A week and a half ago, the Wijnsocieteit in Tilburg held its yearly "vinologen"tasting. In this copy of the official exam that Dutch wannabe connaisseurs have to take, you are asked to try and identify 12 wines (multiple choice, three possible answers, "only" 7 good answers needed).
Today: tasting 16 red wines to select the "best restaurant wine" in Breda.
Both challenging competitions. The first because after eliminating the ever-present obvious incorrect answer, the coice between the two left-over options proved hard. Two woody whites were shoe-ins: the L de la Louvière Pessac Leognan and the Hamilton Russel Chardonnay. The most beautiful wine of the evening I thought to be a Bandol because of its tannins, but I should have followed all the other clues this rich, chocolaty wine offered: JCP Maltus Barossa Shiraz.
In the end, only 4 correct answers! So I could just as easily have guessed all wines. As one fellow-taster put it: a very humbling experience.
This morning 16 reds. Luckily, afterwards: coffee and worstenbroodjes (sausage rolls). First flight of 4 had young, hard wines. One very fragrant in a positive way, another rather off-putting. The following 4 were the best, with number 4 the best of the best. Some other tasters concurred.
A lot of New World wines, we reckoned, as the wines got sweeter and sweeter. Or were we just getting used to the tannins? We'll find out soon enough - I am currently waiting for the unveiling by e-mail.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Vinoblesse Sep. 2005
Today was the semi-annual tasting of Vinoblesse, a Dutch mail order wine merchant. Having learnt from previous years (over-crowded tasting room) they changed to a bigger venue this time. Maybe it was because of this, or maybe because of the entrance fee that seems to be higher each time (now at € 12,50, compared to €10 just 6 months ago) it seemed a lot less crowded than before.
Well, good for us. We started off with a Crémant de Die to cleanse the palate, so to speak. Then some interesting whites: a Vin de Pays de l'Herault Blanc l'In - nice aniseed smell, followed by a VdP Les Grands Penchants and the Limoux Les Gravas, the latter two from the same winery.
My companion (Peter Paul, see earlier 'corky' posting) disliked the Les Grands Penchants, discarding it as too thin. I disagreed, really liking the aroma of this 100% unwooded chardonnay. The Limoux of course was (partly) oaked and we agreed that this was a nice example of how wood does not necessarily ruin a white wine.
PP produced an interesting tasting note when thoroughly examining a Montpeyroux: "smells like a wasps' nest ... oh, and like dark earth"??
Other nice wines included a smoky barbera, according to Vinoblesse the grape variety that dealt best with the summer heat of 2003, a delicately jammy Minervois and a juicy Coteaux de Languedoc.
Before setting off for home, we wrapped up this afternoon of wine-tasting with some beers, "bitterballen" and bacon and syrup pancakes. Yummy!
Well, good for us. We started off with a Crémant de Die to cleanse the palate, so to speak. Then some interesting whites: a Vin de Pays de l'Herault Blanc l'In - nice aniseed smell, followed by a VdP Les Grands Penchants and the Limoux Les Gravas, the latter two from the same winery.
My companion (Peter Paul, see earlier 'corky' posting) disliked the Les Grands Penchants, discarding it as too thin. I disagreed, really liking the aroma of this 100% unwooded chardonnay. The Limoux of course was (partly) oaked and we agreed that this was a nice example of how wood does not necessarily ruin a white wine.
PP produced an interesting tasting note when thoroughly examining a Montpeyroux: "smells like a wasps' nest ... oh, and like dark earth"??
Other nice wines included a smoky barbera, according to Vinoblesse the grape variety that dealt best with the summer heat of 2003, a delicately jammy Minervois and a juicy Coteaux de Languedoc.
Before setting off for home, we wrapped up this afternoon of wine-tasting with some beers, "bitterballen" and bacon and syrup pancakes. Yummy!
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Wine racks
This weekend, I descended down my little cellar to fix my new wine racks to the walls. After a lot of sweat - working in this tight space the cellar somewhat loses its coolness -, some frustration about never having the right plug/screw/screwdriver/flashlight at your fingertips the moment you need it and some drilling in hard to reach places, I finish the job.
I try to put some bottles in their new places but decide the entire relocation job has to wait until tomorrow. I notice how the front of the bottle is quite a bit lower than the end and fear for the Burgundy models bottles; now the ever present danger of the bottles sliding forward and off the back rail seem much higher. Mmmm ...
Today, after considering a few storage strategies, I start moving the bottles from the shelves to the racks, only to discover I can only place 4 instead of 5 bottles on each rack level. Weird!
Even though I am the proverbial guy with two left hands, I now understand what I did wrong and a quick glance at the 3 racks confirms this: I put two of them upside-down!
And after turning them upside-up, of course the holes in the racks don't line up with the plugs in the wall so new drilling is called for. The story continues.
I try to put some bottles in their new places but decide the entire relocation job has to wait until tomorrow. I notice how the front of the bottle is quite a bit lower than the end and fear for the Burgundy models bottles; now the ever present danger of the bottles sliding forward and off the back rail seem much higher. Mmmm ...
Today, after considering a few storage strategies, I start moving the bottles from the shelves to the racks, only to discover I can only place 4 instead of 5 bottles on each rack level. Weird!
Even though I am the proverbial guy with two left hands, I now understand what I did wrong and a quick glance at the 3 racks confirms this: I put two of them upside-down!
And after turning them upside-up, of course the holes in the racks don't line up with the plugs in the wall so new drilling is called for. The story continues.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Carmen's cork
I stayed with Peter Paul, a friend in Scheveningen for a few days. I had taken two bottles that I expected were very good (Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2002 and Carmen Wine Maker´s Reserve Maipo Valley 1997).
