Vino Italiano

Throughout the course of the last two days, I've decided that my life is not complete until I see every region of Italy. I'm currently in the process of assembling what will eventually be an essay on one Italian wine in particular, and as I type I have two glasses of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo sitting on my desk.

That is the wine I'm writing about, after all, and I couldn't write a report on a wine without trying it myself. One of the wines is $20 and the other is $6. Would I buy three of the cheaper wines rather than one of the more expensive? Probably. That's one weird thing about the beverage in general. That almost always holds true.

Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is made from the Montepulciano grape in the Abruzzi region. It has nothing in common with the more expensive Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from Tuscany. The cheaper one came from Trader Joe's and I swear it's a sugar free version of pure black cherry juice. Enough about that. By the way, most red wines have no sugar at all, as they should be. Sugar blows.

It just so happens that we tasted a Barolo in class yesterday. The massiveness of the tannins was enough to suck my saliva out for days to come. It was a 2003, and I now believe all the hype about how super-tannic Barolos can be. Picture this: you're at a bar and a ping pong game erupts into an all out brawl after you knock a the drink out of the bouncer's sister's hand - completely by accident. Before you know it you're knocked unconscious by a scrawny, short white dude. That is this wine and The Green Lantern on November 21 combined.

$747 Worth of Wine

The title is misleading - it's closer to $900 worth of wine that I tasted in a one week class. Fortunately I didn't have to buy it all; unfortunately I only got a couple ounces of each wine. This class involved 3 blind tastings of 6 wines, and it proved that the most expensive wines aren't necessarily better. The top honor in my book goes to the 1998 Pepper Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon, which at $70 isn't cheap, but is half the price of the wine that followed it - the 2001 Leonetti Reserve. Good class.

My recent adventures have taken me to Port Townsend, Seattle, and Esquin. All this has led to my 60 bottle rack + refrigerator capacity overflowing slightly onto the coffee table until I can polish off three bottles. At least two should go this week as I'm writing a paper on good ole' Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and I'll be drinking the two I picked up in Seattle as I write.

I just realized how long it's been since my last post, and therefore I've realized I need to catch up on this thing. The Brunello di Montalcino I picked up for $22 at Trader Joe's is now an empty bottle thanks to movie night featuring Monte Python's "The Meaning of Life". It was a good wine, but not stunning, and probably not worth $22 except for the fact that it's a Brunello. It was good enough to convince me to fork over $15 for a Trader Joe's Barolo* - which is also absurdly cheap.

The Carmenere is dry and 13.8% alcohol and tasting yummy and I'm going home to Florida in 16 days. The world is simply moving too fast for me to keep up any longer. Because of this I'm going to be forced to cut my sleeping time from 10.5 hours nightly to 9. This might help slow down the illusion I'm currently under as to how the world seems to be spinning 200 mph faster than it's usual 1000 mph pace.

View of Mt Rainier from my friend's house in Grapeview, WA

**Wine Nerd Notes: Barolo's are from a small area in Piedmont, Italy, and they are made with the late-ripening and hugely tannic Nebbiolo grape. They're commonly thought to require at least 10 years of age to be able to drink without decapitating oneself due to extreme astringency. From what I've read this is changing, but I haven't had the misfortune of extreme vertical Barolo tastings to back it up. A similar wine is Barberesco, also made from Nebbiolo but simply from a region a hop, skip, and a crap away from Barolo.

Oddities

It's been an interesting time since the last post. There's snow in the mountains and leaves on the roads. There's also an empty bottle of Kungfu Girl Riesling on the table. It's definitely worth the $12 it sells for. Even though when I tasted it in the K Vintners tasting room it couldn't stand up to the Viognier, but then again, not many whites do.

The Riesling actually may have overwhelmed the salmon, but I really don't care. The wine was good and the food was good, and that's all that matters. Last night at the election party two bottles of Domaine St Michelle Blanc de Noirs were consumed. I really see no reason to not drink sparkling wine everynight. I'm thinking about hosting a party with some bubbly while playing this classic 80's masterpiece on repeat.

