With dinner tonight: 2006 Scholium Project white 2004 Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvingnon Napa 2005 Sebastiani Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 1993 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon bin 407 ? Wall Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Chateau d'Epire Savennieres 2005 Robert Foley Vineyards Carbono 2005 Oali Wine Company Cargassachi Pinot Noir 2004 Treana Winery Red Paso Robles 1999 Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa 2005 Scholium Project red 2002 Clarendon Hills Syrah Hickinbotham Vineyard Australia 2000 Chateau Bernadotte 2004 Miner Family Vineyards Sangiovese 1989 Marcel Deiss Gewurtztraminer Altenberg de Bergheim Selection de Graines Nobles x 2 glasses nv Broadbent Port

There were three whites in there. I did not pick them out, this was at a tasting.

Here is the deal, all wines taste and smell like grapes. But it is fairly meaningless to tell people that the wine you are drinking smells like the grapes that made it, that says nothing. So part of learning about wine is learning how to open your nose and mouth. The grapes that make the wine each have different flavor, flavors that are given greater depth (at least can be) by the soil, the climate, the fermenting and aging process, etc. By time the wine hits your glass, it has changed from the grape juice whence it came at a molecular level. The final wine product contains numerous aromatic molecules that are the same as or very similar to aromatics from other food and nonfood substances. So the key is to stick your nose right into the glass, with your mouth open and inhale the wine's aroma (called the nose) and see if you can figure out what the aromatics are or remind you of. Then you do the same thing with taste, also taking time to think about intensity, mouthfeel, etc. For example, the clarendon was fairly monodimensional. It smelled, tasted and looked like raspberry juice. But it did that remarkably well, despite being made from syrah, as if it were instead handfuls of crushed fresh raspberries. The Miner gave off the nose of raspberry jam instead, evolving over time to pomegranite and black currant juice with undertones of tobacco and even some green olive. The Scholium white started in the nose with dried apples, dried apricots and perhaps some guava and even papaya and slowly evolved to a more vanilla and whipping cream character, and in the mouth was tart and creamy with a nearly oily feel, and was tremendously intense all the way through. Fun stuff, really expanding the experience. And wine does NOT have to be expensive to do this. I recently fell in love with a sparkling wine and sniffed it all night long, only to find out it was ~$19 per bottle.

I like all sorts from all over. I am particularly drawn to red zins tho, and tend to find chard and even cabs a bit boring and overdone. Oh, I got loads more. For example, the Penfolds, which was 15 years old and really should have been coming into its own, was flat and actually gave off a nose of dust and graphite and even chalk board, with bare hints of red fruits and dirt, and while these were fairly subtle, they came out over time. And the Marcel Deiss Gewurtztraminer was really very nice, round and supple with a strong nose of fresh straw, raisins and a touch of mineral but with a mouth that was deeply balanced between tart and sweet. The 1999 Whitehall Lane was also fairly flat and uninspiring, which surprised us all.

Zins are my favorite. I got two in a 3 bottle pack about 3 wine.woots ago. Have not opened them yet. There is a tasting at my local liquor store tomorrow. 40 wines. I am supposed to go to the monthly bike club meeting after. I probably won't make it.