Some Randum Reviews

Novas Winemaker’s Selection Emiliana Syrah 2005

14.5% D.O. Casablanca Valley

Very approachable for a beefy young Syrah from Chile, made with organically grown grapes. Cinnamon and redcurrants mingle with white pepper on the nose, and a smooth clean palate with deceptively moderate tannins. Great drinking with steak, but soft enough for spicy chicken as well. Gorgeous with chocolate. 85/100

Gran Villa Crianza 2001

13% D.O. Navarra

Rather cheeky, just like your favorite local Spaniard, 100% Tempranillo. Aged in US oak for 12 months, with raspberries and pecans on the nose and tight grippy tannins on the palate. Actually lovely with smoked salmon. 75/100

Little Mill Estate Founders Reserve Merlot Cabernet 2005

14.5% McClaren Vale

A single vineyard production aged in French oak, this is a lovely velvety example of a hot aussie style Bordeaux blend. Blackcurrant and vanilla coulis on the nose with hints of smoke precede a full fruity palate, with firm balanced tannins and a smooth long finish. True poetry alone or with roast. 89/100

Costieres de Nimes Patrick Lesec 2006

14% Rhone

Rather barnyard on first whiff, but opens out into cherries and smoke with hints of spice and leather. Palate is rather light (probably mostly Grenache!), but full with stringy tannins and high acid. Could do with a bit more time probably to settle down a bit. 73/100

Domaine du Tariquet Gros Manseng 2006

11% Vin de Pays des Cotes de Gascogne

Beautiful sweet honey and white peaches on the nose, residual sugar makes for a dessert wine palate that could also be matched rather convincingly with some gingery Asian dish. A rather blousy yet pleasant experience for a Maenad with a sweet tooth. 85/100

Champagne Thiols

Had some French bubbly last night, Laurent-Perrier and Veuve Cliquot, both Non-Vintage (NV)…disappointed in the Veuve, very sour relative to the smooth LP, and priced higher. Hmm. Regardless, have become inspired to divulge some more science…
Back in 2003, a rather reputable gentleman out of Bordeaux reported on the isolation and characterization (chem.-speak for “they proved that the molecules isolated had the structure that they thought they did, and were the molecules they thought they were”) of 3 key thiols present in reputable aged champagne (yes, we’re talking Cristal people). These 3 key thiols give aged champagne its characteristic “empyreumatic” (this is a French word meaning “the range of odours that are given off by organic matter that is heated, burnt or distilled (e.g. roast coffee, hot chocolate, jam, cooked fruit, burnt rubber, etc)”) nature, and thus distinguish it from young champagne…indeed they are not present in significant quantities in young champagne and are only formed in the bottle with aging. Now this initially leads us to the question of what thiols are in the first place – thiols are rather smelly chemical compounds familiar to most of us as the cloying smell of garlic or a skunk’s spray. Obviously our noses are rather sensitive to them and the reason they smell the distinct way they do is due to the presence of a sulfur atom in the midst of hydrogens and carbons, e.g. H3CH2CSH, which looks like:
Now, these 3 thiols that this reputable Frenchman isolated as representative of grand old bubbly smell of roasted coffee beans, cooked meat and smoked meat respectively, and can be structurally depicted as:

So basically, when you’re drinking your next bottle of old Cristal and remarking on how well it has aged, remember that it’s all about the stinky thiols!

Drink More Strawberry Daquiris!

Just a quick one for you…So apparently the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) and researchers from Kasetsart University in Thailand have gotten together and decided that volatile compounds (chemicals that boil really easily and are often found as gases at room temperature), such as ETHANOL, can ENHANCE antioxidant and free-radical trapping capacities of the proanthocyanidins and phenolics present in strawberries and blackberries. Extrapolation readily brings this Maenad to assuming that the same goes for grapes; thus those big beefy high alcohol wines coming out of CA and Oz these days may be beasts, but they are actually better for us (??)…Not that I really need excuses!

Burns Night Whisky Tasting

"O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune." - Robbie Burns

Burns Night Whisky Tasting

Burns Night is one of those special occasions that you don’t really find out about unless you’re super literate or you’ve lived in the U.K. January 25^th, the birthday of the infamous Scottish poet Robbie Burns, is used as a grand excuse to ingest excessive amounts of fine Scottish whisky and that strange and wonderful culinary delight known as haggis. Haggis is a uniquely Scottish phenomenon, consisting ofsheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs), onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, salt and stock – and all this goodness is traditionally boiled in a sheep’s stomach prior to consumption. The haggis is such a hallowed dish that before it may be eaten, a poem (written by Burns) must be recited, in a fine scottish brogue, in its honour. Often the revels are followed by a ceilidgh (pronounced “kay-lee”), which is much like the country dancing one encounters in grade school or at line dancing events.

I did not end up dancing this year, but have enjoyed such pleasures in the past, which are only enhanced by the abundance of kilts and fine scotch legs. Instead I enjoyed a good range of the following alcoholic delights:

A Lowland, Bladnich 1991, Provenance

The nose on this was peach, honey and buttered toast, and I was delighted to discover cardamon and nutmeg on the palate. Very smooth and mellow, for a chilled out evening.

A Speyside, The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old

This was all about caramel and burnt toffee, wet wood and walnuts, and when “nosed” (water added to bring out volatiles) gave off a nice honey lemon odour. The palate was quite sweet, but tended to focus on the back of the tongue and was less than satisfactory.

A Highland, Old Pultenery 12 Year Old

This is known as “the Manzanilla of the north”, and most certainly lives up to its name – apples, pears and sawdust on the nose and a bitter pungent palate that smoothes out quite nicely for a quality finish.

An Orkney, Highland Park 8 Year Old

A very simple, straightforward whisky, vanilla and almonds with hints of smoke on the nose lead to a woody, heathery palate.

A Springbank, Longrow 14 Year Old

This was one of my favorites, very smoky with smells of oranges and pecans mingling with a BBQ chicken note. A beautiful sweet full palate, very pungent and peaty.

An Islay, Bowmore 12 Year Old

This was another simpler one, with all the heather and peat one comes to expect of an Islay whisky. Hints of walnuts and a nice, smooth palate.

Another Islay, same distillery, Bowmore 17 Year Old

This was my other fave, toffee intermingling with oranges and pecans; the smoke and peat onkly came out on the palate, which was amazingly complex and finished with a breath of salty sea air, made me think of the salt water taffee one can buy at the shore.

So, overall, a nice spread, covering all the major Scottish regions (Lowland, Speyside, Highland, an island – Orkney, Springbank, and Islay). Of them all, I would recommend 1 and 5 for novices of whisky tasting, as these two will allow the beginner to get a feel for the differences between regions and styles…and for the discerning adept, get yourself some Bowmore 17 and find a friend and a smoky fireplace and settle in for an evening of philosophy and inspiration.