A few minutes ago, I should mention, I went ahead and inoculated the Carmenere with malolactic bacteria. Oh, not like anyone reads this but I'm going to be pouring College Cellars wines at the Tri-Cities Wine Festival this Saturday, which should be a fun time. I love serving drunk people at hotels.

Procastination and Bandol

Last night I went to dinner at Saffron, one of the most highly known restaurants in Walla Walla. The food was actually quite amazing and the wine was just as good. It was a 2004 Bandol from something Tempier (I'm not good with producer names). It was quite tasty though, very full bodied, and just delicious.

Bandol is a region in Provence, France. The red wines must be at least 50% Mouvedre and no more than 15% combination of Syrah and Carignan. Confusing rules but awesome wine.

Currently rather than finishing my unfinished and late Irrigation homework, I'm cleaning my entire apartment down to my armpit hairs. This is actually a much more fun and rewarding activity. There are reasons for this though, and maybe I'll delve into them when I'm in the mood.

For now my major predicament in life lies in fish. What should I season the salmon with and with which wine shall it be consumed? The answer lies within.

Halloween

It seems to me I posted a link to some random Youtube video of dressed up dogs recently. I just noticed it on the front page of Yahoo! - I am so ahead of the game. Before I dump loads of gel in my hair I wanted to note that my Wine.com shipment has finally just arrived. I ordered it 3 weeks ago, but whatever, I wasn't going to drink any of it yet anyways.

I bought a 2005 Haut-Medoc, a 2003 Gigondas, a 2006 Sancerre*, and a 2006 Malbec from Argentina that had a nice package. I'm excited about these; oh, and I also got a 2005 Spanish Tempranillo to round out my order total for free shipping.

The next few nights might be crazy, and they might be awesome. They also might suck.

*Sancerre is Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre in the Eastern Loire Valley. Actually there is some red Sancerre which is Pinot Noir, but in general, when one mentions Sancerre it is the white variety. A similar wine is Pouilly-Fume, which is Sauvignon Blanc from across the river from Sancerre.

Postponements

What does my life have in common with the 2008 World Series? The answer is in the title. While it's made for a boring night, my Saturday seems to have just become much better. Last night I went to dinner at T Maccarone's; a nice little Italian-ish place in downtown. I ordered the Pasta Carbonara, and so did my.... I'm not sure what to call her. What defines a date? I don't know either. Regardless, I also ordered a local Viognier, and stupid me, I cannot remember who's it was. (Probably the most queer line I've ever written. Not that there's anything wrong with that...) I'm thinking Tertulia, but I need verification on this. Anyway, it wasn't bad and I feel it was a good choice with my meal, but it was served too cold as most whites are in this country of ours. I had higher hopes for Walla Walla, but alas, no beans.

It's amazing what a too-cold white wine will do. It tastes like water and smells like it too. I suppose that's good for a non-wine drinker, but that's the opposite of what I am. Did I mention I was drinking wine well past 4 a.m. on Friday? That made for a very long Saturday.

As the majority of westerners know, this Friday is Halloween. I'm typically more of a Helloween fan than a Halloween fan, but this one could prove to be a blast. I'm also usually opposed to dressing up, but I decided to go as Patrick Bateman this year, which is really pretty easy and it should be fun to be a total douche. If only I could find a way to make some quick business cards. Anyways, the plan is to meet at my... friend's house for a couple hours and then hit the town for probably way too long. For a sleepy little town though Walla Walla can sure pack a punch and really just be a total blast, to be frank.

