Cantina Ronchi, Riviera 2006 Sangiovese

$5.99 @ astor

well. it is easy, and dry, good for cooking (used in eggplant bucatini... ow, really feeling that in my stomach now). not bad for the price, and i can definitely see this with pizza or burgers. not great either tho.

Astor 2009 5th Annual Natural Wine Tasting

Oh the sadness that is natural wine...

$15 event @ astor, saturday feb 21st, 2009

A good summary of the day:
A winemaker standing by her wares, picks up a bottle of white wine and dislodges a massive cloud of sediment that rises up to the top third of the bottle. We stare, slightly aghast. She hastens to explain how the wine is natural; something how regular wine has some kind of protein glue thing dipped into it during the wine-making process that gathers the sediment (I presume its some kind of agglomeration process?).

"And i don't know about you, but *i* don't want any proteins in my wine," she ends her speech, uneasily.
Four biologists stare back at her with that "let me see your primary data" look.

Most of the wines there had an off-odor or taste, especially the reds, that highly resembled gueuzes. Now, I'm not fond of gueuzes to begin with, but at the right acidity level, they're not bad. However, that sour yeast-lab-gone-wrong scent doesn't quite belong in my wine. Maybe proteins do instead.

Domaine Didier Monchovet (Cote de Nuits, Burgundy, France)
Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune Blanc, Monchovet 2007 - "tastes like rancidity"
Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune Rouge, Monchovet 2005 - "easy like a chinatown hooker" - B

Comptoirs de Magdala (Provence, France)
La Chance, Escapade, Amourvedre - *shrug* unimpressed stick figures. something about how these are all made from one very specific type of grape

Le Loup Blanc (Minervois, Languedoc-Roussillon, France)
Le Regal du Loup, Le Loup Blanc 2006 - (-_-) wtf?
Le Trois P'tits C, VdP Val de Cesse, Le Loup Blanc 2006 - >_<

Domaine Cousin-Leduc (Anjou, Loire, France)
Saumur Brut, Cousin-Leduc NV - dry. not exciting but drinkable o_O
Grolleau "Le Cousin", Cousin-Leduc NV - this wine has a mosquito opening a bottle of wine on the label. which is always a good sign. the 4 members of our party proclaimed
"musty"
"like rancid yeast"
"very assy"
"wet carpet"
Anjou "Pure Breton", Cousin-Leduc 2006 - smells the same as the mosquito of death, and we didn't dare try

Catherine and Dominique Derain (Burgundy, France)
"Allez Goutons" Vin de Table, Derain 2007 - "basically the soul of a lemon... their souls just happen to smell good"
"Chut Derain", Vin Mousseux Brut, Derain NV - "It's like, what if the soul of a lemon had seltzer in it."
Mercurey "La Plante Chassey", Derain 2004 - a pinot noir. well. we didn't die from drinking it.

Domaine Oudin
Chablis "Les Serres", Dom, Oudin 2006 - OK (high praise for the afternoon)
Chablis 1er Cru "Vaugiraut", Oudin 2006 - not special, not worth it

Domaine Binner (Alsace, France)
This winery was the single saving grace of the entire afternoon.
Cremant d'Alsace, Extra Brut, Binner 2004 - very dry. good, eh.
Riesling "Katzenthal" Binner 2004 - an amazingly earthy fungal riesling. I set off a chain reaction after exclaiming, "how wonderful would this be with mushroom risotto??"
B: "Oh my god. Mushroom risotto."
J1: "Wait, did someone just say mushroom risotto?"
J2: "Huh, did someone just say mushroom?"
Gewurztraminer, Binner 2005 - hallo jasmine perfume! very aromatic. quite different.

 

Natural wines = lose.

Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale

smuttynose sampler

smells of pure malt but taste has alot of hops in it, clarifying clearnessw ith backend flavor. its good, but entirely the best brown ale, but altogether not bad and perhaps a good food pairing type brown ale (with something rustic... maybe even meat pies)

Echeverria 2008 Unwooded Chardonnay

13% abv, 7.99% (on sale, norm 9.99) @ astor

very nice and clean/refreshing. i'm getting quite fond of these unoaked chardonnays. could do with more flavour though; very light.

