Petaluma Coonawara 2000

12 years is not a long time to live, but I've slept rough, at the feet of a wino, under a desk laden with books and wires, corks and bottles. In a box with strangers I've been waiting. . . I still smell of blackcurrant and herbs and the warmth of my birth year is obvious. But I've grown soft and enveloping and in my readiness to please and be pleased, I've lost my corset of tannins and the parts that were once tight have started to wobble.

Razlyubit - The Russian word for love that has now stopped. Just ask any failing politician with poor opinion polls what it feels like. That feeling that you can do no right and all your flaws and badly received attempts at reaching out become a source of loathing, pity and annoyance.

A wine blogger and his desk

Three metres by one, with a dividing wall of books, partially electrified by various cables, which in turn are covered in papers. A source periodic territorial dispute. The wine blogger's half is populated with spent bottles, corks and pieces of foil. I dare not sniff, my nose would fill with dust. . . It reminds me a crime scene, almost all the evidence is there, though the wine, the protagonist, the one with the most information has long left the scene. Notebooks and scraps of paper, meaningless scribble. . . a cloudy green stone, a lush bursting mushroom, tea leaves chocolate and honey. . . what nonsense, what a mess. . . Three cameras, a printer and laptop, a pile of bills and receipts, keys and a calico bag containing my remaining pair of egg pants. Pens and ink, elastic bands, dictionaries, cook books and novels; everywhere paper. Stones and and feathers, a bag of salt, steroid cream for my eczema, an unused prayer mat; ideas and thoughts floating on teak and all covered by a fine sprinkling of dust.

Domaine Lucci Sauvignon blanc 2011

Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Sauvignon blanc. 12.5%. Diam. Approx $A25.

Last year I tried a trio of pinot noir (1,2,3) from the maker, all interesting wines with distinctive labels and personalities, though once on the tongue they all seemed fleeting and momentary in their appeal. Far more pleasure tonight; a 42 degree (107 F) day, fresh garlic (and basil) from the garden for home made pesto and some new tchotchke to use as props. . . A crooked and busy label and inside something delicious.

Flint and citrus blossom, it seems restrained, though most likely it's too frigid. . . In time the whole cast of players appears - melon, guava, grass, sap, garden weeds, vanilla bean and less typically crushed stones. . . It seems too tart, angular and sharp, but with food, warmth and habituation I can feel more texture and thickness, it's quite savoury; though to end it remains verdant and brightly sappy. Yes.

Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs

le Mesnil-sur-Ogers, France. Chardonnay. 12%. Cork. Approx $A85

Quite delicious and certainly more pleasing than just about any other equivalently priced Champagne I can recall. Made by a co-op of growers from grapes growing in esteemed soil, this is layered and complex; the nose is all sour dough, mushrooms and citrus, while in the mouth it's beauty is clear. A superb blend of length, texture and fruit.

Léon Desfrièches et fils Le Père Jules 2008

Normandy, France. 5%. Cork. Approx $A20.

A Tuesday, where the temperature reached 38.7 degrees C. It is possible that this might be the week's coolest day. Six of the next seven are forecast to reach 40 degrees or more. . . The most sensible liquid to consume is water (or beer) and the idea of wine, even for a hard core wino with a plate of of Chinatown roast pork for dinner, became suddenly and strangely unappealing. Thankfully I tend to be over prepared for most situations, and a bottle of vintage cider proved to be particularly suited to the heat and the pork. A cloudy orange this smells alive and full of bruised apples, mouse droppings and mushrooms. The funk was perfect foil for the pork which still carried the taste and scent of the yard.

Mr. Riggs Shiraz 2004

First a superb 9 year old Riesling. The 2003 Seppelt Drumborg (12% Victoria. Screwcap) - there is a distinct, but fleeting note of fennel and the faintest whiff of petroleum; overwhelmingly though, it is citrus blossom. It's bright, tart and the shape is not marred by the bitterness of age. Which is something I found, along with a metal and spritzig, in the preceding bottle of the 2002 Ferngrove Cossack.

