Wine Tasting October 16 ’10

web in the sun

The other evening saw something glowing across the street; turned out to be a spider web reflecting the sunset…see it??

Let’s begin with last weekend’s tasting. Despite the fact that gruner veltliner is not well-known to many wine drinkers, it always shows well and surprises people; the Kurt Angerer is a particularly good one, and didn’t disappoint.

The Townshend Red Table label– (that’s fun to say) is a conversation piece, and the wine was uniformly popular with all hands. Still got some, definitely recommended!

The Sorenson malbec, which I rather like, does have a definite element of “funk” that is hard to categorize…notes of black currant and juniper berries in a handful of forest floor or something. Doesn’t seem to appeal to New World tastes; more popular with the Old Worlders who like a bit of earthiness. This wine has a solid core of Something, I just don’t know what to call it…!

Similarly, the Emmanuel Darnaud was not your mother’s syrah, either. The first bottle delivered a bit of over- concentrated funk toward the end of the bottle, but mostly the wine strikes a lower note than the typical syrah, with a long, lingering finish of black currant, camphor, and licorice. Definitely Old World delicious!

**************************************

On other fronts, I mailed some thoughts about our ferry situation to our illustrious County Council, mainly to the effect that it really doesn’t work, in oh so many ways, to keep finding new costs they can call “ferry operating costs” and raise fares yet again. At last count, fares had risen six times the increase in the consumer price index, and that’s being generous because most of the increases have been since 2005.

I am pretty sure that we are all willing to pay our fair share, but we do NOT want to be the Whipping Boy of the Week every time the County budget doesn’t balance. I don’t see a lot of other communities in our county paying tolls for their roads or bridges, or being singled out to pay for an “administrator” that we got along without for some 80 years. So there’s a lot to talk about.

And then there’s the upcoming election, and all any media talk about are the Tea Party, and maybe in some Weird Way the Tea Party and Progressives have something in common in that neither of us trusts our elected officials to do what is best for the country. It’s just that they think Big Government is the Bogeyman, while Progressives think that Corporate Power (You Too Will Be Assimilated)!  is the Main Culprit. Then again, to paraphrase an old Zen saying, “Government and Corporations are in such an embrace, not even an Ant can crawl between them.” So maybe it would be a step up if Congress were to go from being idiotic to being simply moronic, but then again it’s hard to say, and anyway it’s a depressing prospect, so let’s just stop there for now.

This week’s tasting:

Gordon Bros sauvignon blanc Washington $8
Aromas of citrus, melon and mango; flavors of lime, pink grapefruit and melon; a clean, crisp, versatile partner with fish or fowl. An incredible value!

Telmo Rodriguez Deheso Gago 07 Spain WA89pts $13
Deep crimson-colored, it offers up an excellent bouquet of pencil lead, violets, incense, and blackberry. Ripe, medium to full-bodied and nicely concentrated.

Goose Ridge G3 red   08   Washington      $12
A full bodied wine with notes of vanilla and toasty oak in the bouquet. Flavors of cherry and dark fruit combine with tobacco to create a long finish. Our 08 g3 is a blend of 45% cabernet sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 24% Syrah. (Leigh’s favorite!)

Donedai Cabernet Sauvignon ‘05   Washington $27
Rich and opulent, the Cabernet Sauvignon possesses great strength, complexity and integration. Round, black-fruit flavors of blackberry and black cherry are nicely balanced with smooth tannins and a long, supple finish. Truly a hedonistic wine for the senses! Enjoyable now, this wine will continue to age gracefully for 10-15 years.

Wine Tasting

If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Comments are closed.