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.

Why some wine quenches a thirst but still leaves you hungry: Benjamin Brunel Rasteau 2003

Rhône Valley wines from the 2003 vintage encourage a pronounced divide among critics. Incredible summer-long heat made for atypical results -- whether those results are lauded or shunned depends on which expert you consult.

The wine aficionados who favour big fruity expressions, concentrated or heavily extracted wines seem to take to 2003 yields like a duck does to water. Others who are let down by meek acidity often claim the vintage's results favour an uninteresting, if not entirely flat, product.

I find myself among the latter group of voices. And the Benjamin Brunel Rasteau Côtes du Rhône-Villages 2003 is a case in point. It has a lovely caramel nose, but you can sense immediately that it is hot. On the palate, the fruit isn't too baked to render admirable shades of dark cherry, blackberry and cassis. Still, it all seems a little too cooked for my tastes. The unique wilted and twisted bottle for this 2003 concoction has never seemed more characteristic.

But then, I do not tend to drink and appreciate wine on its own. Generally, when taken with food, wines of crisp acidity fare much better than those of low-level acid. So that tells you a bit about where I'm coming from, i.e. not a big fan of Grenache much. A hearty meat pie, a salad, a cuisse de canard laquée with flageolets in a tomato and veal demi-glace... none of it especially sings when paired up with this burly Rhône. It is particularly unattractive when next to cheese like Gruyère -- it's too fruity and heady for that. It's not even something to drink when munching on fresh artisanal bread.

LOOKING AHEAD: AVERAGE CONDITIONS, BETTER VINTAGE?

Love it or hate it, it's now the time to move past the 2003s and look towards the 2004s. Benjamin Brunel 2004 has been available for purchase for some time now and just looking at the percentage of alcohol on the bottle label, you can guess that it's a better example of the frequently congenial Southern Rhône style.

After a wet and disastrous 2002 vintage and the heatwave of the 2003 season, almost everyone agrees with Thierry Usseglio, prominent Châteauneuf-du-Pape producer when he says that 2004 is "almost a normal year whose wines will be much more interesting than the 2003s".

Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France. 13.5%