Out of shape at 33

Out of shape at 33 is one of those targeted ads you see on Facebook. They are insidious, but ultimately they are an acceptable trade-off for many Facebookers (you reveal your birth date so your friends can get birthday reminders in order to buy you a drink; you suffer thereafter a torrent of tanned, toned abdominal muscles that call you out by your age, peppering you with reproach about your wanning fitness the day after your birthday).

But they are only annoying as they are effective. Internet incantations of laziness prompted me to post this, after all.

Finally, after six weeks of inactivity and silence, I am posting. Finally, after a marked increase in bottles of calorie-rich wine (that just so happened to match my sudden hike in vacation time, which always carries with it wanning physical activity)!

And, sure enough, this post comes after a time away in which I celebrated my 33rd birthday. So that's me who's out of shape. There's no contest: I really am out of shape at 33. At the very least, this blog space is a testament to it.

SEXY, STREAMLINED AND SAVVY IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

I bring up Facebook mostly because I'm on it and I'm on it a lot. (Oh, don't act surprised. You're on there too. So is Steve De Long of De Long's Wine Moment. So is David McDuff of McDuff's Food and Wine Trail.)

Need more proof of how much I'm on there (other than the sad abs-in-my-face story)? Here:
MY NEW WINE BLOG ON FACEBOOK

Yes, I've been somewhat busy with a new foray for Weingolb set in an exciting collaborative environment: it's called the Facebook page.

Here's what a Facebook page brings:

• public access to everyone on the Internet (notice that I didn't say it was a Facebook profile!) so it's not restricted to registered Facebook members (though Facebookers do get the added benefits of an improved social networking experience, which is something that has entirely changed the raison d'être of wineblogging for me -- thanks especially to BrooklynGuy, Bill "the Caveman" Zacharkiw and Joe from Joe's Wine


• a multi-purpose wall for writing comments, wine reviews or comments on wine reviews (or...?)


• a discussion board for enhanced development of forum topics


• the easiest photo and video upload tool on the planet -- accessible to all, whether you are a reader, administrator, weindoktor or plonkpupil


• built-in RSS and news feed features for reliably keeping track of updates


• event creation -- though it's a bit stiff and I admit could be better -- and the usual web 2.0 bells and whistles


• automatic web tracking and metrics (bye-bye slow-loading Site Meter)

But most of all, the biggest thing it brings is:

• convenience and ease of access... since I'm already always on Facebook!

Ooops. I've forgotten a bit about wineblogging. It has been a long, long time since I last wine blogged. I meant to say... Here's what my Facebook page brings:

• A Great White Gaillac


• The Best Rasteau in the World


• A '97 Brunello


• A Maury for digestion

And those were just wines suitable for the celebration of my 33rd birthday. Plenty of other everyday wines are documented too.

• Lorieux's Thélème Chinon


• Lorieux's Mauguerets Bourgeuil -- in fact a Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgeuil to be exact, called Les Mauguerets-La Contrie


• all those Pinot Noirs that Joe and I tasted at our 05 Champys tasting (already reported by Joe in this Joe's Wine post)

I'm about to post reviews on Château Candastre, another French southwest wine from Gaillac, this time red, and a Limoux sparkling wine from Laurens.

Drink up!

Thanks to all the clever bloggers I have continued to read during my slow-down and switch. They have kept me inspired. I may never publish notes once a day as I did when I started this site. But I am hopeful that this move could ultimately be better than the blogging of my early days anyway.

So I hope you will visit me over here on my re-launched page.

More news on WBW, plus a failed theme of my own called "When chard turns to sherry": Laroche Les Pierres 2002 and Alvear Carlos VII Montilla Moriles

Lenn Thompson's Wine Blogging Wednesday legacy continues to inspire. This month in particular, I've found that I've been posting multiple WBW entries, even though WBW comes but once a month.