As of now I'm waiting for some leftover wine to warm up and during that I'll probably drink another rum and coke. I'm wearing a grey light jacket from Old Navy and a white t-shirt from In-N-Out Burger along with strait leg indigo jeans from Express. My shoes are a European style casual dress shoe from J.C. Penny which accent my Rolex rip-off quite nicely. When I'm done with tonight's stretching exercise I might take a swig of Listerine and trim my sideburns before showering thoroughly to remove any built up scum from today's viticulture lab. In the morning to freshen up I'll likely apply some aftershave by Neutrogena for Men and take some more Listerine. If anyone made it through that paragraph I commend you.

The Little Things

This is a wine blog, so I'll try not to delve too much into my wacky personal life. That said, I wish I wasn't 21 in many ways, as it seems at least one of my problems would be solved if I were merely born in 1978 instead of 1987. Probably only two people in the world know what the hell that means.

Something that's not a problem right now is my Carmenere's fermentation. It measured in at 0.5 brix this afternoon, and I'm getting ready to measure it again right now. One moment please.

Ok, it just measured at 0 brix. This doesn't mean it's done - it usually goes into the negatives for reasons I don't fully understand, but I believe it has to do with the fact that alcohol is lighter than water. The burping of the airlock has slowed to once every 2 or 3 seconds as opposed to the almost constant burping after I first sealed it up. I'm looking at transferring the juice to the carboy on Wednesday and pressing the skins at the same time as much as I can. I haven't figured out how to do this yet, but it will probably be a lot of work.

Now that my wine is nearing dryness and hopefully starting it's long malolactic fermentation, There is one less thing in life to stress over. Immediately after this post comes my homework, followed by school, still followed by another likely failure success of a night. Perhaps it's a bit early to indulge in this, as it hasn't been solidified, but as of now the plan is me in Cuba in March. Don't tell the government. More on that later, and this confusion will be cleared eventually for those waiting on the edge of your seats.

Fire!

My building had a fire tonight. While wasting time listening to Falco and playing Scramble I noticed a ring in the background. To make a long story short the hallway was blanketed in smoke and I hightailed it out of there. Luckily I thought to grab a jacket because it was 3 degrees Celsius outside. During the 1.5 hours or so I was not able to go into my building I made a trip to Wal Mart.

This relates to wine because I bought the longest potato masher that I could find in order to perform 4 times-daily punchdowns on my Carmenere. The point of this is to extract more color and tannin and perhaps flavor from the skins. The fermentation pushes them all to the top with CO2, and the punchdowns just mix them back in with the juice. It's good news that a nice "cap" is regularly forming and it appears that fermentation is going quite well so far. The juice was at 21.5 brix this afternoon, which puts the wine at about 1% alcohol so far, although probably higher 10 hours later. It's also heating up a bit and appears to be around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. If it gets up much higher I may have to figure out how to cool it down, but it's well within range right now.

For now I'm going to attempt to sleep in a smokey apartment, and if this is the last post ever for this blog, perhaps the air quality was not good enough to be let back in yet, and someone should probably tell the authorities that everyone in the building is dead.

Carmenere Project

During my days between postings something great has occurred. While picking the Petit Verdot at the school vineyard our instructor informed us that the Carmenere did not ripen fully due to a freeze on October 10, and therefore, anyone could take it! I was the first one to bite, and I took the best of the best grapes. By the end I used about 17 gallons worth of grape clusters, which ended up making about 7 gallons worth of must.

The first step was to manually destem the grapes. I estimate that this took me 6 hours total, and I listened to music sitting in this very chair the whole time. Notice my new wine rack in the photo.

The next step in this process was manually crushing each grape with my fingers. This was partially achieved during destemming, but I spent at least another two hours getting very sticky digging through the must to find whole berries. This still isn't totally done, but I've now inoculated the must with the yeast, which should help. As of now the yeast appear to be multiplying and the wine smells very much like bread dough. I'll be updating on this project again maybe with some really boring but important details assuming that everything goes as planned.