Brooklyn Blunderbuss Old Ale

draft @ david copperfield's

fantastic! great taste. actually unexpectedly sweet, but with the right amount of backend hops. solid and drinkable. nom

Mendocino Black Hawk Stout

draft @ david copperfield's

uh... its weird. i mean, it doesn't taste bad, but it really does smell like putrid socks. not my cup of tea

Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale

 

Lovely dark caramel color. sweet potato (the american orange kind) and caramel in the nose.

oof! bitter... wasn't expecting that. very upfront hops, but also one dimensional. very clean finish however. high "drinkability"; not my favorite, but definitely has its time and place (outside. summer)

Harpoon Munich Type Dark Beer

5.6% abv part of harpoon variety pack

demerits for having an awkwardly named beer

otherwise a good mix of tasty/toasty malty with a hoppy zip . long lasting flavor without being too rich. nom.

Smuttynose IPA

6.6% abv. nom nom.

sweet on the nose. wonderfully hoppy but not overly so, with a nice citrus taste. its probably my favorite (non-dogfish) ipa sthus far.

Dogfish Head Tasting Night

@ Bar Great Harry, Tuesday 2/10/09 6-10pm  http://www.bargreatharry.com/blog/?p=793

$3/4 for ~12oz. awesome prices.

 

5 Fort

I was surprisingly fond of this; not a big fruit beer person, but this perfectly captured fresh raspberries... while still being a beer.

 

4 Midas Touch Golden Elixer

very strong honey nose, light/sweet going down. i'm quite fond of this weird hybrid of mead/beer/etc.

 

3 Olde School Barleywine

its a barleywine! surprise! but its delicious.

 

5 Palo Santo Marron

delicioso!  charred pumpkin goodness. its quite a unique brown ale

 

3 Pangea

weird and slightly confused

 

4 Red & White

interesting take on a witbier, all i remember is saying; smells like a yeast lab (not a bad thing. yeast labs smell awesome.)

 

3 World Wide Stout

its a little too big/thick for me. or i guess the problem was they only had bottles of these (12oz of 20% abv monsters).

 

5 60-Minute IPA

ah the classic; the only dogfish (well, perhaps i could do the 90 too) that i could drink more than 1 in a sitting

 

90-Minute IPA (via a DFH Randell filled with hops)

they were out by the time we got to it :(

Amstel Light

3.5% abv

i mean... its better than bud light.

the end.

Lost Vineyards Argentina Merlot

12.5% abv, 2.99/astor, no year

wow! talk about thin thin thin. the flavor itself isn't bad; just kind of generic. threw it into gluhwein and it was fine. (and this could make a great sangria in summer...)

Ravenswood Vintners Blend 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon

13% abv,  brought by a dinner guest, sonoma, california

uh... lots of berry. a little fruity- bombastic in taste, but very thin. wouldn't buy this i think

Indaba 2008 Sauvignon Blanc

$6.99/astor

excellent with sushi; its nice, not too grassy, lots of pepper.

Channing Daughters 2007 Scuttlehole Chardonnay

New York long island, unoaked chardonnay

$15.99 @ Astor, bought @ USQ 30%  off for $10.49

intense honey scent. went w/honey walnut shrimp & lots of green veggies decently. went down like water, very smooth and clean. delicious.

Serras de Azeitao 2007 Vinho Regional Terras do Sado

Color: White Vintage: 2007 Country: Portugal Region: Terras do Sado Grape Variety: Arinto Chardonnay Fernão Pires Moscato Bottle Price: $6.99

from astor

very aromatic, lots of fruit on the nose, but dry and pleasant going down. mineral at the end. nom. (does become a bit thin after the initial taste)

Smuttynose Portsmouth Lager

part of variety pack

its good, nice malty backbone for a lager. flavorful

Goats do Roam 2007 Table Red

 

Color: Red
Vintage: 2006
Country: South Africa
Region: Paarl
Grape Variety:  Grenache

14% abv, $7.99 @ Astor

Mrmm.. tasty. Lots of cocoa in the back. no fruit, all wood, bramble, and repeat. delicious, and would be fabulous with food

E. Guigal 2004 Cotes-du-Rhone

had @ y&e's place, ~$13-15

fantastic! smooth on the tongue, just the right amount of tannins, and wonderfu with food