Category Archives: Wine

Perrin Cotes du Rhone "Nature" and "Tradition"; Vacqueyras

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Perrin & fils are establishing a brand, in the best way, and following a grand French tradition.  Proprietors of the great (well, it's expensive enough that I haven't tried it) Chateauneuf-du-Pape property, Château de Beaucastel, they also make several excellent Côtes-du-Rhône that are a clear cut above most plain Côtes.  I found their Tradition to be excellent, with a bit more tannin and substance than standard Cotes, but still with easy-to-drink berry flavors and a bit of autumn-leafy complexity.  Their organic "Nature" 2007 ($17/750ml, $10/375ml, Canadian at LCBO) was even better---or at any rate different.  Mostly Grenache, with some Syrah, like most Côtes.  My notes say "Great nose--hints of chocolatiness, sweetness--something like chocolate milk or cocoa powder in the nose and on the palate.  Some complexity---hard to describe---a bit chalky or mineral.  Really a remarkable wine.  Herbs?  Tastes alive.  Pretty long finish.  Closest thing might be "The Stump Jump" (an Aussie Grenache-Shiraz).  Definite chalkiness now.  Really great!"

Nice label, too: all of Perrin's labels feature various shades of off-white to cream paper, with classic French typographic design reminsicent of the 19th century.  The "Nature" features laid paper with visible chain-lines, groovy retro typography of the sort modeled on elegant fountain-pen script, with some of the lettering in green, and green butterflies on the cream background.  On the other wines, some lettering is black, some red.  Their wine is classic French tradition-based quality product; they know it and the labels send the message too:  the design isn't uniform, but it's clearly a family of designs, discreetly but unmistakeably radiating the glory that is France at its best.

Cuvee Catharine Brut Rose---Henry of Pelham; Bodegas Weinert, Luigi Bosca and Argento Reserva Malbecs

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At wine and cheese two weeks ago at PI, I bought a glass of the Henry of Pelham, VQA Niagara, Ontario, Cuvee Catharine Brut Rosé (non vintage).  At first, I was disappointed that it seemed a bit closed, though fruity and acidic.  Then it opened up, getting toastier (or was that just me) with scents of strawberry and other yummy stuff, but keeping that crisp acidity and clarity.  This apparently costs $30 CDN at the winery, so it's getting up into the range with Champagne, but it's made by the traditional Champenoise method, from the traditional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, and I think it competes well with French bubbles, which moreover are going to set you back at least $38 at this quality level.  Bottom line, I'd buy more even at this price; I don't give numerical ratings, but take that as a rave review.

My free glass was the Bodegas Weinert Malbec from Argentina---the most Bordeaux-like of the Argentine Malbecs I've recently tried.  Darker, more restrained and tannic than these, it was nevertheless a bit elegant, and a nice wine that I order on occasion with dinner.  At $20 or so at LCBO, I'm perhaps not as wild about it as a few other Argentine Malbecs I've found there:  the Luigi Bosca single vineyard Lujan de Cuyo 2006 Malbec Reserva is fantastic, melding silkiness and Bordeaux-like caramelly oak notes with beautiful, not-too-jammy fruit ($18CDN);  the Argento reserve Malbec 2005 ($12) similar but perhaps a bit less complex, and with definite emphasis on blueberry fruitiness slightly reminscent of some Aussie Shirazes.  Again, the relevant "rating" is that I bought more of both of these after tasting them.  Fittingly for wines from Argentina, they are both great with steak.

Smash the ripe Syrah grape! Spread Red power worldwide! (2007 Chapel Hill Syrah, 2007 Alkoomi Syrah, 2007 Hope Syrah "The Ripper", 2005 Cornas "Empreintes" Durand, 2005 Cornas Domaine du Tunnel, 1983 Chapoutier Hermitage, 1983 Jaboulet "Les Jumelles" Cote Rotie, etc...)

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Well, after a minor jag a few years back on South Australian (Barossa, McClaren Vale) Shiraz, and a rather successful foray into Santa Barbara Syrah, including some futures purchases from the Wine Cask, I've done another round of Syrah exploration over the past few months, as LCBO seems to be well-supplied with the stuff and the Australian ones, at least, regularly tack up 90+ point reviews.  The results have been pretty good, overall.

