2004 Domaine Brana (Irouleguy)

2004 Domaine Brana (Irouleguy)

NOSE: Tight. The main scent was of freshly manured dirt, with a little cranberries and strawberries. A little creamy dark chocolate action too (an oxymoron? perhaps not). It didn't do much for me initially. And I can't say it was immediately delicious, but it was interesting, and it drew me back and eventually grew on me. Perhaps we didn't decant early enough. After a while, a brief tone of tight, but pleasant-smelling fruit shone through. Perhaps the grapes were not completely ripe in this vintage.

PALATE: If the nose had hints of milk chocolate, the palate was dark chocolate all day long! It reminded me of 99% Teuscher dark chocolate. If you've never had it, it's dark and bitter yet bizzarely creamy. The wine had a powerful attack of rustic earthy flavors, medium viscosity, explosively flavorful midpalate with good chocolate aromatics. Like satin in the mouth! The finish treated me to a little skit: first Alcohol and Tannins danced a little jig around a small, fading Cranberry. Then the little Cranberry spoke up with a bright, acidic tone. Finally, Tannins and a glorious Dark Chocolate Bitterness took the show home. The tannins gripped my tongue on the first taste, and did not let go until half an hour after the meal. It was really, really good. Stronger, fuller, riper tannins than Barrel Monkeys.

The acidity was present but not overt. The tannins were huge. This wine was a heap of fresh manured earth, supported by a stone wall of tannins with acidity as mortar. It really tasted like running into a rock wall. I would have liked more fruit, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
ASPECT: Dark saturated color, slightly purple (dim light).

With Indian food: I was left with just the manured earth smell and the tannins. Didn't go fantastically, but I'd try it again at a less noisy/smelly Indian restaurant.

13.5%, 70/15/15 - T/C/CF

Tasted 12/18/07

Tasting Tags: chocolate earth madiran manure spicy tannat tannic

2005 Freiherr von Heddesdorff Riesling Trocken

2005 Freiherr von Heddesdorff Riesling Trocken

NOSE: A damp rock, and not an interesting rock, with a hint of bitter-smelling rotten melon. No citrus like the Barmes Buecher. Not delicious or interesting.

PALATE: Sweet. Good, crisp acidity, but still sweet. A nice bit of mild frizzante. The midpalate displays more bitter, overripe canteloupe. The viscosity is low to medium, with a faintly syrupy mouthfeel. Finishes with bitter, overripe melon, then fades to warmth, but it is not clean like Barmes Buecher, but ends with jousting sour and bitter notes. Not a clean finish.

ASPECT: Clear, pale, with a faint tinge of yellow-gold.

WITH CURRY: Devolved into sweet, sour, and bitter. Any fruit was masked, though the acidity did cut through the mild curries. Aroma: eventually just bitter. Not appetizing.

CONCLUSION: Weak on the nose. Not dry. Not my cup of tea. 12/15/07

Tasting Tags: corkscrew mosel riesling sweet trocken

2006 Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz

2006 Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz

This wine has become so popular that its price has inflated well over Sarah and Sparky's intended price. Knowing about their glycerol-boosting fermentation methods, I expected a super-rich, overly-sweet wine that bore no resemblance to Shiraz. It turns out there was more to the wine than I expected. NOSE: Lots of alcohol interference, at times appeared more muted than the other shiraz's we were tasting. Noteable and pleasing Shiraz note framed by rich, real fruit. A delicious if not complex nose. PALATE: As expected, glycerol sweetness prevailed. A long, extracted wine, with a spicy bite, and bigger tannins than the '06 Maitre d' (though still subdued). To my palate, significantly better than the '06 Maitre D'. I appreciate that Sarah and Sparky Marquis have developed a truly unique, recognizable style of wines. Not drinkable for my palate. 12/7/07

Tasting Tags: glycerine glycerol mollydooker shiraz sweet

2004 Redbank 2004 Shiraz "The Long Paddock" (Victoria)

2004 Redbank 2004 Shiraz "The Long Paddock" (Victoria)

NOSE: Warm, round, bright red cherry pie, with a hint of sweet yogurt. PALATE: Also sweet, but balanced by slightly higher acidity than the Winner's Tank. Don't recall the finish. This was the first wine to be finished at the tasting - possibly the most drinkable of the four. The '05 vintage earned a dismal 75 from Jay Miller, but I don't find the '06 flawed in any way (except being too sweet). If you like lightly sweet shiraz, this is a good value. 12/7/07

Tasting Tags: shiraz value

2006 Winner's Tank Shiraz (Langhorne Creek)

2006 Winner's Tank Shiraz (Langhorne Creek)

NOSE: Complex and real, with appetizing cherries, and hints of liquorice, burnt rubber, and egg nog. Several delicious tones I could not name.

