Wherefrom came all these carefully fermented fruits: Red raspberries paired harmoniously with black, Michigan cherries married to Montmorency, a whole boggy family of cranberries? Why, from the early morning harvest whilst the single village tourist was still aslumber! The day blurs and the setting heat of the sun gives way to the final lulls of…
Category: Wine & Brews
Wine review : Freemark Abbey “Josephine” (2012, St. Helena, Napa Valley, California)
Serve well chilled for the fullest visual-sensual experience. Aromas fill the glass like chilled saltwater sea-licked morning fogs that sleepily yet gracefully lift with the first rays of sunlight from the vineyard immediately post-harvest – where an abundance of ground-trodden grapes, having been all too hastily removed from the vines and having slipped from the…
Review – White Wine: 2011 Missing Spire Riesling, Michigan USA
The bottle. Photo taken within the same historic building from whence the Missing Spire came. Real history. Poetically written true tale. The back bottle’s story, showing the historic asylum, which has since been converted into shops, offices, and residential condominiums and apartments. Mildly effervescent like upon sipping. Cools and soothing stimulation to the throat like…
Review – Red Wine: 2002 Damianitza Uniqato (унukamo) Melnik, Damianitza (Дамянuца), Bulgaria
An aged bottle, having traveled to numerous destinations further adding to its rustic character, is deserving of a very good occasion to be consumed. Alas, a cellar / basement / cool temperatures are presently lacking, so even our very good wines must all be consumed in short order. Shown here in the art studio. Lush…
Review – White Wine: 2006 Philippe Bornard Savagnin les Chassagnes Ouillé, Côtes du Jura, France
A so-called “yellow wine”, pale wildflower yellow in the cup, like some white wines. A perfect pair to an antique couch upholstered with pale yellow floral embroidery (like the one in the background), preferably in a very sunny open-air conservatory or screened-in porch (which this isn’t). Smells of soft Bourbon vanilla wafting from a freshly…
Review – White Wine: 2011 Luigi Baudana Dragon Chardonnay, Langhe, Piedmont (Piemonte), Italy
The drawing is okay – certainly an attractive addition to the label, and with some creative anatomy going on – but they should ask me to draw one. The dragon is in the swallow. Pleasingly sharp bite tackles mid-way in the mouth before spiraling its way down the throat, fire and claws and all. But…
Review – White Wine: 2009 Weingut Bründlmayer Heiligenstein Riesling, Kamptal Austria
At the resto, where the wine and its olde-world, sepia colored, crinkle-pressed label looked perfectly at home among the multi-toned historic yellow clay bricks. The glasses pictured are standard white stemware, but the bright sparkle in this wine seems to call for a slightly taller, narrower glass. Very effervescent-tasting (for a Riesling), bright, interesting, refreshing…
Review – White Wine: 2010 La Grenouille, Bligny-Les-Beaune, Rully, France
A picturebook-style frog on the label helps hint to those who may not be so familiar with French. Its boulder-shaped head leans heavily to the right, threatening to fall off its shoulders, while the eyes have already made their way up and out; and yet it still grins as widely as possible, as if it…
Review – White Wine: 2011 Höpler Grüner Veltliner, Burgenland, Austria
A beautiful dash of grape (or “plum”) purple in the label gives pleasant contrast to the liquid color of lemonade-with-a-squeeze-of-lime. The nose might fool you into almost thinking you have a rosé in hand. Complex blend of European fresh fruits, dry metallic minerals, and semisweet condiments. Maybe slightly herbal too – mint? fennel? The zip…
Review – White Wine: 2012 Barkers Marques Vineyards, The Loop Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand
Curiously, there is no indication of the maker on the bottle – just their particular wine’s name. Some would say “steely”, but I taste coleslaw (dressed, and sometimes fermented, cabbage salad) and a bit of seafood. Clean, but lacking much beyond a cleansing yet nondescript zip. A pale, pale green-tea-yellow in the cup. Could benefit…
Culinary Poetry 