The Riggs Shiraz which I was perhaps a little too effusive about 5 years ago, is still delicious and surprisingly fresh. I had images of its hefty 15% body aging poorly. . . A cool resting place has kept the wine, if not the label almost new. . . Its rich, sweet and laden with the scent and taste of coffee and chocolate. A wine with no lines, only generous curves. It certainly showed better than the slightly older 2002 Turkey Flat Shiraz, coming from a warmer cellar (brother in law) this was diffuse and Porty with some DMS on the nose and no structure, only sweet surrender in the mouth.

If

you accept the idea proposed by Heraclitus, that it is impossible to step into the same river twice, then it is easy to accept the notion that no two wines are ever the same. Take these twins, separated at birth. The darker and presumably more mature bottle has been cellaring in the warmth of my study. It's 27.5 degrees C today. The fairer twin has been kept at a constant 14 degrees.

A white bean and chorizo salad

An improvised salad made from pantry and fridge ingredients.

For the pan:
half an onion - segmented and fried in olive oil till golden.
a few cloves of diced garlic - tossed in seconds before the chorizo.
a roughly chopped uncured chorizo sausage - left in the pan with onions and garlic till cooked.
one tin of drained and rinsed cannellini beans - added right at the end to take on flavour and heat. Once done transfer to a serving plate.

For the serving plate:
1 small handful of fresh parsley and basil - chopped.
1-2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped - toss the herbs and tomato into the cooked beans and serve.

la Battistina Gavi 2010

Gavi, Piedmont. Cortese. 12%. Cork. Source: Gift

Who needs a number out of 100 when you can add a half smile to an egg wearing pants. . . Textured and slippery with a twist of citrus pith bitterness and a pleasing and lingering suggestion of stonefruit. I tried to recreate a sense of place by grilling some swordfish and making a simple salad of white beans, despite all this I'm sure this would taste better in some cheap and bustling ristorante overlooking the Ligurian sea. It's that sort of wine. . .

Bindi Block 5 Pinot noir

Macedon, Victoria, Australia. Pinot noir. 13.5%. Diam. Source: Cellar.

I liked this so much when I first tried it, I've been reluctant to open another bottle. What if it fell short of expectations? Like the books and films I liked when I was a younger man, would it fail to impress an older and somewhat wizened palate. . .

I think this is my penultimate bottle and thankfully it is still delicious and likely to reward additional patience. Crimson and bright, the nose is fresh and the palate pert. New world in accent, but with layers and complexity suggesting far away horizons. Now for the shopping list - perfume and petals (rose), raspberries, stems and earth. Lovely and bright in the mouth, a momentary suggestion of cola and ginger spice but overwhelmingly softness and plush creamy velvet. Till 2017.

An alcohol free day

Till recently, I had never noticed the small floret, seemingly carved into the base of each mangosteen. A small and beautiful gesture, like a birthmark, present in the flower and becoming relatively smaller as the fruit expands and darkens.

Huet Le Haut-Lieu Vouvray 2007

Loire, France. Chenin blanc. 13%. Cork. Approx $A65.

A day of strange fruit, once exotic spices and beautiful wine. To start a few hasty sips of the 2011 Grosset Springvale Riesling. In passing it resembles the Johnno Semillon - that sensation of powder, fluffiness and flowers, though there is more grip and the back half is flavoured with slightly bitter citrus pith. The Huet is nominally dry (sec) and as you would expect of something exquisite it is hard to adequately capture. It feels sweet, but the the final sensation, long after the wine has left the mouth is of dry river stones and a lingering sting of bright acidity. It smells as you might expect, musk, mustard fruit, a puff of sulfur. . . it's electric in the mouth, that impressions of sweetness - strongest at the beginning (could it have been the preceding wine) is soon replaced by minerals and under ripe stonefruit - that suggestion of green and sap cut with intense acidity not yet attenuated with age and sugar. 93+ Now - 2022

Penfolds Bin 09A Chardonnay 2009

Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Chardonnay. 12%. Screwcap. Approx $A75.