The Cloudy Bay turned out to be a complex wine, with the typical s.b. acidity but also with a less typical nose of tropical fruit and boiled vegetables. Harold Hamersma wrote in his book that reviews the s.b.'s available in the Netherlands that it reminded him somewhat of marijuana too! Of course I lack the experience to be able to concur ...
The Carmen (50% cab.sauv, 20% grande vidure a.k.a. carmenère, 20% petite sirah, 10% merlot) was a harder nut to crack: we went to the Big Rivers Rythm & Blues Festival in Dordrecht http://www.bigriversbluesfestival.nl/ and had diner at his parents' house. I took the Carmen and P.P. attempted to open it with what looked looked like a very modern high-tech corkscrew. It only served to crumble the cork. Next P.P. brought forward a very old-fashioned corkscrew with a closed spiral which did pretty much the same (crumble the cork even further).
We left it at that and drank the house rosé with our meal instead. When we came back from the festival hours later, the bottle was at the top of the stairs; apparently P.P.'s dad had managed to open it. So now it really has to be drunk. I will start drinking it tonight.
The Cloudy Bay turned out to be a complex wine, with the typical s.b. acidity but also with a less typical nose of tropical fruit and boiled vegetables. Harold Hamersma wrote in his book that reviews the s.b.'s available in the Netherlands that it reminded him somewhat of marijuana too! Of course I lack the experience to be able to concur ...
The Carmen (50% cab.sauv, 20% grande vidure a.k.a. carmenère, 20% petite sirah, 10% merlot) was a harder nut to crack: we went to the Big Rivers Rythm & Blues Festival in Dordrecht http://www.bigriversbluesfestival.nl/ and had diner at his parents' house. I took the Carmen and P.P. attempted to open it with what looked looked like a very modern high-tech corkscrew. It only served to crumble the cork. Next P.P. brought forward a very old-fashioned corkscrew with a closed spiral which did pretty much the same (crumble the cork even further).
We left it at that and drank the house rosé with our meal instead. When we came back from the festival hours later, the bottle was at the top of the stairs; apparently P.P.'s dad had managed to open it. So now it really has to be drunk. I will start drinking it tonight.
Monday, July 25, 2005
We are sailing
This weekend went sailing with Menno (college buddy). His boat, an 11 m. steel yacht, is docked in the sticks (Ketelhaven in the Flevopolder, to be exactly). We only sailed on Saturday for lack of wind on Sunday. We went to and under Ketelbrug and tacked a bit before Urk (formerly an island but now part of the Noordoostpolder).
We did get 6.3 knots out of it which is not bad. On the way back it started raining and as we were going with the wind it blew right in. Luckily it only lasted 5 to 10 minutes.
Concerning wine my only activity was a visit to the ISPC (wholesaler to the hospitality industry). Robert Hoogland works there as a wine salesperson. He also teaches Alcoholic Beverages at the International Hotel Management School in Breda, where I teach Managerial Accounting.
I intended to buy a few sweet whites, which I had run out of, and some not too expensive but good burgundy. Good in this case for me means the nose should be what Robert calls "boers" (Du. for farmer-like): animal, or (again his words) like walking through a forest in autumn. What I expect is a dark aroma, maybe with some toast notes that remind me of driving past the coffee roasting plant in Dordrecht, leather maybe, and indeed animal smells.
I ended up buying a mixed case (prices ex VAT):
Monbazillac Chateau Montdoyen Part des Anges 2001 (11,99 1/2l.)
Gaillac Doux Prestige Meritz 2001 (6,75)
Moscato d'Asti Castello Poggio 2004 (5,99)
Bourgogne Dme. Leroy 1998 (17,20)
Savigny Planchots Thomas 2002 (12,95)
Chinon Marc Brédif 2001 (11,70)
Please note that the Leroy is indeed the 'base' wine of Madame Bize-Leroy. Of course you pay for the name on the label, but according to Robert this wine will 'deliver'. All critics agree that Leroy is one of the if not the best in Burgundy so we will see (this Christmas?).
This week I will start investigating possible wine rack solutions for my cellar.
We did get 6.3 knots out of it which is not bad. On the way back it started raining and as we were going with the wind it blew right in. Luckily it only lasted 5 to 10 minutes.
Concerning wine my only activity was a visit to the ISPC (wholesaler to the hospitality industry). Robert Hoogland works there as a wine salesperson. He also teaches Alcoholic Beverages at the International Hotel Management School in Breda, where I teach Managerial Accounting.
I intended to buy a few sweet whites, which I had run out of, and some not too expensive but good burgundy. Good in this case for me means the nose should be what Robert calls "boers" (Du. for farmer-like): animal, or (again his words) like walking through a forest in autumn. What I expect is a dark aroma, maybe with some toast notes that remind me of driving past the coffee roasting plant in Dordrecht, leather maybe, and indeed animal smells.
I ended up buying a mixed case (prices ex VAT):
Monbazillac Chateau Montdoyen Part des Anges 2001 (11,99 1/2l.)
Gaillac Doux Prestige Meritz 2001 (6,75)
Moscato d'Asti Castello Poggio 2004 (5,99)
Bourgogne Dme. Leroy 1998 (17,20)
Savigny Planchots Thomas 2002 (12,95)
Chinon Marc Brédif 2001 (11,70)
Please note that the Leroy is indeed the 'base' wine of Madame Bize-Leroy. Of course you pay for the name on the label, but according to Robert this wine will 'deliver'. All critics agree that Leroy is one of the if not the best in Burgundy so we will see (this Christmas?).
This week I will start investigating possible wine rack solutions for my cellar.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
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