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!
Sunday, September 18, 2005
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.
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