Cru Bourgeois

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Cru Bourgeois comes from the Appellation Valley and is a product of Barton & Guestier Estate Chateau Magnol.  This particular vintage was 2008 and the price point was $29.99 CDN.

Grape variety:  Haut-Medoc

Alcohol:  13%

On appearance this Red wine is clear with a brick hue.  I called the aroma “oak toast”.  It was very well aged with lots to say.  My nose enjoyed the intensity.

The initial taste was intense and matched the aroma.  It had so much to say even though I decanted this wine for about an hour and a half.  Personally, I’m not a fan of overpowering oak.  The spice was nice but every other note was dominated by oak.  I find this typical with French wines.  The next thing I’m about to say may not seem like it would be a good thing but it was…

The soil in France says “hello”.  And by hello I mean ‘bonjour’.  The only note to balance out the oak was a very Earthy taste that I really enjoyed.  This gave it a really full body.

This wine was a Christmas gift from my friend Reid at www.readreidread.com and I thoroughly enjoyed it as I painted in my studio on December 22, 2011.

McWilliam’s Handwood Estate

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This is a Shiraz from 2009 from South Eastern Australia.  The alcohol content was 13.5% and had a nice kick to it.  Very dark in color with some sediment.  I would describe the color as Garnet with slight brown hints.

The black cherry and currents were immediately obvious and the alcohol was hot on the nose.

Definitely a bold wine with notes of black cherry, oak and spice.  This is a very unique and delicious wine for the price point.  There is a flavor that I cannot identify yet it is on the tip of my tongue.

Bravo!!!  I’m stumped…

and curious:)

Tip of your Tongue

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Whenever I’m tasting wine I always appreciate the mystery of my experience.  Yes, I taste cherry, vanilla and oak.  These are obvious.  What typically drives me up the wall are the moments when I am unable to identify what it is that I am tasting.  This is like a word, name or saying on the tip of my tongue.  Literally.

So I explore.  I seek out different spices and aromas in order to expand my awareness.  This is our key to experience:  Expanding awareness.

A perfect way to do this is through curiosity.  Become intrigued in the mystery of this life, this moment or the flavor in the wine and food you are experiencing because everything tells us a story.  The question is; are we listening?

If we persistently do things we are comfortable with or are easy we will not grow.  Ask a plant what is inherently wrong with not growing and it won’t answer.  It will be dead or about to die.  Life is not about stagnancy.  It is about growth.

When I was young this mystery would bother me.  I was insecure and needed answers.  Now, I have more experience and have come to deeply appreciate the mysteriousness woven into the universe.  Does it still drive me mad when I cannot recall the name of a song from the 80′s?  Yes, absolutely…

But I at least stop to appreciate that it drives me mad and that the answer always comes.

Penfolds Koonunga Hill

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When filling out the review card sections ‘location’ and ‘tasting partner’, I felt sad to write home alone.  Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this medium bodied Cabernet Merlot with a Chicken Parmesan dish over fettucine.

It’s a very simple wine with enough complexity to challenge the brain.  Very crisp and dry yet flavorful with hints of cherries, oak, plum and raspberry. 

The aroma is moderate and youthful.  I found the alcohol hot on my nose but this did not carry over to taste.  Cherry aroma with Earthy notes.  The oak is predominant.

I suggest that this 2009 South Australian wine be paired with chicken dishes or ultimately with some Southern Australian folk to sip with:)

Alcohol 13.5% 

Retails: $15.99 CDN

Corvina 2009

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Corvina ”Ripa Magna” is a dry red wine from the province of Verona in Italy.  Its unique flavor comes from the partially drying of the grapes.  The bottle retails for $17.99 CDN.   

This is one of my all time favorite wines, so doing a review is an honor.  Thank you Giuseppe Gallo!!!  By the way, I do not normally enjoy Italian Reds so well done. 

Corvina is great because it has a higher end flavor blended perfectly somehow with that low-end body that I know & love.  She has a beautiful, full-bodied and bold flavor to her & will put a smile on your face.  I detect raspberry & just enough sweetness to set it apart from all other Italian wines that I’ve tried.  Beautiful flavor. 

My only complaint is that the bottle is so damn heavy & constantly feels full.  This is very troubling when one discovers that one has in fact poured the last glass when one thought there was three more.  How much extra do you pay in shipping those five-pound bottles?

Wild Horse Canyon

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Initially, I smell chocolate cherries & this reminds me of Christmas as a child.  So far, so good.  Fruity yet Earthy at the same time as I take a second sniff & yell out “nice legs”.

Thank the Lord that it tastes a good as it smells.  I immediately connect the chocolate cherry dots between my nose & my tongue at the first sip.  This wine is a Merlot which admittedly is a preference of mine but truth be told it does have a slight bit of pucker mouth to it.  I would suggest decanting for about half hour to forty-five in order to allow it to calm down a bit.

Wild Horse Canyon is a product of the West Coast where the artisans work with the best from British Columbia, Washington & California.  This wine was named in tribute the wild horses that can still be found along the coast.

Wild Horse Canyon Merlot definitely lives up to its name.

Definitions

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I noticed that my definition of “I’m only going to drink a half a bottle of wine tonight” changes about half way through the bottle.

We are not defined by our experience.  Experience shapes character yes but we cannot be defined.  As we age in this life, we refine, gain depth (hopefully) & build character based on those experiences.  We are so much more than this however.

What I love about being human is that I can taste, smell and experience the senses of the body.  That’s obvious.  What I appreciate even more than this is that I can ponder, laugh, compare experience, love & have compassion for my fellow beings.

What does this have to do with wine & food?

Everything.  Humans, like wine are born of the Earth.  In our earlier stages we are like the grape of the vine & then one day we are picked or pick ourselves to become something more.  We age & in our age we mature to perfection or mediocrity depending on the process.  Some of us are just plain sour in our old age.  The process is creativity & how we engage with life.  Great dialog is like great food.  It’s satisfying & when paired with the right people who have matured in their wisdom… absolutely delicious.

In the end, everything just simply is what it is.  A great wine isn’t defined by its character because its character is just one aspect.

It is kind of like getting to know a person.  I will use myself as an example; Some may say that I’m wonderful, while others think I’m an arrogant asshole.  Either way, I’m like the wine.  I do not care what you think, I am what I am and don’t require anything to define who or what that is.

Now… back to the other half of this bottle!!!

Woo hoo.

Chris

Swallowing

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My first wine tasting was were I saw the buckets in action.  I was naive & looking forward to a night of wine, people & general awesomeness.  My first thought was “I didn’t pay all of this money to spit good wine into a metal bucket”.  How is that going to help my night along?

Obviously, I wasn’t interested in distinguishing notes from notes & making any lasting connections within my olfactory system.

Some wines were bold, some fruity, some had a distinct coffee flavor & some tasted like burnt rubber wires.  Needless to say, I had found a use for that metal bucket.

Originally, this post was going to be about how proud I am that I swallow but that just does not sound right.  One thing is for certain; I now know the difference between a ‘wine tasting festival’ & a ‘wine drinking party’.

One spits & the other swallows.

Cheers!!!

Chris