After a series of flabby and overweight chardonnay, something tight, pert and rapier like. . . Match stick (and curry leaf), flint, nutmeg, ground ginger and mustard fruit. Lean and citric in the mouth, the notable thing is the acidity, precision and feel of smooth and rolling river stones. It's succulent, bright and quite exemplary. A shape shifter wine, moving from svelte and erect to cream and flesh (and antipodean sweetness) as it warms. Terrific length and poise, like the 07A this is quite superb. 95. Now - 2017+

Image: Margaret River stones and worry beads. . .

Toolangi Reserve Chardonnay 2007

Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia. Chardonnay. 14.2%. Screwcap. Approx $A65.

I spent the afternoon sniffing at curry leaves, my mother in law has a pair of small trees growing unsupervised in her front yard and I'm fond of the scent. It's something I detect every now and then in the wine I'm tasting. . .

Pale gold and smelling of flint and coincidentally, curry leaf. Smoke and grilled stone fruit, a prickle of white pepper. Slightly sweet in the mouth, it's fleshy, expansive and full. Being less catholic and forgiving in my tastes, this seems overweight and over done. Butterscotch, toffee with burnt edges, ground ginger. A spectrum of notable sensations, but the sum seems less than the parts.

Shorts

However, this bottle was not marked 'poison', so Alice ventured to taste it, and finding it very nice (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, and hot buttered toast), she very soon finished it off.

Brokenwood Semillon 2008. Pale with a modest nose and slightly grassy and green bean in the mouth. Fresh and bright, presumably this is not a keeper.

Lucien Albrecht Riesling Vendanges Tardives 2002. The blackened cork is pictured and the top of the bottle sticky under the foil. Golden and gleaming - the nose rich with honey, musk and rose petal. Tea leaf and botrytis and a lovely balance of sweetness and acidity. The only dilemma is when and where to open such a bottle. Tasted with North Eastern Thai food this was superb, it would be less complementary with just about anything else.

Torbreck The Juveniles 2002. A usually early drinking GMS blend - this was surprisingly fresh and alive. Tasted blind I called it a Cabernet (and a Tasmanian one at that) - fooled by the sweetness and blackcurrant like confection. There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.

Bouchard Beaune Teurons 2005. Laden with spice, this was delicious but in fairness it would be a hard pick with your eyes closed. Cinnamon and anise I passed it to my wife seeking corroboration and with a mixture of boredom and resignation she reported she could smell nothing. . . Bright and svelte the tannins are beautiful - a combination of fine granularity and a ripple of firmness. Modest in price and proportion this is wonderful for guilt free pleasure.

The frame I'm in

It seems like a while since my insomnia has coincided with a desire to record my thoughts. A combination of overeating (Indian), caffeine (Hush in Fremantle) and atmospheric disturbance. The lightning has been multifocal and the thunder like a ten pin bowlers strike in reverse. An interrupted peel of applause followed by a long rolling rumble. Like my study chair across floorboards. That's the frame I'm in. . .

Later today of course it will be a struggle at work. My concentration will wander. Insomnia and school holidays at home will do that. . . If I were elsewhere and free of work, my mind would be intent on absorbing the new and old. I would write (more) and reflect, but I'm at home and it is my far away siblings and in-laws who have returned home. The recent days have been a combination of gluttony, chaos and the familiar.

There has been even more wine consumed than usual, but I've been inattentive. My fleeting focus is enough only to register that the liquid I'm drinking is vinous and of moderate scent, medium texture and minimal impact. Perhaps this is how a wine show judge feels after a few days of speed tasting. That's the frame I'm in. . .

To compensate and protect the precious (bottles) from my hopefully temporary lack of concentration I'm drinking what I already know. . . The Bindi Original seems less remarkable, while the Tyrrell's Johnno remains light and fluffy, but strangely less electric. . .

Image: A frame I constructed a few days ago from 2x4. It will eventually form a block to lift a small painting. . . I wish it were perfectly rectangular.

Arroz negro

My first, partially successful attempt at this classic dish. My unpictured rice was not black enough, presumably I need to use more ink or less rice next time. . .

