Heading out. Here's my fortification over the next two nights. Which I had a white to throw in the mix.
and............ (update: a little like concord grape wine, how did this happen? Can't say I enjoyed it at all. Opened up, a little better on the second day, but pretty lifeless.)
B won't tell me what's in it, a mysterious blend of grape and vintage, but looking forward to unraveling the mystery.
update: a non-vintage, mystery blend (with some syrah? cabernet? merlot?) pretty enjoyable, vin de soify, some old fashioned eucalyptus, easy texture, some foxy-ness, but was food worthy and had a somewhereness. The menthol got a bit much on the second day but the fruit held.
For the first wine, sucker grapes from the almost universal American rootstock in Europe got into the wine. [This used to be a serious problem in Greece, too. Thanks, Pop] A little V. labrusca goes a long way.
The problem in the Santa Cruz Mountain and most North Coast appellations is Eucalyptus in proximity to the vineyards. Ever have Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Heitz? Much OZ plonc suffers from the flavor, too. My Greek-American mother said it reminded her of bad Retsina. It is a quality of terroir I don't care for much, either.
Posted by: Linus Hollis | 10/04/2011 at 07:59 PM