What's in your glass tonight?

[ibglowin]

Drinks like a wine 2-3X its price point. IYKYK.....

One of the best GMS's you will ever drink regardless of price point or Continent.

 

[VinesnBines]

2022 Chambourcin. This spent one year in bulk with French oak cubes, then eight months in a former bourbon barrel- 10 gallons American oak.

The bottle was opened last night. It was okay. The nose was not strong and the flavor was a little flat. Last night I poured the glass through an aerator but it was still muted.

We drank 1/2 the bottle and I poured the other half through the aerator into a 375 ml split. Tonight we opened the split; what a difference! The nose is fully developed. It has an aroma of dark fruits, cherries, cranberries and a hint of chocolate. The mouthfeel was full and smooth. No acid bite and no bourbon taste.

This will age well if we can keep it several years.

I have to constantly remind myself that these big hybrids need to aerate overnight while young.

 

[Hazelemere]

Framboise Fusion 2024

Just racked my 2024 Marechal Foch Rose into a 30 bottle carboy with sulphite to 60 ppm total with a bit of top up up and while doing that I made a tasting experiment in a glass: 3/4 Framboise 2024 (raspberries and Chambord liqueur) and 1/4 Black Iris Port 2024 (wild cherries, dry elderberries with a bit of wild blackberries on oak with Cassis liqueur (black currants) and Metaxa (Greek raisin brandy from sultanas) on medium toast American oak). Here are my tasting comments on this wine in a glass:

Appearance - clear dark purplish red

Smell - very fruity, good complex nose - marzipan (???), raspberries, wild cherries

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is interesting. I think it would make a good aperitif on ice in the summertime in the shade on a hot day like a Dubonnet or Vermouth. I can see myself making a case of this in 2025 if I have the chance. It could also make a killer marinade e.g. on a pot roast from any kind of meat such as roast duck, moose, venison, wild boar, sweet and sour anything, ribs. It could be really good in a dish like wild boar borscht, sweet and sour pork or lamb, sweet and sour chorizo on rice or noodles.

I think I'll try it with sweet and sour wild boar ragout. My son in law and daughter have wild venison so that can work too.

https://www.theeternaltable.com/historical-recipes/sweet-and-sour-wild-boar-stew

 

[ibglowin]

Costco run yesterday! Found a couple of gems at my local warehouse in ABQ. If you're in the market for some good Chianti and see either of these in the wild definitely grab a bottle or two.



Of interesting note is that both wines scored a very nice 93 points. The Kirkland Chianti was reviewed by the Costcowineblog.com just recently. The 2021 Perano scored an excellent 93pts on Wine Spectator no less AND it cost a mere $15.99 vs the Costco Chianti priced at $17.99. Online reviews say the Costco wine still needs to lay down for a few years or a long decant is suggested.

I found an interesting note the other day that if you can find the Costco item number on anything (including a bottle of wine) and enter that number into Warehouse Tools area of the Costco App you can search your local warehouse for stock on that item without having to drive around town looking for it. Very handy as we have four warehouses in ABQ now.

 

[Hazelemere]

retaste from a cooler split (1/2 bottle):

Appearance - clear, deep inky purple

Smell - intense Montreal smoked meat and/or roast duck, Chinese 5 spice, mocha chocolate, plums

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is a really interesting rich red wine with a really good long aftertaste. I've always had really good wines from Petit Verdot. This Petit Verdot improves the Cabernet Sauvignon that it was blended with IMHO. The Cab was very tasty. The Petit Verdot killed! This combo of Cab and Verdot is delicious. I'm thrilled to have over 60 bottles in my cooler so I can drink some of them when I'm in my mid-eighties. I love Chinese roast duck and this is a perfect wine for that. Some wines are tasty and really one-of-a-kind unique. This wine is one of those! North American Petit Verdot if is perfectly ripe can be stunning. If you can find it ripe...........try it!

retaste from a bottle:

Appearance - clear, deep inky purple

Smell - intense Montreal smoked meat and/or roast duck, Chinese 5 spice, mocha chocolate, plums, black licorice

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is a delicious rich red wine with a really good long aftertaste. I've always had really good wines from Petit Verdot. This Petit Verdot improves the Cabernet Sauvignon that it was blended with IMHO. The Cab was very tasty. The Petit Verdot killed! This combo of Cab and Verdot is sensational. I'm thrilled to have over 60 bottles in my cooler so I can drink some of them when I'm in my mid-eighties. I love Chinese roast duck and this is a perfect wine for that. Some wines are tasty and really one-of-a-kind unique. This wine is one of those! North American Petit Verdot if is perfectly ripe can be stunning. If you can find it ripe...........try it! I rate it as excellent.

