Helllooooo! This is me after a horizontal tasting...or should I say a horizontal drinking. Can I tell you right off the bat if you're truly interested in setting up a horizontal tasting you should do just that: taste, not drink. By the end I could taste nothing. My tongue was numb. And I've made 11 typos in the last 3 sentences that I've had to go back and correct. So it's very bad for the tongue and fingers to swallow (there's a dirty joke in there somewhere).
So kittens, it's my birthday. Thirty-eight. 3-8. Yup. Lookout 40, I'm coming at lightening speed. I am currently looking for a wrinkle in time that allows me to leap backwards ten years, but in the meantime I vow to continue to enjoy all of the loveliest life has to offer. And really, is 38 so bad? Is 40 so bad? Is 50? As long as you're healthy and there's plenty of good wine, can you really complain?
I certainly had no complaints about my evening. We dined at Chez Maurice, where Karen set up my very first horizontal tasting. Thank-you, Karen, for taking my horizontal tasting virginity in the most pleasant way imaginable! Roses (how do I insert accents? Someone tell me! I can't properly write Rose without it! Shall I spell it phonetically? Rose-EH!) were on the table. Three different regions, all the same year (2009).
So let's start with my expectations. My history with pink wine is short: President's Pink champagne (barf) and Ernst & Julio Gallo Zinfandel (also barf). Never having tried a real rose, I didn't know what to expect exactly, except I guess I thought I'd be drinking something sweeter. Soooo not the case. I was careful to take notes (though my handwriting suffered by the third bottle. Think prude, Barb. Spit, don't swallow next time!) All wines were purchased at the LCBO in Barrie on Bayfield St.
#1:Fielding Estate Rose VQA. This is a Niagara wine; grape varietals are a mix of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Saugvinon.
It smelled like: lovely (but very cold on the first few sniffs) Peach? Melon? Pear?
It tasted like: Nothing like it smelled! Totally different, how wierd! Very, very, very rhubarb to my taste. Off-dry.
Colour: Watermeloney.
Thoughts: Not yummy cold. Needed warming up a bit to be enjoyed. Not my favouritist ever, but at least it didn't smell like throw-up.
#2: Menage a Trois (apologies once again for the lack of proper accents) Folie a Deux Rose 2009. This is a Californian wine, from the Napa Valley. It's a blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Gewurztraminer.
It smelled like: CANDY!
Colour: PINK!
It tasted like: CANDY--sort of. Flavours themselves rang sweet, but this was not a sweet wine. Made for a really interesting vibration on the palate. I got tropical fruit (passionfruit?), floral, cherry and apple off of this wine. Off-dry.
Thoughts: These people are making a thoughtful wine. Not totally my bag, but I appreciate what they're doing.
#3: Chateau la Tour de l'Eveque 2009. From Provence. Made from an astonishing 8 grape varietals, most of which I've never heard of: Rolle, Semillion, Ugni-Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvedre, Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault.
It smelled like: Perfume, floral. Very faint scent.
It tasted like: Very faint taste. Maybe it was me having drank a few fingers worth of the previous two, but I had a really difficult time making anything of this wine. Gardeney and herbey, but quietly so. Karen called it a vacuous blonde. Off-dry.
Colour: Pale, pale passionfruit tint.
Thoughts: After tasting, we decided this was our least favourite, so into the risotto went the entire bottle. And I have to say, it was the best damned risotto I've ever had.
The winner? The Menage a Trois (are you really surprised?). The Niagara wine 2nd, the French wine 3rd. We drank the winner, used the loser to cook with, and we still have almost an entire bottle of the runner up to go through at a later date.
So the lesson in this, my pets, is rose is probably not what you think it is. It's dry. Like waaaay more dry than I thought it would be. So if you're drinking this stuff, have it with greasy food so it balances out. But don't eat really greasy food, 'cause it's bad for you. In that view, skip them both altogether. Move on to the next wine adventure! So many wines to be had! So little time to enjoy them!
I'll post our dinner menu in the morning, 'cause I'm bagged and it's time to hit the hay. 'Til next time, wine lovers!
B.
No comments:
Post a Comment