wine notes...
ahh, well, with the NYQ accept, the forthcoming trade paperback from Sunnyoutside and the fact that I've nailed down the framework for my first novel (gonna begin very very soon), tonight we celebrated a bit and splurged on a couple of good Bordeaux wines that are usually a bit pricey for us po' folks.
we bought a bottle of 1998 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (a St. Julien)and a bottle of 1999 Cos d'Estournel (a St. Estephe), both second growth wines.
the Ducru is one of the goddamn best wines I've had, and I can't imagine how fine a great vintage like 1982 (around $250 a bottle locally here) would be as the 98 is a wonder. this wine has a deep purple color, with a lighter ruby rim and no sign of age anywhere, like it could easily last another 25 years in the bottle. the nose is full of minerals, dark fruit and smoke with a ghost of chocolate hovering somewhere nearby. a fully integrated wine, the tannins and fruit are in almost perfect balance (most Bordeaux need about ten years or so to lose some of their tough edge if made right) and I can't find too much new oak vanilla which is great (I hate that taste, really, too sweet, too processed, and the Borie family uses around 50% new oak). the Ducru is about 70% Cabernet Sauv and the rest Merlot and Franc. black cherries, raspberries, leather on the front and a long, complex finish that lasts, with a gentle heat that fades like the notes from a trumpet at midnight. man, it's a good one and worth the dough.
St. Estephe has a rep for being a hard, tannic appellation, the soil is mostly clay which means poor drainage and a higher acidity in the wines. but the Cos doesn't show it very much, with about 40% Merlot grapes softening the tough, closed edge. this wine had a nose of herbs and smoke, a pink rim and a lighter, more garnet color than the Ducru's deep thick purple. the taste was medium bodied and subdued with flavors of pencil lead and earth, and a crisp short finish with very little tannin for an Estephe (probably that damn new oak easing the sharpness). a solid wine, I thought, and considering the amount of new oak they use (around 80%) I wasn't put off by any strong cedary vanillin flavors. UPDATE: the next day I had another glass from the Cos and after breathing for a while the wine had a much more notable herbaceous/vegetal nose, a bit mushroomy, and the fruit had slipped sadly into the background. I probably would buy it again, but from a vintage like 98, 90 or 82 (right, if I could afford it/find it).
okay, that's the Cunningham Frenchy Pompus Asshole hour for the day, and dig it, I could care less. I fucking love Bordeaux wines, and ya'll bitches can kiss it.
here's some elitest jazz music too, enjoy:
more later...
we bought a bottle of 1998 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (a St. Julien)and a bottle of 1999 Cos d'Estournel (a St. Estephe), both second growth wines.
the Ducru is one of the goddamn best wines I've had, and I can't imagine how fine a great vintage like 1982 (around $250 a bottle locally here) would be as the 98 is a wonder. this wine has a deep purple color, with a lighter ruby rim and no sign of age anywhere, like it could easily last another 25 years in the bottle. the nose is full of minerals, dark fruit and smoke with a ghost of chocolate hovering somewhere nearby. a fully integrated wine, the tannins and fruit are in almost perfect balance (most Bordeaux need about ten years or so to lose some of their tough edge if made right) and I can't find too much new oak vanilla which is great (I hate that taste, really, too sweet, too processed, and the Borie family uses around 50% new oak). the Ducru is about 70% Cabernet Sauv and the rest Merlot and Franc. black cherries, raspberries, leather on the front and a long, complex finish that lasts, with a gentle heat that fades like the notes from a trumpet at midnight. man, it's a good one and worth the dough.
St. Estephe has a rep for being a hard, tannic appellation, the soil is mostly clay which means poor drainage and a higher acidity in the wines. but the Cos doesn't show it very much, with about 40% Merlot grapes softening the tough, closed edge. this wine had a nose of herbs and smoke, a pink rim and a lighter, more garnet color than the Ducru's deep thick purple. the taste was medium bodied and subdued with flavors of pencil lead and earth, and a crisp short finish with very little tannin for an Estephe (probably that damn new oak easing the sharpness). a solid wine, I thought, and considering the amount of new oak they use (around 80%) I wasn't put off by any strong cedary vanillin flavors. UPDATE: the next day I had another glass from the Cos and after breathing for a while the wine had a much more notable herbaceous/vegetal nose, a bit mushroomy, and the fruit had slipped sadly into the background. I probably would buy it again, but from a vintage like 98, 90 or 82 (right, if I could afford it/find it).
okay, that's the Cunningham Frenchy Pompus Asshole hour for the day, and dig it, I could care less. I fucking love Bordeaux wines, and ya'll bitches can kiss it.
here's some elitest jazz music too, enjoy:
more later...
posted by christopher cunningham at 1:12 AM
3 Comments:
your knowledge of wines and their respective regions is impressive, me, I just look at the alcohol Vol/% and the £££.
have a good weekend
yours, drunkenly
Brian.
wines get you drunk?
you don't say...
well, well.
both sounds amazing...i'll keep my eye open for both here in Utah. i could get lucky, i suppose, and find it....odds are slim, however.
and a novel? what the? wow...good luck, monsieur..
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