A baseline recipe (for a 30 cm paella pan):

• 5 cups of fish stock - I used one based on left over prawn heads, fish and squid off cuts.
• 1 medium white onion - finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic - finely diced
• 2 tomatoes - halved and grated
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 500g of cleaned squid - cut into 1 inch squares and tentacles trimmed
• 16g of squid ink (4x4gm packets)
• 500g Bomba rice
• Parsley to garnish

How?

I wanted the only textures to be rice and squid, which is why there is one additional and perhaps superfluous step with the sofrito.

Starting with the onion, garlic and tomato - fry the finely chopped onions in olive oil, in the paella pan at medium heat for 10 minutes or so. The onion should be translucent and just starting to colour at the edges. Add the garlic and continue for a few more minutes, then add the grated tomato and paste. Cook for a few minutes, then remove from the pan and blend into a paste with a stab blender. Return this to the paella pan and heat till bubbling. Now add the squid and shortly there after the ink and rice. Stir and mix what is in the pan, so there is a homogeneous level of black and then add the stock (which has been heated in another pot so it is close to boiling), until the rice is well covered, for my pan this was about 1.2 litres. Cook like any other paella - for approx 20 minutes before garnishing with parsley and resting under foil or paper for 5 minutes before serving.

Cascina Chicco Barolo Rocche di Castelletto 2007

Piedmont, Italy. Nebbiolo. 14.5%. Cork. Gift.

Tasted after a tart trio of Champagne I found this initially irresistible. The weight, the structure, the depth. . . The scent is deep and enticing, but anything to do with fruit or place is shrouded in a fog of oak; with pen in hand and brain coming into focus I've scribbled non specific and generically modern. Slightly broad and extremely approachable in attack before those wonderful hard tannins. It made the night's next wine, an Australian Shiraz, seem confected and flabby.

Unrelated housekeeping: 2011 consumption - 54% Australian: 23% French: 7% NZ: Italy 5%

2012

and may all your eggs hatch. . .

NYE

Inspired by all the dodgy listed companies, who release their financial accounts on the very last day allowable and often at the close of trading; I've decided to publish some incomplete wino sapien posts, which I've been sitting on for some months (see below). The images are all from this calender year and the text even more truncated than usual. I'm spending the final day of 2011 cooking a meal for my extended family. Pomegranates will feature heavily and I dare say a few bottles will be opened for inspection. . .

Belacan

the year's smelliest ingredient. . .

Last year's.

Favourite things

Julian Barnes - And does history repeat itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce? No, that's too grand, too considered a process. History just burps, and we taste again that raw onion sandwich it swallowed centuries ago.

C.S. Lewis - You read to enlarge yourself, you write to preserve yourself.

Robin Williams - God gave man both a penis and brain, but unfortunately not enough blood supply to run both at the same time.

Related.

Drift wood

Another place and another time, but the lines and curves made me think of a Singaporean train station. . .

Stadium MTR

I disembarked and spent a lazy and solitary 15 minutes admiring the curves of the Stadium MTR. Which of course meant that when I finally made my destination my ticket was voided. . . Presumably the authorities don't expect people to meander.

Alcatraz?

Part of a larger family of Macaques who managed to escape from their enclosure at the Singapore Zoo. Even in captivity there is hope. . .

10 pieces

of exquisite chocolate, hand made here in Perth, purchased for the princely sum of twenty nine dollars. . . 110 grams of sweet delight, each piece beautiful to behold and delicately and intricately flavoured. For someone who finds easy pleasure in most commercially produced chocolate, $29 is a lot to pay for such a small portion. . . Could it be the vinous equivalent of buying a bottle of Grand cru Burgundy for someone content to to drink Jacobs Creek?

Seppelt St Peters Shiraz 2000

Great Western, Victoria, Australia. Shiraz. 13%. Cork. Source: Cellar

I've had a pair of disappointing 8- 10 year old shiraz based wines in the last few days from my brother in law's cellar. One corked, the other cooked and generally lacking in definition. Time then to revisit some wines, to see if my patience has been warranted or in vain. . .