With the latest WBW news, I'm certainly not stopping the flow of WBW posts now -- so March continues to be a month full of interesting WBW developments and I'm on a roll posting about them.

Lenn, who runs LennDevours, should be very proud of an announcement made yesterday that Gary Vaynerchuk is the next host of WBW 44 on April 2 (AKA the 33rd of March).

The theme set by Gary for WBW 44 is French Cabernet Franc, which in itself is fantastic, but it's so much more than that. Gary's Wine Library TV makes WBW 44 the first edition to be hosted by a video blog (or so I believe). Plus Gary is a force, on a totally different level than any other blogger (a testament to this is how many non-wino, non-blogging friends of mine have tried to point me to Gary's site over the years). Gary has obviously had crossover success. He's penetrated the genre of online wine criticism, branded his own unique take on wine talk, and reached out and touched the great unwashed, for lack of a better term. And, by the way, it's worth noting the influence he has. WBW 44 participants are supposed to link their blog's entry by using the comments attached to Gary's announcement, which was officially made in Episode 426 -- well, in less than one day, Episode 426 has already received 315 comments and the blogging event is still weeks away. Now that's some reach!

ENTER MY MISBEGOTTEN WINE THEME

Last Wednesday, I found myself reaching. Except unlike Gary, when I'm reaching, I'm usually over-reaching. Anyway, there I was, sitting around mid-month and bored. No sign of the next WBW, and WBW 43 was already over and successfully wrapped up.

I was desperate for some theme action.

So I walked into a wine shop and instantly created a theme for my purchase: Discounted wine. Yes, discounted wine. See the receipt pictured at right -- I not only saved $2.50 or 10% off a $25 bottle, I also saved 5 cents more as I brought my own reusable bag for my purchase. $2.55 in my pocket! Yay, discount wine theme!

Gentle reader, you do note the irony here.

Discounted wine is a dangerous topic and even more dangerous as a theme for a blogging event. How many of you have bought marked down bottles only to uncork them and find that there was good reason for their being priced to clear?

I was entirely optimistic at the time though.

Les Pierres means "the rocks" in French, plus since 2002 was such a great year for cold-climate French wine, I figured I was on solid ground with this find.

So I went ahead and rescued that last 2002 Chablis languishing on the shelf from among a bunch of 2004s. The 2002 had a stained label (see photo at left for its good side, photo below for its bad side).

More than that the 2002 sported a different cuvée name than the 04s (they were also marked down but christened "Saint-Martin," not "Les Pierres" as the 2002 was -- yet they all shared the same product code and that same alluring discounted price.)

In fact, I bought this wine before. I recall enjoying the 2002 Chablis from Domaine Laroche a couple of years ago. I even noted it here. It was not called "Les Pierres" at that time either, which now leads me to think that this discounted bottle was a mix-up. Perhaps a remainder from an old shipment destined for some other market where Laroche wanted a less saintly, more rock-solid image. Who knows whose hands touched it. Or didn't touch it as the case may be, leaving it to oxidize and taint in warm rooms hit by direct sunlight.

But to the consumer who sees the 10% promise attached around the neck of this bottle, only that stained label is apparent. And so the smart consumer buys it, thinking that it's what's inside that counts.

Well, here's what's inside...

Domaine Laroche "Les Pierres" Chablis 2002

Eyes: An intense amber colour.

Nose: Very oxidized, tragically so -- acrid, rotting vegetables.

Mouth: Piercing on the palate, beyond vinegary. This is fermented.

Stomach: Puke-inducing.

Michel Laroche, Chablis, France. 12.5%.

But all was not lost. The theme of my impromptu event was changing before my very eyes. Friends had a bottle of sherry to open, which was a serendipitous turn. It was a non-vintage Amontillado from the Montilla Moriles appellation from Andalusia region of Spain.

So we opened it to see whether our volatile Chablis was actually on its way to sherry glory. And maybe in that sense cut it some slack.

