What We Drank This Weekend: Text Acronym Edition
The Great Whatsit, What we drank last night
Today we’re lazy. Especially after a weekend of opening a few too many bottles (don’t worry, there were lots of friends with us to enjoy them). So, here’s a round-up of WWDTW (see blog post title) and our abbreviated notes with teenage-IM/SMS-style ratings (see key below for translations):
2007 Arnot-Roberts Napa Chardonnay, Green Island Vineyard - high hopes. LOVE the label. Prettiest label of the night (though the tacky Can Blau label got lots of oohs and aahs)! But most of us thought this was a Sauv Blanc, not Chard. It was the least Chardy-Chard we’ve ever had, which normally could be good for us since we’re not big Chard-drinkers. However, the SauvBlanc-ness was only OK (but thank god not Oaky). A disappointment. Rating: WTF?
2005 Pietratorcia Ischia Bianco - perfectly pleasant and refreshing Italian white, though nothing to write home about. Rating: NBD
2006 Clemensbusch Spatlese Trocken Riesling, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany - a friend brought this to us from Berlin, and as far as we can tell it’s not available in the US. Yum, this one hit the spot. Rating: SFETE
2006 Trinafour Carignane, Niemi Vineyard, Mendocino - Rustic, brooding, yummy. Eye-catching label as well (see group pic above, blue and red plaid) Not as elegant as the LIOCO Indica Carignane we profiled last week, but quaffable-icous! Rating: WFM
2006 Can Blau, Monstant, Spain - unfortunately this had Frankenwine written all over it. Enticing albeit blinged-out bottle, but it was noticeably manufactured juice. So noticeably, that even the novices suspected some tomfoolery. Maybe this was involved? For the $16 a bottle we’re guessing the splinters in our mouth weren’t care of hand-crafted Slovenian barriques. Sorry, Jorge O! Rating: IMHO…meh!
2003 Ojai Vineyard Thompson Vineyard Syrah - a friend squealed in excitement when she tasted this, exclaiming she thought this was excellent. Ummm, yeah, that’s what you get when you plunk down $50 instead of $20 on a bottle (though we’re big proponents of $20 bottles, don’t get us wrong). Rating: OMG!
2003 Raptor Ridge Reserve Pinot Noir, Oregon - we admit, we brought this out late after everything else had been consumed. It was certainly good but we don’t really think it’s fair to evaluate it considering it was an afterthought. Rating: TBD (when we crack open another bottle…if we even have another bottle we can try in the future)
2003 La Tour Blanche Sauternes - wow. We can’t even put this into words. If we didn’t love Sauternes before sipping this beauty, we do now. Rating: OMFG!
We also popped open The Great Whatsit, but don’t think it’s really fair for us to rate our own wine (even if it is damn tasty, and even if these ratings are infantile).
Key:
IMHO = in my humble opinion
NBD = no big deal
OMFG = oh my [expletive] God
OMG = oh my God
SFETE = smiling from ear to ear
TBD = come on, do you need a translation for this? Really?
WFM = works for me
WTF = what the [expletive]
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get your wine on
2007 Scholium Project Naucratis Verdelho
Abe Schoener strikes again, this time with a great Verdelho at a slightly lower price-point than the Gemella. This is 100% tank-fermented and a very dry, mineral-laden wine. This is one of the reasons why Schoener is earning status as a winemaker as a cult winemaker. It delivers. $28 for Scholium goodness.
2007 Skylark Cellars Alondra Chardonnay
I admit, I really don’t dig Chardonnay, so you don’t see many around these parts. I do, however, love this one. Not surpisingly, it’s unoaked. $18 of un-oaked, un-malo’ed goodness!
2007 La Fenetre “A Coté” Red Blend, Santa Barbara County from Timeless Palate Wines
This is astoundingly good for the money. It’s 60% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard, and 40% Merlot from the Bien Nacido Vineyard. The winemaker, Josh Klapper, is a mere 29 years old and one to watch. This is red, juicy and lush but not over the top. $18 and worth every penny.
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freshly pressed
Wine Store Design Continued: More Racks and Lights and Stuff:
Just a couple of images for the now…
Some of the single-depth racks, assembled (thanks again to Tim Krablin of Modern Cellar for the photo)…
And the interior of one of the lampshades, of which there will be 48, in three different shades of blue-ish purple. Keep in mind this is 36″ in diameter — as in three feet (the exterior is aluminum, non-powdercoated. I’ll let your imagination do the work).
Maybe one day I’ll post about the wines I’ve been tasting and stocking, and actually try to sell you something…which would possibly help me pay for all these neat things…ummmm, maybe next week…
Wine Store Design Continued: More Racks and Lights and Stuff
Wine Store Design Part 4: Wine Rack Construction
Wine Store Design Part 3: Urinal Defense Fund
wine jargon
Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.
Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.
grapewise
I recently stopped by Venokado, a new-ish shop in LA. I bought a Lirac imported by Kermit Lynch, and it was yummers. Last night I had the pleasure of spending some time with one of its owners, Susan Brink.
Fabulous & Frugal!
Our friends launched a new site and domaine547 is a featured wine columnist in their premiere edition! Go check out Fabulous & Frugal for some fantastic lifestyle tips for living the good life during what, for most of us, is an economically challenging time. There’s much more than wine there, and we’re thrilled to be a small part of the start of what will surely be a successful venture. Congrats to Brandi & Steph for their achievement!
Go to Venokado please!
Fabulous & Frugal!
domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:04 am
I think your rating system is every bit as valid (and even more informative) than the 20 point or 100 point or whatever-point scales are out there. Your feelings couldn’t have been clearer!