Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale Oro 2003

This week brings another Wine Blogging Wednesday Extravaganza brought to you by Andrew from http://www.spittoon.biz/. His clever theme involved picking any Italian wine and then giving a tasting note in 7 words. WBW's have had an illustrious tradition of encouraging the humble wine blogger to break their regular patterns and do something creative, whether it is trying an unheard of region, a unique varietal, or in this case approaching wine in a unique fashion.

The wine I chose for this week was a special pick from my cellar - a 2003 Ruffino Chianti Classic Riserva Ducale Oro - a renowned chianti. And, without further ado here is the review:

"Fruit alive with wit, but classically tempered."

I look forward to reading everyone else's notes! My full tasting notes are as follows:

This is a beautiful wine - in fact one of the best I've ever tasted. It consists of stunning fruit, excellent balance, perfect acitidy (crisp but mellow), and moderate and well structured tannins. The fruit is very light berry flavours like rasberry and strawberry, but it is tempered by earth and stone-like sentiments and structured, as I suggested in my 7 word review, with great wit and yet with a strong classical temperament. Great wine, great theme, great night.

Excellent+

$50 at BCLDB

Phillips "The Hammer" Imperial Stout

Being ill is not fun. Being ill when you love wine is just cruel. I am finally on the path to recovery and had the chance to taste a tiny bit of this beer. I limited my intake to a couple ounces so I don't have the full experience, but I just couldn't resist trying this new beer from a BC brewery I generally like a lot and in a style I also tend to love.

The first time I tried this beer I had it at room temperature, which tends to bring out the flavours a bit more in this style. It was very dark, chocolately, very roasted charcol-like flavours and also reasonably bitter. It wasn't my favourite Imperial Stout since I felt it lacked complexity and depth in the finish, despite being pretty well balanced.

However, when I drank another couple ounces of this cold it was quite a bit tastier and smoother, as the bitterness was tempered and the balance accentuated. So, while not a favourite of mine in this style, I think it might be a great place for someone new to heavier beers to start, given it is far more balanced and less alcoholic than many.

Everybody raise a glass to getting better!

Good
$7/650ml at Private Stores

Beni Di Batasiolo Barbera D'Alba Sovrana 2005

Today was another pasta day, which called for another simple rustic Italian wine. I chose a Barbera D'Alba from Beni Di Batasiolo to match my Fettucine con Osso Buco made with a light parsley mushroom sauce. Barbera D'Alba is located in northeast Italy in Piemonte nestled between the Barolo and Barbaresco regions, and generally produces relatively inexpensive and yet ageworthy wines. I usually like to go to Barbera to pair with simple Italian dishes because it has depth and a high level of natural acidity without being overly complex or tannic so as to conflict with the simple flavours of Italian cooking. So, on to the tasting...

This is a simple but quite tasty wine with a nose largely of burnt hay and smoky barnyard. The palate consists of sour cherry, very slight cassis flavours, a tinge of earthiness, and barnyard. The firm acidity holds up well to food and the simple finish is none the worse to wear when coupled with a tasty pasta dish. Overall, a good value and proof that the Italians know how to make fine and tasty simple wines.

Very Good

$25 at BCLDB

Abbaye D'Aulne Triple Brune Special Brown Ale

Despite my previous post, this is actually a dark triple ale - and I think that's maybe what gives this its unique character and style. The Abbaye D'Aulne is a moderately sweet brown ale at 9% abv with slightly metalic floral aromas (although in a good way, at least for me). It's not as great as the Koningshoeven, but it is great for a basic brown ale - it's smooth and not overly carbonated - so it's easier drinking than many Belgians. I feel like this will be a love it/hate it type of brew since its flavour profile is pretty unique. But, for me, something unique and complex is usually what I'm looking for, so I find this to be quite a nice beer.

Very Good+
$10 / 750ml Bottle in Seattle

Stag's Leap Winery Petite Syrah 2003

So I had heard that Stag's Leap Winery was well known for their petite sirah and had produced a cult following for their take on this varietal. Given that I'm a petite sirah lover, I had to give this a try, even though it is reasonably pricey - and, I have to say that I'm quite impressed with the effort.

First off I have to note that this wine is exceptionally well balanced for a petite sirah, and I thought it at times suggested a fine cab sauv in its balance and power. What elevates this beyond basic petite sirah, though, is that this balance is coupled with a great flavour profile with a nice ebbing and flowing of flavour developments ranging from toasty caramel flavours to cherry and boysenberry (but well balanced) and red licorice. The tannins were a bit too heavy on the first day I drank this, but really mellowed by the 2nd day, although if you do pick this up you might want to let it sit a while longer or pair it with a moderately flavoured creamy cheese to moderate the tannins and bring out the fruit. In any case, I very much enjoyed drinking this and while maybe a tad expensive it is definitely unique for the petite sirah varietal.

Excellent

$50 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars

Thoughts on Wine Tasting

I was just reading a very interesting posting on wine ratings and reviews over at vinicultured and felt the need to say a little something on the topic.

Wine reviews and tasting notes are a strange thing. When made by "experts" they create the pretense of objectivity and support the idea that one person's taste should dictate another's. I think this fundamentally misses what makes wine so great. Wine is not about winning, about ranking (there is enough of that in law school already), or about evaluative comparisons. Wine, at least for me, is about the sensuous expression of our inner life mediated by the nature of the grapes and the crafting of the wine by the winemaker. Writing a tasting note is, thus, more about trying to express the inexpressible and it is this attempt that is most indicative of what makes wine so great.

I always thought it was interesting that the sense of smell is so closely linked to memory and is perhaps more evocative of distant reminiscences than any other sense. That is probably why we rely on metaphor and memory so much when writing wine tasting notes. I think this brings wine to a level beyond just alcohol - it is evocative of our past, our memories, thoughts about life, etc. It is a wonderful sensuous expression of our intellectual life that should never be reduced to some sort of ranking system of objectification. Otherwise, what's the point?

Koningshoeven Quadrupel Trappist Ale

I actually drank this ale over a week ago, but forgot to put up my tastings notes. I am a big fan of heavy-duty belgian style ales, especially those that are dark and have a high alcohol content. This Quadrupel, at 10% alcohol, pretty much fits that ideal and is a fantastic bottle of beer. Quadrupel refers to the number of times the beer has been fermented, so you can imagine that after 4 fermentations it's hard to keep the alcohol very low. Also, it is interesting to note that Dubbels and Quadrupels are generally dark beers while trippels are light. As far as I know there is no real reason for this - but maybe I am missing out on some nuance of belgian beer crafting. Koningshoeven is here clearly working in the tradition of great beers like St. Bernardus abt. 12 and Rochefort 10, and I think they did so pretty successfully while not quite reaching the level of those two beauties.

As with most heavier Belgians the Koningshoeven is quite carbonated, which may be to some people's distate as it forces you to sip rather than gulp the beer (which is a pretty good idea given it is 10% abv) unless you want to fill your belly with a lot of air :). There are excellent root flavours, vanilla, and a little spicy herbalness to the palate. The finish is quite nice and of a decent length (given this is beer after all). Overall I'm pretty impressed with this and it will definitely be added to my rotation of top heavy Belgian ales.

$6 / 280ml bottle in BC - ($10 for 750ml in California)

Excellent