Wine

[Baggio10]

Happy CNY to all bros here!

 

[ikileo]

Happy New Year to you too! May your wine be plentiful and complex.

 

[ikileo]

hey guys, how was your CNY long weekend? what did you guys drink?

sadly i had some lackluster wines and one not bad wine.

The lackluster:
05 Cape Lavender Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Australia - It could almost be a delicious fruit bomb but the alcohol was too obvious and the palate was disjointed. Brought by a friend.

09 d'Arenberg "The Stump Jump" (Riesling, Marsanne, Sauvignon Blanc blend), McLaren Vale, Australia - I bought this to try out as I am a fan of the producer d'Arenberg. A rather 'meh' white wine and progressively more difficult to drink as the time passed. Although 49% riesling, 20+% Marsanne & 20+% Sauvignon Blanc, the SB came out very strongly on the nose and palate making it too austere for my taste.


The 'Not Bad'
09 La Spinetta Bricco Quaglia Moscato d'Asti - my dad's friend popped a bottle. nice fizz, nose and palate. hints of pomelo and citronella (the natural mosquito repellent). Went quite nicely with the kueh lapis. But once the fizz settled, it became a touch flabby and could have used a touch more acid. Either way it was not bad.

hopefully the wines i am drinking this weekend will make up for the poor showing this past week.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

 

[reign]

hey guys, how was your CNY long weekend? what did you guys drink?

sadly i had some lackluster wines and one not bad wine.

The lackluster:
05 Cape Lavender Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Australia - It could almost be a delicious fruit bomb but the alcohol was too obvious and the palate was disjointed. Brought by a friend.

09 d'Arenberg "The Stump Jump" (Riesling, Marsanne, Sauvignon Blanc blend), McLaren Vale, Australia - I bought this to try out as I am a fan of the producer d'Arenberg. A rather 'meh' white wine and progressively more difficult to drink as the time passed. Although 49% riesling, 20+% Marsanne & 20+% Sauvignon Blanc, the SB came out very strongly on the nose and palate making it too austere for my taste.


The 'Not Bad'
09 La Spinetta Bricco Quaglia Moscato d'Asti - my dad's friend popped a bottle. nice fizz, nose and palate. hints of pomelo and citronella (the natural mosquito repellent). Went quite nicely with the kueh lapis. But once the fizz settled, it became a touch flabby and could have used a touch more acid. Either way it was not bad.

hopefully the wines i am drinking this weekend will make up for the poor showing this past week.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Sad to inform, didnt open much wine during this period. Only had the Brown Bros Moscato due to easy drinking for the rest.

 

[AhnNakata7]

hey,

was looking for some small wine refrigerator
Appreciate if you guys can give me some recommendations

thanks

 

[ikileo]

what is the capacity you'd like?
any budget?

 

[AhnNakata7]

what is the capacity you'd like?
any budget?

abt 10 bottles?

 

[ikileo]

the general advice is that you should never buy just the right amount that you need because you will invariable buy more wine than you need. so you really just need 10 capacity or are you will to consider 15-20 bottles?

 

[AhnNakata7]

oh ya
sry forget abt that
am looking around 15 to 20 bottles

 

[tatsit]

i just bought these 2 wines. anyone tried it before?

 

[nautilus]

i just bought these 2 wines. anyone tried it before?

Wow didn't know Sociando Mallet 04 having promo again.

 

[tatsit]

Wow didn't know Sociando Mallet 04 having promo again.

any tips on drinking it? should i decant it for long?

 

[nautilus]

Had a Chateau Haut Marbuzet 2007 over the weekend. Even after letting it breathe for 8 hrs, the bottle was very tight, non-expressive, and quite dissappointing. This is probably the final nail in the coffin for 07 bordeaux wines. Had too many bad 07's and i would avoid it in the future.

 

[nautilus]

any tips on drinking it? should i decant it for long?

Try decanting it for a few hours, but i think it would be better for you to keep for a few more years or buy another one to try now.