Mature and heavy with scent. Leather, stewed mulberries, five spice and meat. A Chinese BBQ? It invitingly rich, warm and cuddly. Mouth filling and softened while still having a Balsamic like intensity and an opening and fleeting hint of honey. Spiced and firm, the structure feels clean (and not Brett derived) and the length is exemplary. This is a wine of maturity which still gives the impression of movement, flow and most importantly life. 91. Now - 2017.

Image: North West Coastal Hwy from The Pilbara project.

Burn Cottage Pinot noir 2010

Central Otago, New Zealand. Pinot noir. 13.7%. Cork. Approx $A90.

It's different from the previous vintage, but still clearly from the same cloth. Lighter and perhaps more confection like, it also seems less immediately alluring and sensual, while still suffering the same fate in the glass. It seems to decay and rapidly lose its prettiness and scent. Smoke and cherry, flint and flowers, though by nights end it is more cola, earth and rosewood. Momentarily zippy and pert, it still reminds me of flat cola; rounded, slightly sweet with a streak of char.

Three gifts

Safety rule #3 for the X-mini capsule speaker - take note that this speaker is not edible and should not be placed in your mouth.

Burning love.

Ferran Adria's - The Family Meal. Is quite apart from any other cookbook I own. The recipes are in clusters of three; relatively simple but indulgent meal plans for a family. The opening page for each trio of recipes has a picture of ingredients, each dish, with its constituents lined up in a row, to the right there is a time line with tasks. It's obsessional and precise. I like it. The recipe for each individual dish is a storyboard of photos with bubble captions - which of course means there are lot of superfluous pictures of garlic being chopped or sugar being spooned into a pan, but the overall impact is televisual and groundbreaking.

Domaine A Cabernet sauvignon 2005

Coal River, Tasmania, Australia. Cabernet sauvignon. 13%. Cork. Approx $A60.

Like its less esteemed Stoney Vineyard sibling this has a prominent nose and a supple body. Cassis and more cassis. It's bright and clear, slightly sweet before fine firm tannins. It's lovely, pliant and long, but it seems overly straightforward and simple. 91. Now - 2020.

Wantirna Estate Amelia Cabernet Merlot 2009

Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia. Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot. 12.7%. Diam. Gift.

And so the Holiday drinking begins. . . First a few glasses of the Eric Rodez Cuvee des Grand Vintages (Ambonnay. 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 & 2002. Approx $105). Pale gold, sour dough, bruised apple and peanut skins. Beautiful length with a honeyed note of maturity in the mouth. Pinot dominant, gripping but slightly bowed, this may not please all.

The pictured Wantirna Amelia is delicious, brisk and relatively petite. Violet, cherry, plum and freshly stewed berries (mulberry and blackberry); any blackcurrant is in the background, along with stems, earth and the odd gum leaf. It's beautifully perfumed and not surprisingly for such a young wine, it is bursting with vitality and energy. Bright and juicy in the mouth, it is so approachable I suspect most bottles will not make old bones. Fine, firm and varietally dry, there is a touch of earth and dark chocolate to end. 91-93. Now - 2021.

Two more sleeps

and time to thank all the kind souls who have shown an interest in Wino sapien. I hope you all have a lovely, peaceful and very merry Christmas.

It's hard to believe this is the sixth Christmas since I began; there have been changes and some maturation, a better camera, clearer pictures, my tasting notes still need some work, while the wines I've been tasting have become more diverse and reflective of a partly satisfied curiosity. My tendency for being a serial enthusiast continues unabated, this year a dip into the food of Morocco and the Levant and perhaps as a consequence of a few too many chickpeas I've rediscovered the joy and middle aged necessity of skipping - the whirl and whirr of rope and that fleeting moment of synchronization.

Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino 2005

Montalicino, Tuscany, Italy. Sangiovese. 14.5%. Cork. Approx $A55.

