Hey did you know? I really like wine.
Jun. 19th, 2013 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoney321Now, I consider myself a novice. (I say this because a friend's husband is a sommelier, and WOW do I love when they invite me to dinner!) I grew up hating wine (hey: Mormon), and until I had GOOD wine, I didn't understand.
And now I do. And I'll say this: while not having an education beyond trying and failing, trying and loving, making notes, etc., when I recommend wine, I've never heard back that someone didn't love it. Maybe they're not telling me I don't know. But I have a pretty decent palate, is what I'm getting at. (And honestly a big secret is to pay attention to WHERE THE WINE IS FROM. Regions tend to have similar tastes.)
Apparently I have an expensive palate, too. But now, my daily sip (I'm talking a glass, maybe two, please don't worry about me) is Ladera, Napa, 2009 CabSav. I can get it for about $28 a bottle in bulk, but their website has it for $40. Which means I'm filling up my wee wine cellar with bottles while I can. Easily one of the most sippable wines I've encountered. (Cheaper, and fine as well, is Markham Merlot - 2009 at around $16 bottle. Let it open up for a bit. Napa Cellars Cab was my previous "cheap" daily vino at $21 - not their merlot, though. Their merlot has a different mix, unlike Markham's merlot vs. Cab.)
I just don't care for most whites. They tend to taste weak or like dirty socks. I like to taste the grape. I don't want to taste the American oak it soaked in (which is why I avoid labels that point out the oak - that's the vanilla flavor on the back of your tongue at the finish - no me gusta) and have learned that many California wines add chunks of oaks to stainless steel barrels to get that flavor, because Americans like their wine sweet. NOPE. Gross. Not me. Me and an old Frenchman with broken blood vessels across his cheeks would get along fine, topping each other's glasses off and sharing hunks of bread while laughing about the absurdity of life.
I basically want to have several friends over to open about four or five bottles and talk shop and get drunk and then devolve into telling dirty jokes. SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT NIGHT TO ME. :D
(BTW, my sommelier-friend hooked me up with maybe my most favorite champagne ever: Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose. WOW, is that the most delicious champagne for under $200 - hey, it can get pricey - I've ever had. And it's romantic. Two families, rivals, daughter and son fell in love, made their own champagne and have been going strong for over 100 years. And it is exquisite. If you're in Texas and can access a Central Market, this normally $150 bottle is $90. If you have a special occasion, or have the coin, get it. Trust.)
YEP, I HAD HALF A BOTTLE TONIGHT OF MY LADERA LOVE. What of it? :) Now to dig up some cheese and veggies....
And now I do. And I'll say this: while not having an education beyond trying and failing, trying and loving, making notes, etc., when I recommend wine, I've never heard back that someone didn't love it. Maybe they're not telling me I don't know. But I have a pretty decent palate, is what I'm getting at. (And honestly a big secret is to pay attention to WHERE THE WINE IS FROM. Regions tend to have similar tastes.)
Apparently I have an expensive palate, too. But now, my daily sip (I'm talking a glass, maybe two, please don't worry about me) is Ladera, Napa, 2009 CabSav. I can get it for about $28 a bottle in bulk, but their website has it for $40. Which means I'm filling up my wee wine cellar with bottles while I can. Easily one of the most sippable wines I've encountered. (Cheaper, and fine as well, is Markham Merlot - 2009 at around $16 bottle. Let it open up for a bit. Napa Cellars Cab was my previous "cheap" daily vino at $21 - not their merlot, though. Their merlot has a different mix, unlike Markham's merlot vs. Cab.)
I just don't care for most whites. They tend to taste weak or like dirty socks. I like to taste the grape. I don't want to taste the American oak it soaked in (which is why I avoid labels that point out the oak - that's the vanilla flavor on the back of your tongue at the finish - no me gusta) and have learned that many California wines add chunks of oaks to stainless steel barrels to get that flavor, because Americans like their wine sweet. NOPE. Gross. Not me. Me and an old Frenchman with broken blood vessels across his cheeks would get along fine, topping each other's glasses off and sharing hunks of bread while laughing about the absurdity of life.
I basically want to have several friends over to open about four or five bottles and talk shop and get drunk and then devolve into telling dirty jokes. SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT NIGHT TO ME. :D
(BTW, my sommelier-friend hooked me up with maybe my most favorite champagne ever: Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose. WOW, is that the most delicious champagne for under $200 - hey, it can get pricey - I've ever had. And it's romantic. Two families, rivals, daughter and son fell in love, made their own champagne and have been going strong for over 100 years. And it is exquisite. If you're in Texas and can access a Central Market, this normally $150 bottle is $90. If you have a special occasion, or have the coin, get it. Trust.)
YEP, I HAD HALF A BOTTLE TONIGHT OF MY LADERA LOVE. What of it? :) Now to dig up some cheese and veggies....
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Date: 2013-06-20 01:43 am (UTC)I can't tell you how useless I find most wine notes in magazines, etc. Notes of tar? Asphalt? Um. =/(Something I've truly read.) The best advice I've ever been given was to focus on where something came from. As a gardener, that makes sense to me, that the soil profile will make the grapes taste similar.
Now, in California (and Oregon) a lot of wineries buy grapes instead of growing them, so it's not always helpful (check the back label for it to say grown and produced, instead of simply bottled) to focus on regions, but I tend to LOVE things from Alexander Valley - and they use French oak, which has less turpentine than American oak. (And in France I never go wrong with bottles from: St. Emilion & St. Julien) and now I'm rambling. :D
I tend to like robust flavors with a clean finish. I don't like sweet wines at all. Any hint of vanilla and I'm out. Markham merlot was a happy little stumble - the Cab is twice the price, but they're almost exactly the same grape variety. The merlot doesn't spend as long in the cask, is all. Napa Cellars Cab is such a delicious regular wine, as well. Why waste time with something that doesn't taste good, says I!
<3
(We shall have our wine flight night I say! With crostinis and nuts and cheeses and pickles and YUM. <3)