Some more details on the stuff: I measure the juice to be 23 Brix, which is a good number. That means I'll be able to achieve just over 13% alcohol assuming fermentation doesn't get stuck. I haven't measure the pH, but it's probably pretty high so I'm expecting to malolactate (is that a word?) the wine as much as possible, and maybe still have to lower it inorganically. The only thing I've added besides grapes and yeast are campden tablets, which release SO2 into the wine, killing everything that shouldn't be living. Later I'll add more to stabilize the wine, but not until I'm sufficiently happy with the progress of the malolactic fermentation, as sulfates inhibit it. The only other detail is my preliminary wine label design, as this should pump out 25-30 standard bottles to be drunk from 2011 to 2018. Check it out:

Pong, Avec Wine

Wine pong was rough. This post is a result of it. Actually none of the under $5 wines were even quaffable, much less drinkable, and not even close to enjoyable. While there were still two people there when I left, I didn't feel like being the third wheel. I never understood that expression. shouldn't it be fifth wheel as cars have 4?

Lesson learned: don't buy wine at the Grocery Outlet for anything other than wing pong, as there's as reason it's $4 a bottle. It didn't sell because it tastes like feces.

Edit: I think the expression actually comes from electric trains, subways, metros, whatever one wants to call them.

Wingmen

As I'm sure many readers out there were sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to know my thoughts on my Vouvray with creamy pasta meal, alas, you won't be let down. Unfortunately the cheapest Vouvray in town* ($9) wasn't as good as my cheaper one, but overall it was a pretty decent combo. It was just lacking some acidity which would have been nice. A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc may have gone better with the chicken fettuccine alfredo.

Other than that it was a fun night of approaching random girls on the street with my fellow CCer's new-found confidence. Nothing to write home about, but still a good time. The art of meeting women is a far more mysterious thing than that of fermented grape juice, my friends. While I thrive at useless knowledge and physics exams, those same skills almost destroy my chances at ever reproducing. It will be a sad day when Idiocracy is seen as the greatest profit of our time.

Tomorrow will bring peace and prosperity as I roam this baren desert in search of truth, and some pointy boots, and maybe even a few games of wine pong. If anyone can name that reference please post it in the comments and you'll win my greatest... gratitude.

Wine Nerd Notes: The wine was the Marchais 2006 Vouvray. I didn't mind it, but I wouldn't really recommend it either. Another funny thing that happened today is I checked corkd.com to see if that Tres Pinos wine that I bashed was rated on there. It only had one rating - a 93 - which is absolutely absurd. I gave it a 65, so now it's a 79. I saved countless lives with that one.

A 10 Minute Lecture on Vouvrays

Friday night was a big night. I lost my virginity - Vouvray virginity that is. This is shockingly late in my short wine drinking career, but there's a first time for everything. I have still yet to pass Chateauneuf-du-Pape through these lips.

Of all $7 wines I've ever had, I think this one has to take the place of the biggest success. It's just tasty and it smells good, and who doesn't like that combination? The wine was purchased at Trader Joe's, so unfortunately I won't be able to buy it again for quite some time, but it has motivated me to try the other 2 or 3 Vouvrays that are available at local grocery stores in Walla Walla. This one happened to be the 2007 Lachateau. It has a tiny bit of sweetness, not enough to bother me, but just enough to be refreshing. It was a great combo with the Creme de Menthe chocolate fondue.

For those who are not cooking up fondue on Fondue Fridays, I'd be pretty happy drinking this with some creamy pasta. That sounds so good that I think I'll try it later this week. Moral of this post: if you live somewhere with Trader Joes, buy this wine, and thank me later.

P.S. In case it went unnoticed, the title is a reference to the movie which most sufficiently potrays much of my life, Sideways.

Furnishings

In one of the most shockingly productive days of my life, my living room now sports a couch and a coffee table. The couch is a sleeper love seat, and maybe the ugliest such creation I've ever laid eyes on. (I've laid my legs on worse) I also received an Oeniphile 40 bottle wine rack courtesy of Amazon Prime and UPS. The problem with this is that I now need to buy 25 more bottles to fill it up, and all my expensive stuff (over $15) is still going in the wine fridge so I won't be showing off any Cheval Blanc just yet.