First, I should say that this Amontillado produced by Alvear is more on the Fino sherry side than Oloroso. Typically, Amontillados are in between the two -- darker than a Fino but lighter than an Oloroso -- but I thought this bottle was quite reminiscent of some Finos I've had. Dry and deftly penetrating. An aperitif-type drink to enjoy before the food arrives.

Here now are the comparative notes...

Alvear Carlos VII Amontillado Montilla Moriles

Eyes: Slightly less opulent in colour but more viscous.

Nose: Oxidation but with great complexity -- nut purees, apricot confits, allspice and other stunning spicy notes.

Mouth: Wet bandages and almond shells, alcoholic but stylish and drying.

Stomach: Aperitif, ideal with dry-roasted nutmeats.

Córdoba, Andalucía, Espagne. 19%.

Conclusions! Old Chablis does not a sherry make; Caveat emptor, especially on older wines that are discounted.

Croft makes my favourite wine of the year

Croft Quinta da Roêda Vintage Port 1997 (about $20, per service)

Don't hate me for mentioning port in my year-end look back at the favourite wines I've drunk. Port is wine -- fortified wine -- or wine fortified by the addition of grape brandy. Brandy is a spirit. It's distilled which is where some people like to draw the line between wine and all other alcoholic beverages. Wine is fermented, hence it is alive. Tipple is distilled and therefore it lacks soul.

But port, or port wine, is still mainly wine -- basically 4/5 fermented grapes. That one-fifth brandy actually is created from distilling other wine. So though port is a small part distilled spirit, all of port's "spirit," so to speak, is wine, through and through.

Here's something else of interest: Who knew that the Portuguese have a definition for Canada, one that likely predates Canada the country? In Portuguese, Canada is a measure used in making port wine. It's "the amount a man should drink everyday [which is the equivalent of] 2 liters" (note the non-Canadian spelling of litres). I got this information from the Croft website glossary. I hope they're talking about drinking water here, because 2 litres a day of port wine or even the most watered-down wine sounds deadly. I have no idea how using this measure actually helps in the production of port wine.

Speaking of appropriate portions, since port is fortified wine it is best delivered in small amounts, definitely in smaller amounts than wine. Higher alcohol, greater concentration and denser viscosity all work to limit your intake of port in one sitting. So it's no wonder port can cost three or four times that of a fine table wine. A single bottle of port will often last over three or four dinners in the average two-person household. Where the 750mL bottle of table wine is something I'd consider "one service" (i.e. it is entirely served during the meal at a dinner for two), the exact same size bottle of port is what I'd call three or four services (i.e. it is not entirely served during a dinner for two; it would have additional services left in it).

Using this principle, I'm squeezing an $85 bottle of port by my spend-about-$20 rule. This is cheating perhaps. But the important thing is that this stuff happened to be some the best wine I drank all year, no question. This says more about my burgeoning interest in port than it might about the quality of this Croft bottle versus others -- I would have a hard time ranking this as today's best port since my background is so limited. But if I'm honest, the best vintage port I drank in 2007 was the only vintage port I tasted, and it was definitely amazing stuff. I would recommend this bottle to any wino.

MY TASTING NOTES ON PORT WINE

This port is from a vintage ten years ago at Quinta da Roêda, a vineyard that has long been recognized as one of the great port vineyards of the Douro Valley. Of Roêda, nineteenth century poet Vega Cabral is to have said: "If the wine district were a golden ring, Roêda would be the diamond." Croft's Quinta da Roêda is not produced every year -- vintage port never is. It comes out only after exceptional years. But unlike other ports Croft's Quinta da Roêda is made from grapes of a single vineyard, rather than mixed with grapes from several vineyards. (The best port, quite opposite to the best wine, is drawn from grapes of multiple vineyards -- so as to gather the very best grapes of the vintage... hmmm! Terroir is not port wine idea.)

Croft's Quinta da Roêda tastes like the finest wine I can imagine, concentrated into something stronger while still retaining the balance of the wine it was made from. It's as savoury as it is sweet. You taste it for hours after you've swallowed it. It's out of this world.