I'll start with two wines from Cornas; these are the first Cornas I've ever tried, as this appellation in the Northern Rhône Valley of France is rather small (90 hectares, or 222 acres) and perhaps a bit obscure compared to its better-known and even more expensive Northern Rhône siblings Hermitage and Côte Rotie.  It shares with these siblings steep hillside vineyards overlooking the Rhone river, on the right (west) bank, granite soils (along with some clay and limestone), and predominant use (in the case of Cornas, exclusive use) of the Syrah (Aussie: Shiraz) grape.  It's reputedly a bit more rustic than the other two, hence, probably, its lower price.  But it's a fullbodied wine, considered ageworthy and potentially great.  The 2005 Cornas "Empreintes", Joel & Eric Durand, vignerons, GAEC du Lautaret, 07130 Chateaubourg, bought because it was on sale at LCBO, was the first Cornas I've ever tasted, and it lived up to the reputation of the appelation.  I couldn't find anyone who'd tasted it at LCBO, but one guy scanned the barcode and some tasting note or other came up on their computer, maybe with a high score, I don't recall.  Anyway, I've wondered for decades what this stuff was like, so I bit.  My notes say: "Great nose of blueberry with hints of something complex and indefinable; smooth mouthfeel with fine tannins; blueberry and maybe a bit of what some call bacon fat.  Rather sappy.  [Like most tasting notes?]  Hints of cola?  Medium full-bodied.  Suave, a bit velvety.  Good length.  Some dark tannins devloping in the finish, with air.  Even a hint of red hots in the nose.  This wine seems to be exploring an aspect of Syrah one finds often in Australia---but with a certain velvety balance that's French.  13.5% alcohol.  Has a certain creaminess to it.  I think we can say white pepper on the finish."  This was on sale because there weren't many bottles left and LCBO likes to blow out the old and bring on the new like clockwork, making it hard to go back and find things after you taste them and realize you want more.   In this case I tried, and it was gone.  This was one of the better wines I've ever had, and while the tannins seemed rather loosely held in a relatively juicy wine, so that perhaps one might expect a relatively rapid dropping of tannin and aging process, it did seem worth cellaring for the next 5-10  years.  Expensive even on sale (in the range of $30+ CDN), but worth it.

Keen to try more Cornas, I had the 2005 Domaine du Tunnel.  Cornas is reputed to be rather inky and tannic when young, and this one more than the Empreintes (which was, however, no lightweight) lived up to that rep.  My notes say "Purple-black, dark tastes, medium fine, coagulating tannins feel "suspended".  Inky---sappy juicy fruit but with lots of dark burnt toast kind of elements---green olive---should throw its tannin, maybe soon, and develop more. "  This too was quite a good wine, really a dense, powerful one, but still quite young;  if I were "investing" in this to cellar and drink, I would wait a few years before trying it again---maybe two years if I had 6 bottles, one if I had a case.  It is one of those wines you can tell is extremely promising, but because it's quite tannic and somewhat closed up even though dense and potentially powerful, it isn't really a hedonistic drinking experience right now.  I drank this at a neat little restauarant, Reba and Pancho's, in Lewisburg, PA, with a perfectly cooked medium rare ribeye steak on a bed of roasted potatoes, wilted greens, and a light red chile sauce, benefiting from Pennsylvania's apparent draconian grip on (or high prices for) liquor licenses which forces many restaurants, like R & P's,  to be BYO.  Plus I met some nice Lewisburg wine folk who were holding a kind of informal wine-club dinner get-together at another table.  The restaurant combines a bit of foodie-ness with small-college-town hominess, and friendly staff all 'round; look it up if you're going through Lewisburg.  (Entrees in the 20s, starters in the mid to high single digits, desserts 6.)  I went there on Alex Wilce's recommendation. I left Alex the remaining Cornas, and he said that while initially put off by the high tannin or acid, it grew on him, drunk with a meal of sausage and rice.