Three sleeps from Christmas and a mostly languid day punctuated by the occasionally retail skirmish to obtain produce. Prawns, salmon and of course small goods. . . Work seems a distant memory and the most pressing task for the day was the construction of Gingerbread houses and homemade pizza for dinner. Brunello with it's savoury edge and firm tannins must be close to the ideal match. . .

Generously proportioned, you can feel the weight. . . the wimp in me wonders several times whether this would be better if it were slightly more gracile. . . Tobacco and cherry, leather and aniseed scented small goods. It smells of meat and ink and for the most part it is clean. Ripe and full, a fleeting suggestion of raisin before becoming more characteristically firm, savoury and leafy. 89 - 91. Now - 2015+

McHenry Hohnen Calgardup Brook Chardonnay 2010

Margaret River, Western Australia. Chardonnay. 13.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A35.

I first tried this two months ago, at the cellar door, a 30ml taster which reminded me of blood orange and pith, though of course it tasted of much more and any suggestion of orange was fleeting at best. Imprecise and hasty impressions. . . Tonight with whole bottle and hours instead of minutes, I wish I could say that my words have more exactitude. It's more powerful and textured than I recall, with the obligatory strike of flint and match stick. Citrus and grilled pineapple on the nose, while in the mouth a suggestion of river stones and once again blood orange and pith.

Unrelated image: A Barking owl with insomnia.

Pierro Chardonnay 2009

Margaret River, Western Australia. Chardonnay. 14%. Screwcap. Approx $A65.

The quality and appeal are obvious, but even so, I'm not sure I'd want to drink something like this too often; big bones and dangerous curves, it's delicious, but only in small doses. I had thought from previous encounters that the Pierro chardonnay was getting slimmer and tighter, but I concede that my recollection may have been wrong; looking back at my other tasting notes it is clear that the 2009 is from the same heavy cloth and that my tastes are fickle. Flint, struck match, smoke. . . mustard fruit, white peach, ginger and fig. It's complex and layered and slightly hard work. . . the acidity is wonderfully bright and there are flashes of green bean and citrus, but the dominant theme seems to be a richly textured creamy vanilla nougat; it is as it sounds, mouth filling and somewhat confected.

Day 1

of school holidays. . . only 46 days to go.

Image: Mango, Banana apple and berry, mixed berry.

Related.

Lake's Folly Chardonnay 2010

Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. Chardonnay. 13.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A60.

Fleshy and slightly sweet, it tastes uncoiled and abundant. Flint and peach skin, a prickle and bustle to the nose along with haystacks and spiced oak. Broad, rich and sweeter than expected; an anachronism. Butterscotch and cream in the mouth, the strands of acidity are just holding things together. A two to three year proposition. 90.

Image: One day on from the wettest Summer's day I can recall.

Lucien Albrecht Clos Himmerlreich 2004

Alsace, France. Riesling. 13%. Cork (half stained). Approx $A55

Both wine and beans were bought on a whim. . . my mostly intended purchases had been made and cash in hand, I was at the point of departure, magpie eyes spotted both, a day and a city apart. The beans are less pleasing and confronting than hoped for, the flavours are there, but only in passing.

The wine is very interesting. Off dry. Golden, though certainly not beautiful or poised, it smells of glue and acetone at times, and there is to my nose and tongue, a reasonable dose of botrytis. Ginger spice and toast, citrus pith; can a wine smell and taste burnished? A tart and linear attack with mineral and flint; though a sip and moment later there is a rim of sweetness and weight which only seems to heighten the intensity.

Slow reading and drinking

I started reading A History of the World in 101/2 Chapters over a week ago, and normally for a modestly proportioned book of a few more than 300 pages, I would be done. Instead I'm lingering and intentionally going slow; often reading a paragraph and then wandering off, dwelling and ruminating on the beauty and ease of the words and the ideas contained. It manages to be amusing and simultaneously rich in meaning and imagery; and like all excellent books, it's something I want to prolong and absorb. Of course there's pleasure to be had in reading something simple and shallow, just as there is enjoyment in wines that are direct and carefree, but surely a mark of vinous and literary excellence, is the desire to go slow and to luxuriate in the beauty and nuance.