That's the best tasting note I can give on it at this stage of my wino life. Perhaps I'll develop a tasting note template for port that alters the existing one I use for regular table wine. I think I would at the very least need to eliminate the food pairings from the note since port, while nice with chocolate or rich cheeses, generally is not something around which you'd base your food, no less your meals. It's a few sips to be relished, and the astounding length of it helps prolong your (single) glass of it anyway.

I got a great deal on this bottle and gave it as a birthday gift to a friend who was celebrating a birthday early in the year. Soon after that, I was treated to a taste, which meant it was opened only as it was starting to peak (vintage ports need a minimum of ten to 15 years before consuming. That generalization surprised me slightly when I took a sip. I can't fathom that it would possibly get any better than what I had tasted, but then I'm newbie (for now) when it comes to port wine.

Vins Doux Naturels: Expanding the possibilities of Languedoc-Roussillon value wines

The sweet wines of the Midi, known as Vins Doux Naturels, face a dwindling demand these days. Though there is a rich heritage behind them, these unique wines are losing out to the vast production of red, white and rosé wine from Languedoc-Roussillon. So it's a bit of a paradox that these specialized wines, which expand the possibilities for the adventurous wino, eventually limit options. That's because of their obscurity. "Why not just have a Port or a Madeira?" is what you might often end up hearing.

This is a classic catch-22. Port wine -- which was invented using the same technique that was innovated for Vin Doux Naturel -- steals away many potential drinkers of Maury or Banyuls, for instance.

Just last night, I had some Port after dinner rather than a Midi Muscat. While I got to taste some Muscat de Rivesaltes on the weekend, it can be hard to find friends interested in sharing a bottle of Vin Doux Naturel. As is the wont these days, one turns to the Internet when such is the case...

My virtual drinking buddy in Brooklyn who runs Brooklynguy's Wine and Food Blog can share his experience tracking down some Banyuls in the greater metropolitan area of New York. He'll tell you it's all about location, location, location, but more importantly, he also reviews the Domaine du Mas Blanc Banyuls that he eventually finds. B'guy also talks about Maury's sweet wines and garners a lot of interesting feedback in the comments. All in all, another fine post from Brooklynguy and some really helpful reading material for WBW 33. Thanks B'guy! Your hard work and fine effort are always rewarding.

So Vins Doux Naturels are obscure wine products because they typically do not get exported and distributed widely like the more popular styles of wine do. Since we're on the topic of economics, I'll admit that these sweet wines are not likely the Langudoc-Roussillon wines most associated with the best values for your everyday, typical wine drinker.

Though these are interesting and historic wines of the Midi, they were not what I originally had in mind for the theme of WBW 33. Nevertheless, you should feel free to check them out. And if you haven't tried any Vins Doux Naturels before, why not open a bottle instead of Port next time you get the chance?

UNVEILING THE MASTER LIST FOR WBW 33

With all this talk of new, off-the-beaten-path wines and obscure appellations, the time has come to update my original listing of official wine designations of Languedoc-Roussillon -- the only designations that are allowed for the WBW theme of Mid-priced wines from the Midi. (After all, I did promise I would add the missing appellations to my "top ten" ones.)

This means that all the sweet wine called vin doux naturel, all the country wine of the vin de pays ilk, and all the officially recognized appellations of the Languedoc-Roussillon region are now committed to a single nicely alphabetized list of eligibility for WBW 33. I call it the Master List...

... see if your potential WBW 33 bottle makes the cut!

On the sweet side of Languedoc-Roussillon value wines: Vin Doux Naturel and Domaine Cazes

Here's an interesting idea for WBW 33 -- a nectar-like wine that you can serve as an aperatif or as dessert! I'm talking about Vin Doux Naturel such as Banyuls or Rivesaltes, but if you've never heard of them, allow me to explain.