I am extremely curious to see what happens to a good Cornas with a decade or more of aging.  At Christmas this year we had another bottle from a case of 1983 Chapoutier Hermitage my dad was wise enough to buy pre-release---it was really nice.  I can't find my notes on it, but I've had it several times over the years, and while one one relatively early occasion (well past 1983, though!) it seemed relatively closed and tannic and perhaps losing its fruit, the other bottles were all delicious, and very different from the above-described Cornas---primarily due to age.  While retaining some tannin, some has also dropped, and what remains just gives a pleasantly prickly spine to a wine that is very harmonious and elegant, mixing some black-currant and blackberryish fruitiness with hints of caramel and floral elements.  But the main thing about this and the better examples of other great old French wines I've had (and some great old California ones, on occasion) is hard to summarize by citing other tastes:  while having some complexity and diversity, it's harmoniously unified, and tastes like itself above all.  Plus the balance and elegance, that are difficult to describe, but really nice.  A lot of intensity, but not a lot of over-the-top tannic fruitiness.  Mmm.

Since I'm doing the Northern Rhone here,  how about completeing the Big Three with a Cote Rotie:  the 1983 Jaboulet "Les Jumelles".  My notes from 2007 say:  "Superb--balanced and silky, rose petal and raspberry and some tasty vanilla caramel notes.  sediment pretty much dropped, getting a slight orange edge and incipient signs of age but near its peak and fantastic!".

Okay, so France can do it; but if the Red power of Syrah is to rule the world, how is it doing Down Under?  Well, as Shiraz, it's been ensconced there for quite a long time.  I have no authoritative knowledge here; some web sources claim that the first commercial planting of Shiraz in Australia was by George Wyndham in 1830, while others seem to think James Busby may have brought the vines along with cuttings from other serious European varieties, in 1832 or 1833.  If I can find my copy of Hugh Johnson's history of wine, I'll see what he has to say.  Anyhow, there is a lot of Shiraz made in Oz, at all price points from the plonkiest "critter wine" to the apparently fabulous (at around $200 a bottle, I wouldn't know) Grange Hermitage from Penfolds.

The relatively hot climate South Australian appellations of Barossa and McClaren Vale are perhaps the best known for Shiraz. I've had good luck with them, overall, especially the rich but well-balanced 2005 vintage.  I figured I'd compare one to some West Australian examples of the grape.  I think West Australia's wine regions are generally considered to be cooler in climate than McClaren and the Barossa.  I recently tried the Chapel Hill 2007 (McClaren Vale), the Alkoomi 2007 (from the Frankland River appelation, in West Australia), and the Hope 2007 "The Ripper" West Australia (which, it says on the back label, is from the town of Donnybrook, in the Geographe appelation).  All of these had little cardboard squares in LCBO alleging that some dude or other had rated them 90ish.  I'm not that keen on numerical ratings, certainly not for comparing wines of very different regions or types, but I guess I'm still a bit influenced.  I'd say the Hope and the Chapel Hill might be considered to deserve such a rating (maybe more 89ish...one needs to leave room at the top for wines one can only imagine).

Raw notes on the Alkoomi, from yesterday:  "Good nose of classic Aussie Shiraz elements--red fruits (like cherry, raspberry) and a darkish thing.  Nice, medium full bodied, fine soft tannin.  Very cherry in the mouth, good long finish of cherry and some darker notes that sticks cleanly to the mouth (not a chewy tannin-coating).  Excellent.  Some breed/balance reminiscent of the 1999 Branaire-Ducru.  Some pretty decent hints of minerality developing, and hints of mint.  13.5% alcohol---surprising, doesn't seem that hot."  (Hot being winetasting jargon for the obtrusive taste/feel of high alchol.)  Tasted again today after overnight refrigeration (brought back to room temperature in the microwave---yeah, you read that right), I thought it didn't hold up that well, seeming much simpler than the previous day, but still a good  wine.  Some slightly vegetal, maybe hinting at jalapeno-pepper, elements seemed evident, also intense red fruits like maybe pomegranate.