I'll keep it short today with a quick wine un-recommendation and a photo. On my Trader Joe's run a few weeks ago I grabbed a 2007 Tierra Blanca white wine from Tres Pinos in Paso Robles. My theory is everything they had left over went into this - it's a less than thrilling blend of Gewurtztraminer, Chardonnay, Viognier, and Muscat. While the Gewurtz and Viognier gave me hopes of potential, it just blows. It's like taking the worst of what Chardonnay can do and throwing it together with the aromatics of a sucky Gewurtztraminer. I'm assuming that the Gewurtz is the most prominent grape, because that's what I thought it was upon smelling, but it also has absolutely zero acidity and a really bitter finish that even a non-wine snob would be bothered by. Don't pay $4 for this, fork out $6 for a John Oliva's Pain CD in the bargain bin instead. Atrocious.


















Last night's sunset from the control tower in...... drum roll..... HDR!

College

A typical college class consists of lectures, notes, homework, papers, and exams. Today, mine consisted of alcohol. For "lab", we tasted through 8 different wines. The highlights were a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and a Five Star Cabernet Sauvignon from Walla Walla.

For my photography class we went to the top of the control tower at the bustling Walla Walla Airport. In case anyone was ever wondering what the city of Walla Walla looks like (more specifically the airport area and the mountains), click on this HDR panorama for a life-changing moment.






That's all for today. Next is a report on my (lack of) furniture.

Aussie Shiraz: Fact or Addiction?

That title makes no sense. Ignore it. As I alluded to in my previous post, the last couple nights consisted of a Syrah tasting and wine pong. First, the Syrah tasting was actually a Shiraz tasting (they are the same grape), and second, wine bong became beer pong after a couple rounds... when we ran out of wine.

Shiraz is Syrah, and I prefer the latter, but the Aussie's prefer the former. The grape is from the Rhone, not some city in Persia called Shiraz. That's Bologna. The Northern Rhone is dominated by Syrah, notably Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage, while the Southern Rhone which includes Chateauneaf-du-Pape is typically Grenache Dominant. Enough history though; the Australians are known for their over the top Syrahs (screw you, "Shiraz").

Despite that I've only been to two of these tasting groups since I've been... alive... this one was disappointing. The highlight wines were a Reynella and a Penfold's. I just wasn't feeling it, and neither was anyone else. I don't understand why these wines are so popular here, or maybe Australia just got a bad draw. In any case, next time someone wants to pop open an Aussie Shiraz, my only advice is run like hell. Actually I just finished off the 2005 Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz ($9) and it wasn't nearly as bad as I remember (I rated it last of 6 blind), so that's one bright spot for the land down under.

Next time you're in the mood for cheap Australian imports I'd go more the route of INXS's Greatest Hits (especially "Original Sin") or Foster's (Australian for beer). Wine pong looked for a while as though it would just be a practice round between me and one other alcoholic, so I picked up a scary cheap 2004 Pinot Noir Vin de Pays from Languedoc at $4. It sucked, but the Chateau St Michelle Blanc de Noirs wasn't bad, although surprisingly not as good as their Blanc de Blancs. But seriously, is it even possible to make bad sparkling wine? Needless to say when we had 8 people 3 bottles went quickly and we resorted to Keystone and PBR. I also managed to win a few rounds of water pong which proved crucial in preventing a work-impairing hangover. So the next wine pong match will involve more wine, but I'm not sure if I'll be bringing any Shiraz.

By the way, I love Australians.

Is There Anybody Out There?

This blog will one day have thousands of readers. Right now it has 2 on a good day. I must know if anyone else reads this (the two know who they are). Please leave a comment telling me how bored you are after reading strange writings on a subject most people don't care to know about.

In other news I'll be attending a Syrah tasting this Thursday and playing wine pong on Friday. And on second thought, the Riesling from the previous post wasn't worth much more than $6, if any.