PALATE: Slight but present sweetness. Low acidity. Attacks the palate with extracted fruit. Aromatic midpalate. Long finish that becomes unbalanced- first faintly bitter, then fading into a sour aftertaste. Weak tannins. Several largish particles of black fruit residue in the bottle made it clear that this wine is unfiltered! Aromatically complex, and unoffensive in its balance, if not gripping. I would like it drier, with much bigger tannins. I give it 88 points, mostly on its nose. 12/7/07

Tasting Tags: burnt complex rubber shiraz slightly sweet

2005 Red Heads Studio Yard Dog Red

2005 Red Heads Studio Yard Dog Red

(Boston, Thanksgiving 11/23/07)

NOSE: blueberries, butter, apple jolly-rancher.
PALATE: Low acidity, medium to full-bodied, mouth-filling, tongue-coating fruit bomb. Slight dryness from light tannins yield to a smooth finish. Dark, slightly-savory fruit on the midpalate. Very interesting by itself, but paired with the Thanksgiving fare, took on a fake, herbal quality that didn't go with the food. Didn't go with Kaltbach cave-aged cheese, either.

CONCLUSION: Interesting, a little "fake", good and satisfying and intriguing by itself.

2006 Pillar Box Red

2006 Pillar Box Red

N BRIEF: A teeth-staining, palate-coating, spicy "fruit-bomb" that has a peculiar "savory" flavor profile that backs up a fruit-forward, pure nose. Not a flavor profile that really resonates with me. Tannins are too weak for my tastes. A well-made, super-flavorful, undeniably balanced, clean wine. Not aromatically complex.

NOSE: Shiraz ("sulfur") and Cabernet ("chocolate-candied-cherry") tones come through, with black raspberry and a hint of synthetic apple.

PALATE: Only faintly sweet. Just enough acidity that it doesn't grab attention, but frames the fruit well. Tannins are weak. This concentrated, mouth-coating wine attacks the palate with dark, savory, spicy, extracted fruit. The savory-bitter midpalate character carries through to the finish, jousting with the weak tannins long after the fruit has faded. Not viscous in the mouth, but intensely flavorful, weighty.

ASPECT: Brilliant, deep purple-red. ~2mm of clear meniscus. Completely opaque ~1cm from the edge.

COMPOSITION: Shiraz/Cab/Merlot (50/42/8). Alc 15%.

WITH FOOD: Didn't do anything exciting with any of the thanksgiving fare. Doesn't go with trail mix. But... it goes incredibly with Twix when it's cold. I'm serious: Cold Pillar Box Red and Twix! - a match made in heaven! Incidentally, I hate Twix by itself.

11/27/07

Tasting Tags: faintly finish salty savory savoury smooth steak sweet

2004 Malivoire Gewurtztraminer

2004 Malivoire Gewurtztraminer

(Tasted at Boston Thanksgiving with dinner)

NOSE: slight lychees, lemon rind, hint of grapefruity-bitterness, rose petal, faint orange and spices. Interesting, delicious nose. The combination of lychee, rosepetal and slight spices put me briefly in an Indian fruit market. Beautiful.

PALATE: fruity and full-bodied, with no midpalate hole, the aromatics came through retronasally. Very sweet - syrupy body, with low acidity and bitterness from the midpalate to the finish. Felt slightly sick after the first sip. Not my style.

ASPECT: brilliant golden color. "good color" according to GV.

COMPARISON TO BARMES BUECHER: sweeter, less lychee characteristic, more complex nose.

OVERALL: Great to smell, can't drink it.

OBSERVATION OF GEWURZ AT THIS POINT(2 bottles tried): I love the nose, more than any other white wine. It resonates with my memories of Indian fruits. However I can't stand the sweetness and the bitterness. SCORE: 70 points on the nose alone.

Tasting Tags: bitter cloying gewurztraminer lychee petal rose syrupy

2004 Domaine Barmès Buecher (Alsace) Herrenweg de Turckheim Riesling

2004 Domaine Barmès Buecher (Alsace) Herrenweg de Turckheim Riesling

Color: Terrible. watery, not brilliant. About the color of urine.

Nose: Very tight, even after warming in hands. Only the faintest hint of fruit was forthcoming. No lemon characteristic. The dull nose was mostly yeast. Maybe, just maybe, there was a soupcon of canteloupe rind.

Palate: Watery, thin, poor concentration, hollow, acidity was not balanced by fruit or residual sugar - there was very little residual sugar, so it was fairly dry- much drier than the 06 Riesling Tradition. A lean and watery wine, and $7 more expensive than the 06 Riesling! Very bad QPR. Pass.

Tasting Tags: hollow thin watery yeast