Chapel Hill 2007 McClaren Vale Shiraz:  "On the nose, vanilla and oak; elegant, classic, and rich.  Similarly colored to the Alkoomi, which was a deep bright red, but slightly purpler and more opaque.  Wow!  Elegant and rich in the mouth!  Balanced.  Maybe it's oak but it's yummy---graham crackers, deep elegant fruit--fine, slightly more grainy tannins, perfectly poised between chewy and velvety.  Tarry elements.  long finish.  More mouthcoating than the Alkoomi.  14.5% alcohol.  A classic Aussie Barossa/McClaren Vale Shiraz thing going here."  That was two days ago.  Yesterday, it seemed more tannic, darker, less fruity, more closed.  Probably it had sat on its side in the fridge and some tannic sediment got all stirred up.  Still good but not as fun.  Today, after storage in the fridge door, it had more clarity again.  The fruit flavors in this are definitely darker fruits--blackberry.  Also some minerality, some dusty kind of elements.  The bouquet (that's the smell) really has some complexity---caramelly, sweet elements (probably from oak) along with dirt, dust, 'n fruit.  Is it a "blackberry oak-shake?", as some criticize the big, ripe, Parker-friendly hot-climate Australian Shirazez?  (Whoops, misspelled that.  All your Shirazez iz belong 2 us.  Somebody set up us da fruit bomb.)   Naah---it's a blackberry oak-shake with dirt and rocks.  But quite tasty.  At $22.75 CDN this is a good value for a nice example of the big hot-climate Aussie Shiraz style, with intense enough fruit to handle some tasty new oak, and pretty well-balanced and elegant for a wine with 14.5 degrees of alcohol.

Now, opened today, the Hope 2007 West Australian Shiraz "The Ripper" purports to be a cooler-climate, more elegant style of Shiraz.  It's not as high-acid as the Alkoomi, but at first seemed otherwise quite similar, if a tad more intense, and a bit better balanced and more velvety.  It has somewhat darker fruit flavors, like hints of blackcurrant or maybe blackberry --- but maybe one should just skip the fruit list; you get the general idea.  Maybe not quite as complex as the Chapel Hill, but very tasty.  Tasted again after dinner, it seems to have even improved---very elegant and velvety, flavors getting a bit deeper, more elements of chocolate.  I tend to scoff when a label gets as subtle as "white chocolate" but I thought it made sense this time.

Well, we've only covered two continents and if anything is going to rule the globe, it had better have a handle on California.  And Syrah indeed does but I'll have to leave that for next time.

Links for the day: winevaulttv.com, Jancis Robinson on Clos Jordanne, Matt Dees of Jonata, Daniel Gundlach's Counterleben; Cherries and Clay

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Some interesting links:

Jayson Bryant's Wine Vault TV, which looks to have almost daily short video tastings of New Zealand and other wines---good stuff.

Jancis Robinson on Le Clos Jordanne and Closson Chase, her favorite Ontario wineries, both of a Burgundian (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) orientation.  She likes Closson Chase for their Chardonnay and Clos Jordanne for both, especially their Pinots.  I tasted some CJ's last week at Jackson Trigg's splashy (but tasteful) Niagara-on-the-Lake facility; will post about them soon.

Cherries and Clay, a wine blog whose name summons taste memories of good Niagara Peninsula wines, though I think these guys are from BC.

Via Cherries and Clay, an interview with young winemaker Matt Dees of Jonata Wines in the Santa Ynez valley (near Santa Barbara, CA).

Countertenor Daniel Gundlach has an interesting, but apparently dormant for the last year, blog Counterleben, especially good on great and sometimes obscure sopranos.  It's where I learned about Snowball (TM) the Dancing Cockatoo.  (If that's not enough, another one bites the dust.)