Vin doux naturel means "naturally sweet wine". That's in part becuase the grapes used to make it typically are high in natural sugar and therefore capable of reaching 15 percent alcohol during the vinification. To that, distilled spirits are added and essentially stop fermentation while further elevating the alcohol content. The resulting wines are usually 15 to 18 percent alcohol but can range as high as 21.5 percent. Generally white grape Vin Doux Naturel are sweeter and less alcoholic than reds.

I framed last week's posts on Vin de Pays as the legacy of Languedoc-Roussillon, but you could certainly revise that to say that Vin de Pays is the legacy of Languedoc while Vin Doux Naturel is the legacy of Roussillon. The larger western Languedoc does produce a little Vin Doux Naturel, but the smaller eastern Roussillon is the heavyweight producer, having nurtured, developed and actually invented this unique style of wine. (Other than a couple types of Vin Doux Naturel coming out of the Rhône Valley, this concoction is strictly a Languedoc-Roussillon regional wine.)

For the historical signifcance of vin doux naturel -- of which Port wine is sometimes considered part of its legacy -- I turned to The Oxford Companion to Wine. Its entry includes the following:

The Catalan alchemist Arnaldus de Villanova (Arnaud de Villeneuve) of Montpellier University's then-flourishing medical school perfected the [vin doux naturel vinification] process and in 1299 was granted a patent from the king of Majorca, then ruler of Roussillon, which was to become the world's centre of vin doux naturel production ...
This is essentially how port as we know it, created nearly 400 years later, is made strong and sweet, and the technique is also used in the production of madeira and málaga.

But for a more practical lesson, nothing beats a tasting of the stuff to understand what it is. Click on the thumbnails below to take a closer look at what my friends and I drank over the weekend.


I chose to open a well-reviewed Muscat de Rivesaltes, which is just one official Vin Doux Naturel designation of many. As the name often implies with these sweet wines, the grape involved is obvious (sometimes tawnier versions of Vin Doux Naturel are made with Grenache grapes though that may not be apparent on the label).

Domaine Cazes Muscat de Rivesaltes 2003 reminded me a lot of my favourite Muscat treat called Passito-di-Pantelleria. Though I might still prefer the Sicilian in an after dinner situation for its intense fruit, slight hint of orange bitters and overall honeyed attack, this Riversaltes could slip in easily as an aperatif alongside nuts or rich terrines and pâtés.

It features something more like a dry Fino Sherry finish, less sweet than it could be. The consistency of this wine is still very viscous. Not too heady and with tremendous balance. Quite a versatile entry, and at about $25 a perfect candidate for a review in WBW 33.

With drops of vin doux naturel sliding down the side of the bottle, this one became quite sticky to handle. I tried to render this in my photography of the empty bottle but the stunning label still stands out more than my fingerprint traces left on the gummy surface of the glass. Nice design!

This wine producer, Domaine de Cazes is buzzing with interest, and for more than just its logo. They are doing great things in Roussillon, especially in fortified wines but also in the full gamut of red and white wine. Muscat de Rivesaltes is the final destination of 70 percent of France's total Muscat production, and if you feel like picking some up, the Domaine de Cazes name is a good place to start.

André et Bernard Cazes, Rivesaltes, France. 15%. Certified organic and biodynamic wine.

Next: Vin Doux Naturel, part two. And assembling the master list.

Make sure you deserve this dessert wine: Carlo Pellegrino Moscato

Well worth noting is how uniquely made this dessert wine is. You're sure to be roused after the very first sip of the stuff, which is called Carlo Pellegrino Passito di Pantelleria, so take a moment and consider this. It's produced by drying out and then vinifying Sicily's Zibibbo brand of Muscat grape (it turns out that there are many, many different varieties of Muscats, which surprised me).

The Oxford Companion to Wine describes Moscato Passito-di-Pantelleria, a DOC appellation, as Italy's finest dessert wine -- lush, rich and more in the true dessert style than the less reputable, generic label simply called Moscato di Pantelleria ("passito" is the Italian term for dried grape wines).