 

[tatsit]

Try decanting it for a few hours, but i think it would be better for you to keep for a few more years or buy another one to try now.

ok.. i think i'll keep it. its the last bottle

 

[ikileo]

Had a Chateau Haut Marbuzet 2007 over the weekend. Even after letting it breathe for 8 hrs, the bottle was very tight, non-expressive, and quite dissappointing. This is probably the final nail in the coffin for 07 bordeaux wines. Had too many bad 07's and i would avoid it in the future.

while the 07 wasn't the best vintage for bordeaux, i suspect the lack of expression is not so much wholly due to the vintage. For long aging wines such as Bordeaux, there is such a thing as a ‘shut down’ or ‘dumb’ phase. It is when the wine goes through and awkward phase where it possesses neither the fruit of its youthful years, not the complexities after years of aging where you will get a wine with nothing much to show for.

There is no exact timing or year as to when a wine enters a dumb phase; some may not enter this phase at all. But typically for bodeaux, it can occur within 4-8 years from vintage and last for up to 2-ish years. Again this is not an exact science. What you can do with your remaining 2007s (if you haven’t dumped them by now) is to let them sit for another 2 years before checking them out again.

@tatsit: the 2006 cotes du rhone should be able to drink now, I dunno how it will taste though. There is limited information about the wine except that its producer, Henry Fessy, is primarily a Beaujolais producer.

As for the sociando mallet, if you enjoy young Bordeaux, you can drink it now after decanting for a couple of hours. If you want this wine to explore its full potential, you could let it age for another 3 years and then drink it when its 10 years old (2014), keeping in mind that with the proper storage conditions, this wine can last even till 2020. This is a wine for aging, but if you prefer the youthful fruit then you could drink it now.

 

[tatsit]

ok.. thanks ikileo

i do not have a wine refrigerator, i'm keeping in normal refrigerator for it to age. i put it in the vegetable chiller section, and i hope the temperature there is higher and has lesser vibration

 

[nautilus]

ok.. thanks ikileo

i do not have a wine refrigerator, i'm keeping in normal refrigerator for it to age. i put it in the vegetable chiller section, and i hope the temperature there is higher and has lesser vibration

The temperature in a normal fridge is too cold for wines to age. Wines age ideally between 12-15 deg. It would be better if you could find the coolest place in your home (ie. air-conditioned bedroom/study) and store it there horizontally for 2-3 years.

 

[ikileo]

Agree with Nautilus


Regardless of where you put in the fridge, it is way too cold. Fridges tend to be in the single digits while wine storage should be between 12-15 degrees. If you intend to do more long term aging, especially if you want to get into Bordeaux wines or more premium wines from around the world, it is very highly recommended and encouraged to get a proper wine storage unit or at least rent wine storage space offsite (ie: ExtraSpace) to preserve your hard earned money to its fullest potential.


There is a reason why people wax lyrical about good aged Bordeaux, burgundies, Barolos, Rieslings etc...because of the multitude of complexities and flavours and finesse they get from them. Most of us (me included) tend to drink good wines early mainly because we’re impatient, we tend to only buy a bottle or two or don’t have proper storage. But if you have tasted a good aged wine, you will understand why and you will desperately wait for that special bottle you have to come of age before opening it, or search high and low among wine collectors/retailers to see if they have any old gems they are willing to sell at a special price.


Thankfully I had a couple of those experiences where I managed to snag an old bottle at a good price, or someone let me taste an aged wine or even opening a bottle that I thought was past its prime. The revelation was enlightening; too bad i don’t get enough of such experiences.


I suspect a number of people who are getting into wines and want to buy more expensive wine to age tend to forget about the storage conditions needed. So if you wish to experiences such indulgent pleasures with that special and expensive bottle that you bought, do consider getting proper storage to let your money reach its full potential.

@AhnNakata7: perhaps you could try brands such as Kadeka or if you have the budget, you could go for a Vintec or Eurocave. Retailers and Distributors such as Parisilk, Enoteca and Crystal Wines carry them.

 

[tatsit]

thanks nautilus and ikileo..

i'll consider a wine refrigerator..