Chateau Suau Sauternes, 2005

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Here's a find from LCBO:  Chateau Suau Sauternes, 2eme cru, produced by the SARL des Vignobles Famille DuBourdieu at Illats.  This is now $13.95 Canadian at LCBO for 375ml (on "bin-end" sale, down from $17.70, as it's not from the most recent delivery).  It has a nice balance, veering to the sweeter, more syrupy side of the Sauternes spectrum but still elegant, slightly racy but, with what seems lowish acidity, not hugely so.  Excellent balance between subtle fruit flavors (hints of pineapple and orange) and a definite caramelized-sugar aspect, hinting at tobacco.  The fruits predominate in the nose and early on, and the caramelized aspects are more prominent on the finish, and also, it seemed to me on Thanksgiving, as the wine gets more air.  The predominant flavor might be characterized as Seville orange marmalade, with a characteristic hint of bitterness.  The low acidity might suggest that the wine is not as ageworthy as some more acidic Sauternes, but that's far from predictable, and the good flavor intensity, caramelized and tobacco elements, and high sugar could yield fantastic results on aging.  They remind me a bit of a botrytised late-harvest 1985 Peter Lehmann Barossa Valley Semillon-Sauternes---a fairly reasonably priced Aussie wine that I bought as a grad student in the late 80's and that, drunk in November 2005, was a truly great wine.  The Suau has a very similar set of tastes even now---it is absolutely and deliciously drinkable now, but also worth saving for a few years or a decade or two to it to see if they will meld and intensify with age.  Good Sauternes is expensive to produce, and even at the initial price of $17.70 this is a good deal, at least by North American standards, for a wine of this quality, but at $13.95 it's a steal.  This (along with some other wines I'll post about soon) goes a long way toward making me take back my grumblings about LCBO.

New Wine Review Feature Implemented:  If this wine were an opera singer it would be:

Marina Poplavskaya as Elizabeth of Valois in Verdi's Don Carlo, stated by the poster to be from the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, 23 Sept. 2009.  Well, maybe not quite.  But her voice is elegant, sweet with a hint of bitterness, pure but with hints of complexity...

Second Glass Annual Wine Guide

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Via 1Winedude, and somewhat in a similar slightly goofy (sorry, "rad") spirit, The Second Glass Annual Wine Guide looks reasonably interesting, and I have to admit I laughed out loud at some of the fairly juvenile humor.  But some of their wine picks---Castello di Nipozzano's Chianti Rufina ("Drink now or give to your wino friends for aging"), a couple of Proseccos (Zardetto NV, and the $12 Mionetto "Il Prosecco" with the ultra-cool beer/soda style bottle cap, on a perusal of the first few pages---Dry Creek's Chenin Blanc (although I haven't tried this vintage), further on) jive with mine, so I suspect this is a useful resource for wines with a good price/value ratio.  They do take ads, however, with some full-pagers from well-reviewed wines, so although I suspect they rate the wines and then drum up the ads, use your judgement.  May be aimed at the sophisticated-frat-boy market segment...Trimbach's Pinot Blanc's  "crisp flavors of citrus fruit and bright acidity pair perfectly with poolside hotties,"  and a Japanese wine cooler named "Saké2me" is reviewed.  And I just noticed the descriptive icons: "thanksgiving wine" ... "winter warmer" .."pizza" ...what the heck is a "gift wine"...and...

Use at your own risk but this looks like it may have some useful information.

Nipozzano Chianti Rufina Riserva 2006

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Here's a wine available (as of a few weeks ago) at LCBO that I can wholeheartedly recommend:  the 2006 Nipozzano  Chianti Rufina Riserva, produced by the Marchesi de Frescobaldi.  (Don't know what LCBO is?  Lucky you.  But they deserve some credit for stocking this.)  This is the third vintage I've had of this wine, and I've been happy with all of them, but this one's the best.  Dark fruits, soft full flavors but definite tannic backbone to keep it together, some nice chalky minerality behind it all showing up on the longish finish with some slight hints of mintiness, and hints of bitterness.  A clear, clean, leafy version of  "Tuscan funk" lurks barely perceptible behind this, perhaps ready to contribute some heady, perfumy, but unpredictable, notes with age.  In short, fairly complex, and mixing classic Chianti characteristics with notes--including the slightest, but pleasant, hints of greenness or vegetality---that are definitely characteristic of Cabernet.  I could imagine this wine repaying 5, perhaps even 10, years of cellaring by evolving into something stunning, but this is always unpredictable, the more so as I don't have any experience cellaring this wine.  (Comments invited from anyone who does.)

Chianti Rufina is, if I recall correctly, one of three main zones for higher-end Chiantis, the largest being Chianti Classico covering a hilly area between Florence and Siena, with Chianti Montalbano and Chianti Rufina, each much smaller than the Classico area, being the other significant DOCG's. (I've also had very good Chianti from the Colli Fiorentini, i.e. the "Florentine Hills".)