Riesling vs Bonarda?

Fellow Americans or Earthlings, I welcome you to this battle of two cheap wines. In the north we have the Chateau St. Michelle 2006 Dry Riesling from Columbia Valley (also known as anywhere grapes will grow in Washington. No offense Puget Sound, but hybrids don't count. Ouch. That's going to get me in trouble.) And in the south is the 2005 Amaicha Bonarda hailing from Mendoza, Argentina. (Has anyone had a wine from Argentina that wasn't from Mendoza? It's the Argentinian version of Columbia Valley.)

These wines will be fighting over frozen pizza, only it's frozen pizza which has been sufficiently unfrozen. The Bonarda takes the first punch, bringing loads of... horse sweat and some pepper to the nostrils. It's a pretty weak punch that's nearly below the belt. The Riesling is obviously unfazed, and it counter-attacks with a heavy dose of... exactly what a Riesling normally smells like. There's no lack of fruitiness in this guy, he screams Pina Colada with a green apple slice and the Bonarda is suddenly looking dazed.

With a bite of the pizza the Bonarda finds new legs. Suddenly some fruit is coming out of the closet. The Bonarda weighs in at 200 lbs, while the Riesling packs a meager 129 lbs. Down to the last drop they trade jabs, through 6 slices without a clear winner. The judges debate, and in the end the crowd throws beer bottles (and a few wine bottles) into the ring: it's a draw.

It's clear that the pizza was an advantage to the Bonarda here, but the Riesling refused to let it's overall superiority be outdone by the homefield advantage. Of course many people are a sucker for a good dry Riesling, which is the best white wine in the world (don't tell California), and he was clearly the crowd favorite. The Bonarda has only been known in the USA for a short time, and many people have yet to hear of him. Perhaps in the future he will be able to chip away at Malbec's Argentinian import dominance. Clearly his harsh behavior and aftertaste turn many Americans off, and with good reason. But for $5 the show was a steal, and those who paid $6 to sit in the Riesling section were also happy about their purchases.

All this battle has amounted to is shiny happy people holding hands, and 3/4 of a bottle of Riesling for me to finish tomorrow. (The Bonarda was already half gone) If in the future I'm ever looking for a nice cheap wine to satisfy my liver, I might turn again to the Safeway down the street for some Chateau St Michelle Dry Riesling (the Bonarda was a 4 hour drive).






















Dueling wines (I hope I don't have to say which is which (and who is who...))

Harvest is Here

Aujourd'hui (today) I was able to go to Tertulia Cellars with my photography class. Rather than bore you with endless ramblings about Chardonnay, I'll just put up some pictures

The winery in HDR with a little funkiness (such as the same person 4 times).























This is actually the college vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, but I figured I had to include at least one grape shot and the vineyards at Tertulia are still too young.

















Yes, that is wine. Merlot, in fact, during a pumpover.






















Winemaker.

Everyone Listen Up!

Oscar Meyer, Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie and Fitch. One of these is great, but they're all figments of the American system. It doesn't end there, and since this is a wine blog, wine is what I will blog. The point is America is a brand name country up the wahzoo, and it sucks.

Before people in California sometime in the 2oth century decided to label wines by the varietal wine was labeled by region. French wine still is for the most part, but this too is starting to change to cater to Americans who don't know that red Burgundies are Pinot Noir. This doesn't really matter, but what does is that soo many people in the US of A choose wine based on the varietal; and this, now this, has got to stop.

As I'm writing this I'm listening to Styx's Mr. Roboto and drinking a 2006 Canoe Ridge Chardonnay (surprise, surprise!). The bottle was free because it had sediment floating in it and my co-workers didn't want to pour it for samples. I took the hit and brought it home. The point of all this is this: Chardonnay is probably the biggest example of a varietal becoming a brand name or buzz word for the the American public. I don't know the data on this but I'm sure it's the top-selling white wine in the home land. It's as if people know what they're getting with Chardonnay and they know they like it so it takes out all the risk, when it couldn't be further from the truth.

