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Put your goddam pinky down and drink your wine like a normal human. 
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Maison Louis Latour - Pinot Noir

Producer: Maison Louis Latour
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2007
Region: Bourgogne, France
Price: ~ $15

Perhaps the big brother of the Domaine de Valmoissine? But this pinot is classified under the AOC system of Bourgogne. It too has smokey clarity with a burgundy colour. The bouquet is also similar consisting of black cherries but seems a bit more robust with dark berries, slight oak and vanilla. The tasting was also similar but again slightly more robust. Dark cherries, light spice, vanilla and oak with a medium body and an easy dry finish. Really interesting to taste this one after the Domaine de Valmoissine. I mentioned earlier that the Domaine de Valmoissine could stand to be "turned up" a bit—this pinot from Bourgogne is it.

I just saw the movie Zombieland; an excellent addition to the zombie genre. But let's remember that guns are great but reloading is a bitch and you eventually run out of bullets. The best weapon is still—and this is my personal opinion—a light but strong aluminum baseball bat with a sweat resistant grip. No need for ammo and works well in close combat situations which you would almost always find yourself in. Keep that in mind the next time you're confronted with a zombie(s)...

J

PS: I know, I forgot to take a picture of the bottle before sending it for recycling... LAY OFF!! So here's the label from the ol' Google Images...

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Filed under  //   Bourgogne   France   Pinot Noir   Red Wine   Wine  

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Maison Louis Latour - Domaine de Valmoissine

Producer: Maison Louis Latour
Name: Domaine de Valmoissine
Vintage: 2006
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: Coteaux du Verdon, France
Price: ~ $13

A nice gift from my cousin and a fairly decent value for the price. This was my first Vin de Pays wine or "Country Wine". And although it's not an AOC classification (I believe it's only one step up from Vin de Table) it's still a decent wine for the price.

It had a smokey clarity with a burgundy colour. The bouquet has notes of ripe black cherries, strawberries and easy mint. The tasting was decent with easy spice, light cherries and slight oak. It had a light to medium body with an easy and quick dry finish. The only thing I could say about this wine is that it's maybe a little too understated. The flavours could stand to be "turned up" a little. But a very easy drinking wine.

J

Robbed again Tarantino! Inglorious Bastards is an excellent movie...

     
Click here to download:
Maison_Louis_Latour_-_Domaine_.zip (213 KB)

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Filed under  //   France   Pinot Noir   Red Wine   Wine  

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Changyu-Castel - Cabernet Gernischt

Producer: Changyu-Castel
Varietal: Cabernet Gernischt
Vintage: 2003
Region: Shandong, China
Price: ~ $20

This was my very first Chinese wine. I wasn't completely sure what to think but many good Chinese wines were grown from grapes imported from Europe and the US. The Cabernet Gernischt was is a rare varietal imported from Bordeaux in 1892 but is now extinct in much of Europe.

The bouquet smelled of oak and strong earth with underpinnings of strawberry and rhubarb. It was definitely a full-bodied wine draped in the darkest burgundy I've seen in a long time. The palate had flavours of oak, moss and rich soil with a long and dry finish. I would say though that it would've been nice to have some sweetness in there to balance the acidity a bit more.

It was really interesting to try this one. There weren't a lot of people clamouring to taste the wine but in all honesty it wasn't bad and how often can you say that you've had a wine from China (at least in Canada). It will be really interesting to see how Chinese wine will grow. In previous years almost all Chinese wine has been exported, but the local market is beginning to take notice, and quite frankly, it's the biggest market in the world.

Okay... peace out!
J

PS: Let's go Kevin Martin!!!

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Filed under  //   Cabernet Gernischt   China   Red Wine   Shandong   Wine  

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Mezzo Mondo - Negroamaro Salento

Producer: Mezzo Mondo
Name: Negroamaro Salento
Region: Puglia, Italy
Vintage: 2007
Price: Unknown

I'm pretty sure a family member brought this wine. Sure it doesn't have a specific appellation but I have to at least try it out. The bouquet smells of heavy black cherries, spice and a hint of vanilla. Straight forward, it tasted of rich black spice, dark cherries and blackberries with subtle notes of oak. A balanced and dry full bodied wine with a medium finish.

I wish I could remember who brought it. That's one of the great things about hosting a party—to the host go the spoils!

Okay peace out!

     
Click here to download:
Mezzo_Mondo_-_Negroamaro_Salen.zip (237 KB)

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Filed under  //   Italy   Red Wine   Wine  

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Tsantali - Kanenas

Producer: Tsantali
Name: Kanenas
Vintage: 2006
Varietal: Mavroudi, Syrah
Region: Mavroudi, Greece
Price: ~ $25

Haven't had a lot of Greek wine but this Kanenas by Tsantali seemed to be popular at the tasting. Tsantali offers a variety of Greek wines from all over northern Greece. Kanenas comes from a northern area that has deep "argyllic" and dark red soil and hot summers with cool northern winds. This is really shown in the colour of the wine as it exhibits a deep red. The bouquet on this 2006 has ripe cherries, slightly earthy and is highlighted by spice. On the palate the spice and pepper notes come out more followed by more cherry and dark berries. The full body of the wine finishes nice and long.