Victor Hazan's superb, extremely well written and observed 1982 book "Italian Wine" (yes, he's Marcella's husband) reports Frescobaldi as "the most celebrated producer" of the area, with the Nipozzano Chianti "nearly as fine" as their single-vineyard, limited production Montesodi, but "much more accessible in price and quantity".  At $21.55 Canadian at LCBO, that "accessible in price" still seems right 27 years on, given the quality of the wine.  I acknowledge that's a heck of a lot to pay for a bottle if you're not a wine geek like me, but I'm much happier paying it for this wine than the $15 to $20 CDN I've paid for many a mediocre bottle from LCBO (or the $10-15 US I've paid for some mediocre bottles in the States).

I'll probably raise expectations too high if I quote Victor Hazan further on Chianti Rufina: "A choice Rufina can match in authority, and sometimes surpass, Chianti Classico at its finest.    In character it is closest to a Chianti from Radda [...], making forceful first impressions that precede layer after layer of unfolding flavor." One of my best wine experiences ever (involving quantum physics, as well, so perhaps I'll post about it at some point) involved a wine from Radda, the Monte Vertine Riserva (I don't even recall seeing the word Chianti on the bottle), from the early 1980s.  1981 sticks in mind but at this remove---I had the wine in Turin in 1995 or so---who knows.  And this wine, though less aged, reminds me of how that Monte Vertine might have tasted in its youth.  So I think Hazan is right on in this comparison, and it says good things.  Now this is just wine, for chrissake---if you want revelation, for less money you could go out and buy the remastered deluxe edition of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme.   But still, good stuff.  If you have the money, and the inclination, and you've already got a copy of A Love Supreme, give it a try.  OK, try it even if you don't have a copy of A Love Supreme---but you really should get one of those, too.

Notes on previous editions of this wine:

2001, half bottle with dinner at Mövenpick, Zurich airport, August 2005:  "Excellent---has dark fruits and some complexity/silkiness.  Balanced."

2002 (tasted 2004 or 2005): "Even better than the 2001, probably.  Velvety, fairly rich, notes of cocoa in the nose.  Good with George's deep fried "little pizzas" from Campania, with red pepper, cayenne, tomato sauce.  Stands up to it.  Hints of minerality.  Superb!"  George is my son;  he likes to cook on occasion, especially Italian.  Perhaps it's his Italian heritage from my wife, who is 100 percent Italian-American; perhaps it's  his food-obsessed (though not more so than your average Italian) heritage from my side of the family.

Go for the Sazerac or the "barbecue shrimp" (Mr. B's Bistro, New Orleans)

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I was put off by my first Sazerac a few years back.  I tried one from someplace listed in a guidebook as a "must"---selling them out of a window on Bourbon Street, if I recall---plastic cup, lots of ice, not much whisky---confirmation of rule no. 1 for a visit to New Orleans ("stay away from Bourbon Street").

But I finally decided to risk it again, and it turned out OK.  Actually better than OK.  Mr. B's Bistro is not my top restaurant in New Orleans, but I end up there fairly frequently if the crowds on d'Iberville make oysters at one of the places there impossible, especially if I'm with a bunch of colleagues who just want to eat and aren't going to be into a long meal at someplace like Bayona or Stella!.  And sure enough, my meal there this time was highlighted by the excellent company---pragmatist quantum mechanic Chris Fuchs, category-theoretic quantum sculptor Bob Coecke, and epistemic game theorist Adam Brandenburger---rather than the food.  (My shrimp and grits were decent, but the grits too garlicky and over-flavored and the bacon-wrapped shrimp nowhere near as flavorful---except for the bacon---as the ones at Herbsaint, while an appetizer of fried oysters on the half-shell with beurre blanc  would have been better as just a straight pile of fried oysters.  Bob liked his barbecue shrimp, though (which I've also thoroughly enjoyed there on other occasions), and Adam his fish.  But anyway, while waiting for dinner, an extremely tall, distinguished Southern gentleman bartender made me a Sazerac---the drink identified with New Orleans, made from Sazerac rye whisky, bitters, simple syrup, the glass rinsed with Herbsaint liqueur or some other Pernod-like liqueur, or absinthe in the old days.  Truly tasty---no skimping on the high quality whisky.  I had two decent Sazeracs over the next few days---the better of the two at the Napoleon House bar, a more mediocre but still quite drinkable one at Pravda (standard bar for Bob Coecke and crew on their New Orleans visits, slightly odd Soviet/Goth decor, but quiet enough for conversation).   So, if you too end up seeking refuge in Mr. B's from the roiling masses queueing for oysters or for a seat at the Redfish Grill, just have a Sazerac and enjoy sitting or standing at the long wooden bar with brass rails---then try the barbecue shrimp, complete with bib, if you're staying to eat.  "Barbecue shrimp" isn't barbecued---it comes in a bowl full of butter, spicy sauce, and you eat it with your hands, soaking up the sauce with bread.  I don't think I've had it elsewhere for comparison, but Mr. B's was plenty tasty both times I had it there.

