this wine really showed its true potential. It just went on and on, and every sip unveiled some new level of delight.
There was red and black berries, there was wet leaves, woodsmoke, leather, cherry compote, mushroom and vanilla.
The finish went on past dessert and into the future.
A true delicacy.
Deep, complex, lingering, and well worth the rummaging around on the forest floor.
Sniff some out if you can, you won't regret it!
Saturday, 7 January 2012
New year, new page.
After a brief hiatus in my blogging (due to job loss, Christmas, lack of inspiration etc etc), I was keen to return with an interesting, profound and inspirational post that justified a two-month thinking period.
But alas, all I have is this:
Happy new year to you and yours, I hope your festivities were filled with fun, family and fine wine.
My 2012 starts with me actively seeking employment in the wine business, studying hard for my WSET diploma and waiting with anticipation to open some of the rather nice bottles of wine in the rack (is finally breaking the writer's block perhaps such an occasion?).
Expect more soon!
For now, I leave you with this:
But alas, all I have is this:
Happy new year to you and yours, I hope your festivities were filled with fun, family and fine wine.
My 2012 starts with me actively seeking employment in the wine business, studying hard for my WSET diploma and waiting with anticipation to open some of the rather nice bottles of wine in the rack (is finally breaking the writer's block perhaps such an occasion?).
Expect more soon!
For now, I leave you with this:
"I only drink it when I'm happy, and when I'm sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone.
When I have company, I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty"
- Lily Bollinger
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Tears of Strong Wine
Give your wine a swirl round the glass.
See those gorgeous, syrupy looking drops of wine trickling down the sides of the glass like sleepy little raindrops? Those are tears.
Also known as legs:
See those gorgeous, syrupy looking drops of wine trickling down the sides of the glass like sleepy little raindrops? Those are tears.
Also known as legs:
Sorry, legs:
The phenomenon was first explored fully in 1855 (a big year for wine, right?) by a British physicist by the name of James Thomson. His work outlined a series of molecular relationships in wine that allow it to not only cling to the glass in gravity-defying wonder but also slink back down again like little blobs of honey.
Basically, liquids are held together by attractive forces between molecules - known as surface tension (essentially what makes it a liquid and not a gas). The same attractive forces exist between the liquid and the surface of a solid substance like glass - known as interfacial tension. With wine and indeed most everyday liquids, the forces of interfacial tension between the liquid and glass are slightly stronger than those of the surface tension, so the liquid will appear to stick to the glass (this is why you can see raindrops on your window for example).
So even with water in a glass, look closely and you will see the liquid appear to climb up the glass a little around the edges, where the interfacial tension pulls water molecules towards the glass.
But where are the tears?
Well with wine, we have a solution of alcohol and water.
As the thin film of wine clings to the edges of the glass, the alcohol evaporates quicker than the water and the composition of the liquid changes. This is a process slow enough to see happening and as the concentration of water in the liquid increases, so does its surface tension, meaning it forms a nice little round blob.
Eventually, as the surface tension increases and more liquid is drawn to it, the blob becomes so heavy that its interfacial tension can no longer hold it fast, and so it trickles back down the glass - slowly, as the last of the alcohol evaporates and the blob of wine becomes both stickier and heavier.
In the wine trade they are called tears or legs.
No wine geek worth their salt would not mention them if they were apparent. In fact their observation is a requirement in the WSET curriculum. But my favourite part is that they convey almost no information whatsoever about the wine you are about to drink.
Their presence signifies nothing, except - at most - the presence of alcohol.
Legs.
Who needs them?
Monday, 17 October 2011
Wine on Paper
A daunting but exciting thought and one worth sharing:
This is where I will be spending my next two years of free time:
This is where I will be spending my next two years of free time:
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