I can't think of another varietal which varies so greatly in style from winery to winery. I have a suspicion that the bottle I'm currently consuming is slightly "corked" because I normally like this wine, but I'm not feeling it right now (in a literal sense). The '06 Canoe happens to be aged in French oak, 10% of which is new, which is nice when I feel like drinking some wood chips with my grape juice. On the contrary, Chardonnays from Burgundy often never see oak, and thus end up fruitier and crisper, while many Chardonnays from California resemble eggnog more so than wine*.

Chronic Chardonnay or Cabernet drinkers listen up: there is plenty of good wine available these days. It's much more interesting, fun, and educational to drink a Torrentes from Argentina rather than another Santa Barbara Chard. Better yet, drink a white that isn't a single varietal, such as a Bordeaux. Tomorrow I might go downtown to Vintage to chillax, and I might just say, "Bartender, a Chardonnay please", as if it's just grape juice, and as if I wasn't a wine snob, just to see how the other half lives.

*Wine nerd notes:

1.Chardonnay is weird. I'm not sure who started this whole trend, but many California Chardonnays are like red wines in disguise. The reason is many winemakers allow the juice to undergo malolactic fermentation, something which I still don't completely understand and will be addressing again in the future. This process lowers the acidity, which is desirable in red wines, but like many wine snobs, in white wines I'm addicted to the acid. This is what makes New York Riesling good and California Chardonnay... less than desirable.

Life's a Drag

On Monday I went to a few wineries to taste the fruits of their labor (or the fermented fruit juice of their labor). This is normal, and many people partake in such an activity at some point in their meaningless existences. What isn't all that normal is going potato tasting. I didn't go potato tasting, but, I did go chocolate tasting.

Tucked away in a house of the main highway in Milton-Freewater, Oregon is Petits Noirs (small blacks?); home of the best chocolate I've ever had. (the truffle I paid $3 for in Zurich rivals it though). I walked away with a 6-pack of truffles for $14, and the pack included a violet, espresso, rosemary, whiskey and hazelnut, and toasted anise truffle, as well as one I can't remember the name of. The highlight though was the pudding which was the richest, darkest chocolate pudding I've ever had with a very interesting spicey aftertaste.

Enough about chocolate though; life in this sleepy town in Eastern Washington is pretty nifty at times. This weekend at work we're packing up wine club shipments, and as a bonus for the extra work I was able to take home two Reserve Cabernet Sauvignons, a Reserve Merlot, and the newly released 2006 late harvest Chardonnay/Riesling.

This late harvest wine is actually a true ice wine, picked by many of my co-workers in December at 22 degrees (Fahrenheit). It's called a "Sauternes* style" wine, but the freezing temperatures concentrated the sugars rather than noble rot. I've yet to taste a Sauternes, so I can't compare the two, but I do have one sitting around waiting to be comsumed. What I do know, is that I really like this new dessert wine. I swear if someone gave it to me while blindfolded I'd think it was a screwdriver, and not the tool. The $22 price tag for a 375 ml bottle is steep for a wine, but it's a bargain for an ice wine.

All-in-all, I took home $142 worth of wine that I have no intentions on drinking any time soon. I'll probably bring one bottle of the reserve cab to Florida this winter, and I'll drink the others in 2010 or so. With the abundance of wine I suddenly find myself owning, I'll be amazed if I get to it that early.

Just another sucky day here in Walla squared, and tomorrow doesn't look good either.

Wine nerd notes:

1. Sauternes is a region of Bordeaux. They make some of the world's best known dessert wines. The grapes are left to rot with Botrytis (noble rot), which concentrates the juice. There's plenty of sugar left over after fermentation to make all the moms across America happy, and they are joined by wine snobs world wide. The grapes are primarily Semillon with some Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle - the same grapes as dry white Bordeaux, only more Semillon heavy than Sauvignon Blanc heavy.

