Thursday 3 November 2011

BERBANA D'avalos Etquete Negra

Some sweet Rioja here.  On sale in the petrol station for £6.79, down from like.. twice that.  Bargain!

Had an amazingly sharp smell, like mould, specifically fermenting piles of wood chippings (foresters, you know that shit!)

Was taking notes about this over a board game so couldn't think and write too much.  It's a sweet one though.  Had a real cork and looks classy, kind of tarted up with a silver (seriously, unless it's gold, don't bother) "International Wine Challenge" quality assurance label...

Also got that Reserva shit going on. Better have, it's 2006!

Badass. Cultivating this theory about old wines, price, and tasting like weird shit...

Moro Alta

Hasn't been an absence of wine, just been epically social wine drinking.  Can't get into the shit of notetaking etc. in polite company.  Going to think you're a weirdo.

Argentinian princess, only 12.5%. Normally avoid this kind of strength, might as well have a glass of water.  Didn't smell strong at all, kind of like ripe berry cordial. Pretty spherical taste but that doesn't make sense outside my head, kind of tasted like caramel after the 'head' (trying out new words here, making them up, seems professional!)

Nicest thing about this was the label.  A black and white rectangle split into two cross-wise? Don't know the geometry for that shit.  Was badass though.

Minimalist wine.

Saturday 15 October 2011

OGIO Merlot-Shiraz

Snatched from the crib, extenuating circumstances.

I ogled this honey on the shelf a couple of times, she was once knocked down to about £6 but had rocked back up to £11 the last time I investigated.  A pretty sweet ass label, it's like charcoal brown but with a full moon cut out above her name printed in a skinny sans-serif typeface; year underneath in bold.

If this were a woman in a bar, she'd probably be a lesbian.

"Wide variety of foods".  Suspicions confirmed.  Serious viniers(?) don't give a shit what food you eat it with, they're into the wine.

High hopes for this. Lawnsley left me a little empty inside.

Smells fresh, kind of like after some dude's been strimming the verge of a busy road.

Tangy and kind of chilly. Hurts my lips a bit. They're kind of chaffed. Nasty choke is still there but my tongue's too coated with papa lawnsley to take anything too seriously.

2010, 13%

Friday 14 October 2011

Rawnsley Estate Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre

A £10.34 wine sold at half price, immediate suspicion. It looks pretty fancy, got a bunch of French in there but it's from Australia. The estate is probably an industrial one on the outskirts of like Melbourne or something. There's a wee gold circle on it, makes it look like it's won an award or something but really it's just a label saying it's a "new style wine".

The blurb or whatever on the back is pretty epic though. Grapes in Rawnsley aren't harvested, "small packets" are selected.  It's meant to taste of "complex chocolate and coffee characters" which is pretty exciting. No mention of fruit at all. Radical.

Also suspicious: it goes well with a rosemary crusted rack of lamb or sundried tomato risotto.  Seriously.  I get the usual business wine says, goes well with meat/fish or cheese if it's a fancier wine. But this is WAY too specific.

Expecting surprises here, but there's yet another disappointing screw-top.  Going to have to do a Supermarket Survey to find out what price bracket the real deals kick in at. Drinking this at home instead of on the way to the supermarket, more civilized that way.

It smells of fruit. Kind of like cider or something. I have a cold and can only breathe through one nostril though.

Seriously burns my mouth.  Has a pretty unpleasant dry texture and hits the back of my throat, lingering there and making my uvula feel wrinkled.

Another average wine. I find it pretty depressing how they all taste the same after the first glass.

2010, 14%

Friday 7 October 2011

Hardy's Wine Red

Wine and mentholated cigarettes, epic decision. Going to come clean, didn't take this honey too seriously. Picked her up on the way home, had grander plans in mind and missed the whole business with the bouquet (what it's called when people are a sniffin at the glass?) but guzzled a few shots when I was trotting up the road.

Not so much to say here reasonably. I expected acetone, got cherries (I know!).

2010 13%

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Hardy's 'Stamp of Australia' Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon

So I go into the store to select a wine to pre-drink with, pick one up that's advertised as being £5.29, get it scanned by the cashier and it's £8.67. Awkward, right? Anyway, I get it for £5.29 in the end.

Sweet deal? No, it's a Hardy's 2010 Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon.  I always thought Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon were mutually exclusive, guess not. But I can't take advice from a wine advertised on early evening television. Also, it's Australian. Awesome.

So we've got a classic screw top, "rich mulberry/cherry fruit, integrated vanillin oak and a soft finish."  Seriously, cherries? What is up with this. Cherries must just mean wine. Don't know what's up with the vanillin oak. I thought vanillin was like a chemical compound or something and oak's a tree. Weirdos.

So pouring this mystery into yesterday's wineglass we've got a nicer color, more purple, and it totally smells softer.  Doesn't have that gross bite like you're smelling salts or something.

No vanillin, oak, cherries or mulberry. Tastes like the bottom of a trash can. Like the remains of so many leftovers and vegetable peels just beginning to turn.  Doesn't even really taste of wine. This is gross. I should have picked up on the ambiguity of them not even knowing if it's supposed to be mulberries or cherries.

2010, 13.5%

Monday 3 October 2011

Tesco Finest 'Nero D'Avola' Sicilia

Tesco Finest "Nero D'Avola" Sicilia. £4.99 from Tesco Express.  The second cheapest available in what's pretty much just a garage convenience store without getting involved in Blossom Hill.

It says it's got "Bright aromas of blackcurrant and cherry. Flavours of black cherry with a rich full-bodied finish." Cherries.

I don't know what kind of wine it actually is, like chardonnay or whatever.  Maybe that's the Sicilia. It's got a screw cap too, for losers or lonely people to save some for another day.  Seriously, nothing sadder than an unfinished bottle of wine.

It totally doesn't smell of cherries, blackcurrants at a push but with heady overtones of ethanol.  Pretty much like any wine.  Burns the back of my throat in a pretty unpleasant sour way and makes my wisdom teeth feel like they're retreating further into my jaw.

Going to crack on with this bitch and read some 60s racism.

And right, this is a 13.5% 2010 vintage.
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