Bring da Tuscan funk---aging Sangiovese-based wines from Tuscany

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Over the past year or two I've had some mid-range Tuscan wines made from the Sangiovese grape that I've cellared for awhile, and it's mostly been an enjoyable experience to see how these wines have evolved.  They typically develop a very characteristic bouquet that I've seen described as "forest floor," reflecting scents that are a little bit mushroomy, a little leafy, a little earthy, but to some extent distinctive and found nowhere else.  I can imagine not everyone liking this bouquet, but I usually do.

A 2004 Fattoria di Lucignano Chianti from in the DOCG Colli Fiorentini tasted in Sept. 2006 was, according to my notes, excellent.  "Not very tannic but with some structure, but juicy, with a balance between flavors of red fruits and dark fruits, and minerally and leafy notes, a slight glyceriny smoothness and hints of caramel and chocolate cherries.   By April or May of 2009 it had a "nice bright crimson color, getting a brick-red edge," and was "Delicious, medium-bodied, perfumy, with a typical aged-Sangiovese "forest floor", "tuscan funk" aroma, "lifted" flavors of cherry, strawberry, and hints of leather.  Just what a Chianti that is evolving correctly ought to be. "

A 1999 Barco Reale di Carmignano was a bit more elegant wine, but evolved similarly.   Young, it was a little darker and more tannic, but still balanced and enjoyable;  tasted a few time during the last few years, it was gaining clarity, perfume, and a more balanced and integrated version of the funky aged-sangiovese bouquet.

Monte Antico, a Sangiovese-based Tuscan wine produced very near Montalcino (of Brunello fame), is a reasonably priced (now around $10) wine that often ages very well---one of the best deals in Tuscany in a good year.  Around Christmas a few years back, I had the 1985 and it was nicely aged, mellow and with some sweet, chestnutty aromas with only hints of leafiness and shroominess, and nice cherry fruit flavors---not a blockbuster but definitely showing some of the benefits of aging.  The 1998, unfortunately, was not such a good year--- in February 2009 it was "OK--sediment about to drop but still suspended---rather light-bodied and not complex--some typically Tuscan funky elements in the aroma".  In summer 2007, I wrote "aromas not so developed--red fruit flavors, fine tannins, not so concentrated but sappy and with some complexity.  Nona think it smells bad!" [that must've been the hint of aged-sangiovese funkiness] "Red cherry, black cherry, a bit of tea, a hint of licorice.  Tasty!! Evolving to smoky, slightly barnyardy aromas."  So maybe it was always slightly awkward and light, and is now going over the hill...or maybe it will open up again with more aging.  I have a few more bottles of various vintages back in the USA... and this is always one to pick up at the store and leave lying around in your basement to see what will happen.

I'll cover some Sangiovese-based wines tasted at a younger age in a future post.

Interview with a terroirist: Randall Grahm at 1winedude

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Not to be missed, an interview with Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon, creator of Le Cigare Volant and one of the most entertaining winery newsletters ever (although it has been over a decade since I was on their mailing list).  I still remember the time I tasted wine there, sharing the tasting bar with a biker who lauded the fact that Bonny Doon's wines were the only ones that didn't give him a headache...