Jet City Tuesday

Dictionary.com can be useful. I typed in "alcoholic" to see if I was one, and instead of a definition I got links to help. Perhaps the definition of an alcoholic is one who looks up the word in the dictionary. In any case, I do know that I am addicted to wine to the point that I'll drive 4 and a half hours to buy it.

Yesterday was the last day that I won't be working or going to class until Thanksgiving, so I figured I should make use of it. At about 9:00 I hopped in my car and headed west. The only stop on the way was Sagelands Vineyard, which I get the employee discount at. I didn't buy anything though, my mission wasn't Washington wine, I get plenty of that.

My first purchase was 12 bottles at Esquin in downtown Seattle, within walking distance of the Mariners' and Seahawks' stadiums. Now I do sound like an alcoholic, but all of these were purchased for the tasting group which I am a part of. Among the items were 3 Bordeauxs, a couple Argentinian Malbecs, a Cahors (French Malbec), a French Viognier, Australian Shiraz and Petit Verdot, and some Merlots from Chile. I could have spent 4 weeks there, but I was in an hour parking spot.

Seattle is a dream city. I can't think of a more stunning place, but the catch is it was sunny on this particular day. In fact, to the north it was clear enough that I could easily see the snowy peak of Mount Baker, but at the same time closer and much taller Rainier was nowhere to be found. Despite the reputation of the rainy city (it's been rainy one out of six days I've been there), I might have to live there at some point in my life.

To make a long story short, I also bought a case of wine at Trader Joe's in Issaquah on the way back. This one is purely for my pleasure, and despite it being $92 it will save me the $70 in gas over the next few months. The jewels of my purchases include a Vouvray*, a white Bordeaux*, and a 2001 Brunello di Montalcino*. The latter was $22, which is scary cheap, and I'll be posting a review of that in the next... 2 years.

With this comes a conclusion: although I don't consider myself an alcoholic (perhaps one sign is that I'm drinking a 2004 Canoe Ridge Reserve Merlot as I type), the rest of the world does. So in trying to define an alcoholic I could say it's one who becomes intoxicated at least 4 nights a week (because if I said 3 I'd be doomed); or maybe it's one who relies on alcohol for happiness (but without it I'd be screwed). After much thought I've come up with this:

Alcoholic (al-kuh-hall-ik) noun : 1.One who's life depends on alcoholic beverages, and especially one who blogs about experiences revolving around it.
2. Steven Washuta

Wine nerd notes:

1. Vouvray is from a certain area of the Loire Valley in France, and it's 100% Chenin Blanc.
2. White Bordeaux is always a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and sometimes some Muscadelle.
3. Brunello di Montalcino is one of Italy's most famous wines. It's 100% Sangiovese (San-gee-oh-vase-ee) and barrel aged.. for a long time. The one I bought happens to be 4 years (which is 20 in wine-years)

Another Day, Another Hangover

Despite my best efforts I awoke this morning with a headache. The blame falls solely on the shoulders of "The Green", where at some point last night beer was consumed. Of course this sounds like blasphemy coming from a self-proclaimed wine expert, but when one works in the wine industry one must take an occasional wine break.

Prior to walking to The Green I consumed a half bottle of 1994 Canoe Ridge Chardonnay, while a fellow Enology student finished off the other half. The wine was served at a White House dinner in 1995, and 13 years later it has the color, smell, and taste of apple juice. That was the beginning, and the end result was a headache and no appetite. Today was the last Saturday I'll have off for the foreseeable future, and I wasted my time watching college football games go all wrong.

Sitting here now watching USC vs Ohio State, I can't help but think that the majority of the 94,000 in attendance don't give a crap about football, but are merely there for the afterparty. Despite this fact I pride myself in knowing that for a split second in July of 2007 I was the closest other human to Pete Carroll in terms of location. Maybe he'll have a hangover tomorrow.