The book goes on: "...Passito di Pantelleria must have at least 14 per cent alcohol and 110 g/l residual sugar, although a current trend is to seek a more decadently sweet style, raisining the grapes for up to 30 days and arriving at close to 140 g/l of residual sugar."

Aside from the special care, this Moscato also has behind it a fanciful legend from antiquity. This Italian wine file talks about Passito di Pantelleria's divinity and its relationship to ambrosia.

I drank my Moscato with friends, which is a good idea since it is both too decadent and too deceptively alcoholic for the solo drinker. The dining room attached to my kitchen seemed to render itself a swanky drawing room in the presence of this wine's golden hues and storied history. The transformation commanded the attention of my camera lens.

TASTING NOTES FROM THE PANTELLERIA CHAIR

This wine has the delicious scent of orange blossoms. It is viscous and full on the palate with strong notes of apricot and tangerine and hints of cardamom. Drinking this moscato offers neat mouth-coating feeling, which is quite pleasurable. But it's not too syrupy either: a lightly bracing acidity makes the wine a refreshing expression.

And when served with anything as simple as a bit of chocolate, this wine makes for an exotic and fruity complement to the end of your meal.

Pantelleria, Sicilia, Italia. 15.5%

A vintage of a different kind

Wine blogs, even beer blogs, have found their place on the Internet. Where, I ask, are the port posts and sherry sites?

As a real wine fanatic, it can be hard to devote some attention to the grapes that are vinified into a higher alcoholic concoction. The grapes used to make fortified wine are usually riper and make the resulting cuvée sweeter and headier, often due to the addition of brandy or some other spirit. It's not an everyday uncorking, at least not for me.

The two fortified wines pictured above have routinely found a way into my glass over the course of the last year. They are Taylor Fladgate 2000 Late Bottled Vintage and the non-vintage Solera Cream Montilla Moriles, a sherry, respectively. The port is, of course, Portuguese, while the sherry, also known as Montilla Moriles, is from Spain.

I find it amusing that the reason I embrace the Fladgate port so much is because it reminds me of my favourite red wines -- rich and velvety with a palpable tannic astringency. At dessert, this is not a cloying overly sweet drink. I think of it more as a touchy-feely espresso to cap off a meal. A hint of bitterness nestled in a smooth and luxuriant package. 20%.

If the Fladgate appeals to me because of its kinship with wine, the Alvear turns me on for exactly the opposite reason. This stuff is like liquified dessert. Crème brulée in a bottle. If you've ever had Canasta, it is a bit like that but more refined. It's got eau-de-vie in it! Ultimately the cream is superbly balanced making this a real treat to savour. 18%.

Backwash
Tomorrow's news today! French tennis stylist Amélie Mauresmo reduces Belgian mighty mouse to a FORTIFIED WHINE...

In Saturday's women's final at the Australian Open, Mauresmo outclassed and outpaced the talented but ultimately feeble Justine Henin-Hardenne, giving up only 1 game in 52 minutes. Pummelled by fantastic shotmaking and a wicked and unyeilding top spin, Henin-Hardenne redefined the Belgian waffle by retiring -- an unprecendented move during a Grand Slam final in the modern era -- for apparently unknown reasons. It seems she was a tad out of breath. Or perhaps knowing that she could not win the title was enough to make her sufficiently sick and throw in the towel only four games shy of match completion. At least when Belgian countrywoman Kim Clijsters faced Mauresmo in the semis, she had the decency to roll an ankle for the crowd.

So concludes this wineblog's coverage of the start of the 2006 tennis season. Since Nicolas Kiefer lost his semifinal match, I join the rest of the free world and move to football this weekend. Amélie, you deserved to win this title and your first Grand Slam trophy. Congrats, and enjoy that 1937 Château d'Yquem!