The winery almost borders Turkey so It was nice to try something new like this. Greece doesn't often come to mind when you think of a nice wine for dinner but I could really see this going well with a lamb shank with Greek spices or with another Greek-style dish. Seriously, who doesn't love a good gyros? Or saganaki? Mmm... fried cheese...

J

   
Click here to download:
Tsantali_-_Kanenas_Tags_Wine_R.zip (147 KB)

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Filed under  //   Greece   Maronia   Red Wine   Wine  

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Rocca delle Macie - Chianti Classico Riserva

Producer: Rocca delle Macie

Name: Chianti Classico Riserva
Region: Tuscany, Italy
Appellation: Chianti Classico
Vintage: 2004
Price: ~ $23

Okay let me first start by saying what shitty pictures these are. I think that by the time I took them I was already a few glasses deep and thought they looked blurry but it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. Apparently they actually were blurry... (iPhone where are you?!)

This was a nicely bold chianti from the old world. The bouquet smelled of forward spice with a lingering ripe black cherry scent. On the palate the wine was equally quite bold. It had a hearty full body that was complex and intriguing and carried flavours of chocolate, bark, leather and subtle notes of cherry. The whole wine wrapped up with a long dry finish. Mmm...

In the terrible pictures you can see the shape of a silver medal award for Wine Access's International Value Wine Awards.

In other news the Golden Globes were yesterday and Tarantino was robbed of best picture yet again! In 2009 Inglorious loses to blue aliens. In 1994 Pulp Fiction loses to a retard from the south who farms shrimp... "Lieutenant Dan! Lieutenant Dan!"... bah! Drives me nuts...

J

   
Click here to download:
Rocca_delle_Macie_-_Chianti_Cl.zip (209 KB)

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Filed under  //   Italy   Red Wine   Tuscany   Wine  

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Rosemount - Show Reserve

Gawd!! I forgot to attach the images! Well what do you expect after hours of tasting wine!

     
Click here to download:
Rosemount_-_Show_Reserve_Tags_.zip (205 KB)

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Filed under  //   Australia   Red Wine   Rosemount   Wine  

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Rosemount - Show Reserve

Producer: Rosemount

Name: Show Reserve
Varietal: Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre
Vintage: 2006
Region: McLaren Vale, Australia

So Leibovitz is $25M in debt and she's got some old photos of Tiger taken a while ago... sounds like perfect timing Annie...

Over the holidays my aunt gave me a few bottles of wine to try. Which is great because she was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer that moved into her liver and she was not expected to be with us. Fortunately, against the odds, she responded to the treatment and was able to join us for the holidays! Things are looking better each day and she's on her way to full recovery. Very frickin' happy!

Anyway, the wine that she gave me was a Rosemount that I haven't tried before. It has a velvety thick texture and a dark rich purple colour. The bouquet smells of rich cassis, black currants and cherries with an intense brown sugar aroma. The palate tastes of dark fruit and subtle spice and oak with a surprising complexity and good integration of the varietals. Wasn't expecting this to be decent because there are so many crappy Australian wines out now, but I mean, for the price it's fairly good.

J

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Filed under  //   Australia   Red Wine   Rosemount   Wine  

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Spy Valley - Gewurztraminer

Producer: Spy Valley
Varietal: Gewurztraminer
Vintage: 2008
Region: Marlborough, New Zealand
Price: ~ $20

Merry belated Christmas! If you don't celebrate Christmas don't expect a "Happy Holidays" from me. In fact, you probably won't get a genuine Merry Christmas from me anyway since I'm pretty sure I've stopped celebrating the actual religious holiday of Christmas. Festivus anyone?

More Spy Valley... the bouquet on this gewurztraminer smells of cinnamon, passion fruit and honey with a slight hint of cloves. The rep behind the table said that he could sense a bit of melon too but couldn't get the cloves. A nicely refreshing change to my reds, the palate wasn't too different from the bouquet. It tasted of cloves, cinnamon, honey and a bit of pepper and had a silky clean finish.

So it turns out that 1/3 of all sick days are requested on Mondays. Also, January seems to incur more sick days than any other month. I think I'm feeling a bit under the weather...

Happy new year!

J

   
Click here to download:
Spy_Valley_-_Gewurztraminer_Ta.zip (208 KB)

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Filed under  //   Gewurztraminer   New Zealand   White Wine   Wine  

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Spy Valley - Sauvignon Blanc

Producer: Spy Valley

Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2008
Region: Marlborough, New Zealand
Price: ~ $17

At this point in the night I was really diggin' on these New Zealand wines. It really was very refreshing. The bouquet smells of melon and mineral which is characteristic for the area. Also it had a cold wintery crispness to it which was nicely awakening. The tasting had soft flavours of grapefruit, melon with subtle stone and mineral accents. It had a light body with good acidity and finished quickly. Well made!

On a different note, Brittany Murphy died of a heart attack this afternoon. I'm sure that will be hitting the presses tomorrow morning. On Google Trends, 8 out of 10 of the top searches were about her.

Christmas shopping done! Boo yah!

J

PS: Sorry for the shitty pic. Perhaps I'll get an iPhone for Christmas?

   
Click here to download:
Spy_Valley_-_Sauvignon_Blanc_T.zip (198 KB)

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Filed under  //   New Zealand   Sauvignon Blanc   White Wine   Wine  

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