Well dollies, I have 5, yes 5 wines to write about this go 'round! I'm working hard to put the lush in lucious, let me tell you *wink* My wines from the 'city' are gone, and alas not all of them were enjoyable.
I brought my bottle of Monte Antico Toscana 2006 to Karen's last week. I was eager to crack this bottle, as it was the first blended wine I've purchased (a mix of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabrnet Sauvignon) AND it's made in Tuscany--where I'm determined to go this fall to do some photography. Karen and I fantisize with alarming regularity about our future lives in Tuscany. We mentally renovate our centuries old mill, pick olives from our grove and ride our bicycles through the countryside to market, in an ancient town on golden Italian mornings. We breeze about, picking bread and cheese and wine, and in our imaginations transport ourselves back to our mill home, where we sit on the stone terrace, sipping from our glasses and watch Marcello work in the garden with his shirt off. Believe me, this is a well fleshed out fantasy.
You can imagine my disappointment then, when I whiffed and sipped and sipped again and got nothing but a face full of sour. Try as I might, this wine could not make my tastebuds talk to my brain. Yeast, tannin and vinegar were the only discernable tastes to my palate. Giving up, I turned to the back of the bottle for help. 'Lush and fruity' I read allowed, to which Karen driley replied "it's about as lush as my front yard." (to be fair to Karen's yard, it is in a woodland and it's the first week of April). Down but not out, Karen offered up her bottle of Anselmi 2008 San Vincenzo. Another Italian wine, I looked to this pale golden bottle for a little redemption, but alas, the first sip felt..oh...just okay. We broke out some cheese which improved things, but overall my tongue just wasn't happy. Maybe the previous wine ruined it for me. Karen tried it with a bit of fruit, made a sour face and declared this wine to be as delicious as bathwater. I'm a little alarmed at this point. Two strike outs in a row, both Italian. Do I not like Italian wine? Should I be planning to go to Provence instead? No, I'll persevere. I will say this; those Italian wines did have me feeling a bit lusty after a couple of glasses. This must be why the Italians are so passionate!
A few days later I found myself back at Miss Karen's with my bottle of Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2008. This Chilean red has got some serious swagger. Delicious! A lovely drink alone or with food wine, I'm pretty certain the human equivalent of this wine is Antonio Banderas in tight pants. And can I tell you, I'm pretty damned pleased with myself; I blurted out a bunch of flavours upon trying this wine (Chocolate! Cherry! Pomegranate! Clove!), and sure enough, the tasting notes read: "Cherry, Pomegranate, Toasty Oak, Chocolate, Herbs and Spices." *patting self on the back* Maybe my tongue isn't so dumb after all!
The night wore on, and Karen and I felt there was more drinking and talking to be done. We'd been outside with our husbands, enjoying an unseasonably warm Spring evening, sitting on the patio, watching the sky turn from gold-pink to midnight blue. The empty decanter and a slight chill in the air sent us indoors, and pop! opened the next bottle--Frog Pond Farms Organic Cabernet Franc 2007. I wasn't too sure how I'd feel about this one after tight-pants Antonio Banderas, but oh! What a pleasant surprise! People, this was a very, very enjoyable wine. Lighter than the bottle that preceded it, this wine was full of plum and pepper. So nummy, people, go out and buy a bottle for the weekend. I'm awfully pleased this is the first Ontario VQA on my wine tasting adventure, and I'm keen to try more fare from my home province because of it!
Lastly, Easter celebrations had us all convoying up to my Aunt Nancy's house. I had to bring Karen with me; she's a writer and poet at heart, and Nancy's house is exactly the kind of place where a writer can find inspiration. Nancy and her husband Marc live in a farmhouse in Beaverton. That's right, beauty can be found anywhere, even in Beaverton! Nancy's house is everything that is worn and beautiful and loved. It's one of the homiest homes I've ever known, and probably the home I like to visit best. The kids raced over to the trampoline in the still-brown field and bounced in their Easter best, while adults went inside and ate pancakes and chocolate and first-run maple syrup. And thanks to Karen, we had champagne to chase it all down! Karen, not wanting to show up to a stranger's house on a holiday empty-handed, came bearing two bottles of Voga Sparkling Pinot Grigio. Okay, it's not champagne-champagne, but people, this is a delicious reasonable facsimile. My champagne experiences typically have not been great; they've pretty much been limited to President's at closing night cast parties in the theatre. There was that one excellent bottle my husband and I shared 10 years ago; I don't remember what it was, but he paid $40 for it, and it ended up resulting in my son, Neil. Anyhoo, this sparkling wine may or may not leave you pregnant, but it is delicious with or without orange juice (who put the orange juice in my mimosa?!), and at $18.50/bottle, it won't hurt your wallet the way French champagne does.
And thus ends another week of wine tasting. I'm keen to put together a proper wine tasting for friends, so more on that next go around.
'Til next time!
Barb
No comments:
Post a Comment