2011 has been a very big year for this blog, but work and life are getting too busy, will be back in January 2012 with fresh #wineandmusic matches. Email me if you have any questions or comments! cheers!
Fuzion has become a very strong brand in Canada based on a Syrah/Malbec blend. The 2010 Famillia Zuccardi Fuzion Chenin Blanc Torrontes blend has a number of positive things to offer.
The nose is quite busy, too busy for my liking, but I will not be too hard on it considering this is a value wine. Citrus, floral, latex, pistachio, almond elbow eachother fighting for space in your nostrils.
The gulp would stump pretty much anybody. Chenin Blanc is used to neutralize the Torrontes which is reputed to be very strong on citrus and floral. The end result works out to be a respectable smorgasbord managed better than the scent. Floral and citrus survive, but they are reined in and an almondy flavour fills the gaps.
Musical Match: Unfamiliarity rules as Chenin Blanc and Torrontes get met mixed. So here is something equally different, 1960′s African American folk icon Richie Havens sitar track Something Else Again remixed to a bit of a dance beat. Nutty? yes. A bit messy? yes. Interesting? Yes.
This is a young Chablis. Winos will insist that Chablis is worthy, if not dependant, on a few years of cellaring, but since this is a half bottle size – I will open up my Drouhin Chablis toute-de-suite.
Gorgeously inviting on the nose. Floral, mineral, fruit… lots of promise indeed.
The gulp does not disappoint. First of all I am lucky to be tasting this at home, under great circumstances and optimal serving temperature. The fruit is a great balance of citrus and green apple, the mineral adds depth. It is crisp and clean. And not that expensive. Keep this in mind if you want a Chablis ready to go…. and with the convenience of a half bottle you allow yourself to open a bottle mid week and not worry about how to store left over wine, or to serve with an appetizer when the main dish calls for a red wine and a whole bottle would be just too much.
Musical Match: Young, fresh, lively, crisp, natural describe this 2010 Joseph Drouhin Chablis as well as “Morning Song” by emerging talent We are the City. These guys are ready to rock now, and will only get better with age… Good Stuff, it’s a Hit!
The 2008 Bordeaux Marquis de Chasse is pleasant little French Red, that fits the bottleDJ Fall Classic Small Bottle World Series in two manners. One, it comes in a 250ml bottle which is one third of the regular 750ml and it is not a big, brash BDX.
Almost flinty on the nose, the fruit is present and pleasant with an underlying green woodsy effect. With the flint and the green you get an image of being in the woods in the late summer, just like a hunter – and Chasse means to hunt. Back in the day hunters were respected and successful, but not the richest folks in the French country side, and I think the humble nature of the wine aligns quite well with an image of a noble hunter.
Into the gulp, you get a blend that puts the spotlight straight on the Merlot. Fresh, juicy and nice tannins. The wood is noticable, in terms of giving good dryness – but not caramel or vanilla notes.
I would call this wine a humble and noble little Bordeaux, pleasant and refreshing.
Musical Match: The Hunter’s Chorus by Weber. I have picked a Suzuki method instructional video by a youtube user “alwaygolf.” I think the simple, dry sound of the cello catch the capture this wine quite well…. and if you need to sharpen your cello skills, “bow” my guest.
I really wanted to like this Domaine du Gros Noré 2006 red blend of Mourvèdre, Grenache and Cinsault. You do not often see reds from this lesser known AOC anywhere on the market, and the grape varietal blend is right up my alley. Discovering something new would feed my egotistical need to present the world with something worth trumpeting. The wine was purchased at an SAQ outlet in Montreal recently, and given the 5 year old harvest, I decanted the wine at room temp for a bout three hours before open.
After that decanting I was surprised by how light the wine was. Either it was too old and had lost it’s lustre, or was not yet ready for drinking. Some aggressive glass shaking brought out black fruit, some cherry… so the nose gives the impression that maybe the wine still needs some ageing.
Into the gulp the wine is a bit boozy, some herbs (lavendar) mix in with this those cherry and blackfruit flavours. The fruit was intense and had lots of quality characteristics. In fact, the wine was really quite good for about fifteen minutes. After that it got a bit acidy, some green vegetable notes ballooned and it went from quite good to not so hot, pretty quickly. Not corked, but something just didn’t seem right. Wine like this proves a couple of things. Following 100 point ratings is risky because wine is dymanic – not usually this dynamic – and secondly France better stop selling wine with such unpredictable windows of drinking opportunity, simply because all other old world and new world countries are beyond that, and for good reasons.
Musical Match: Noel Gallagher wrote all of Oasis’s good songs. He wrote Lyla which is the wine and music match to Marcel Lapierre’s 09 Raisins Gaulois, this wine blog’s most popular post. I love Oasis, and man o man do I ever want to love Noel Gallagher’s new solo work… but, I am afraid his window of music making opportunity was cruelly short. Listening to his new stuff, it has lots to like, but not much to love. Listen to his “Death of You and Me.” It almost clicked with me… Truth be known, I like the song way more than the wine, but it sn’t as good as I hoped it would be – much like the Domaine du Gros Noré Red Bandol 2006.