 

[Hazelemere]

Black Iris Port with Creme de Cassis in a glass 2024 at about SG 1.008

finished or almost finished fermenting. I have 25 bottles. This is mostly wild cherries with a few blackberries and 1 lb dried elderberries fermented with EC-1118 yeast with nutrient. Here are my comments on this blend in a glass:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - really good fruit bomb nose

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - the Cassis is dominant but not in a bad way. If you like port this is first class fruit port. I think I'll top it up with Greek Metaxa raisin brandy to get the alcohol up to 18+%. I may treat it with citric acid to drop the sweetness. Other than that, this should be excellent fruit port. Instead of using 1, I think I'll use 2 bottles of Metaxa on a 25 bottle carboy and then put it in my cooler. I'll retaste it after I add the Metaxa. I don't want to over-ride a beautiful wild cherry smell and taste with the dried elderberries. The blackberry dose is so low that it doesn't matter. I was going to add Drambuie but I think I'll go for Metaxa.

retaste from a bottle:

Appearance - inky purple

Smell - really good complex fruit bomb nose which is hard for me to describe

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is really tasty fruit port. Complex, rich, interesting fruit port. This is really good which I will try to age for years. Excellent.

 

[Hazelemere]

Syrah Moraine 2022

I'm using this as a cooking wine right now to make 2 blade pot roasts. Moraine is a 50/50 blend of SG 1.089 Regent and SG 1.092 Marechal Foch, both organic, homegrown hand destemmed and uncrushed, fermented RC 2012 and nutrient. Syrah is Washington Sheridan vineyard, destemmed and crushed that was resurrected from a stinky hydrogen sulphite malolactic fermentation (RC212 yeast with no nutrients added) that morphed into a burnt rubber smell (mercaptans?). All of the wines were oaked with medium toast American oak cubes.

Here are my tasting notes:

Appearance - very slight fizz (almost not noticeable), inky purple

Smell - burnt rubber is hardly noticeable and has morphed into a pleasant caramel odour, cocoa (like a Cadburys CARAMILK bar smell), olives, plums, currants

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is ok with a long slightly herbal finish. It helped make a really good blade pot roast which had Italian seasoning in it. I have 2 bottles left and will probably use those to make more pot roast or freezer boeuf bourguignon for stroganoff. I'd rate it as fairly good since it is totally drinkable. The pot roast gravy is really tasty so this wine worked well as a cooking wine. The acid in the wine tenderizes the meat while it is simmering. So the lesson here is to use your wines anyway they work to their best potential. This one is a cooking wine.

retaste from a glass covered with a coaster on top of my fridge since Thursday when I use most of it for a blade pot roast which I will finish off today with sour cream and rotini in a stroganoff.

Appearance - no fizz, inky purple

Smell - smoky, intriguing nose, blackened meat, toasted buckwheat, coffee, cocoa, leather, a bit of the caramel smell is still evident along with the olive smell, plums

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - intense interesting red after 2 days in a glass. Is it really good? Depends on what you like. As a table wine it is a bit smoky for me. What is it good for right now? Marinade for something like chorizo or wild boar to make a borscht or chili. Pot roast additive is also a good idea along with stroganoff from the left over pot roast.

 

[Hazelemere]

retaste of 100% homegrown organic Regent 2023:

Appearance - purple ink

Smell - good nose, a bit cold out of the cooler in a bottle but the smell is fine and lingers.

Tannin- good

Acid - good

Flavour - This is very interesting and should improve as it ages. It has tannin in the aftertaste which is good. I'd rate this as good-very good. I've never rated a home made red as very good until now. This one is.

retaste of 100% homegrown organic Regent 2023 from a bottle:

Appearance - purple ink

Smell - good nose, a bit cold out of the cooler in a bottle but the smell is fine and lingers - cocoa and currants

Tannin- good

Acid - slightly high

Flavour - This is good and should improve as the acid drops over time. I'll top it up with Marechal Foch 2023 and recork it to let it age for at least a couple of years to give the acid a chance to drop and allow the nose to become more complex..

 

[VinesnBines]

Tasting of M. Foch non- barrel (top up) and barrel (3 months). Both have dark fruit nose. The barrel has a deeper, more fruit and depth nose. Color is the same.. dark, deep inky. The flavor of the top up is good. Dark fruit, dry, low tannins but a little thin.
The barrel Foch (three months) has all the dark fruits, an earthy undertone, (fresh plowed ground) smooth finish, no acid and light on tannins. Finish tannins may give it a better backbone.

I’m loving Foch, maybe more than any of my other hybrids. As my daughter in law said at the first barrel top up - “this is dangerous”. I think 3 to 5 months will make this a winner!

 

[Hazelemere]

Chardonnay Viognier 2023-24

This is a 50/50 blend of Sheridan Chardonnay fermented with 71B yeast and Fresco Chilean Viognier juice fermented with D47 yeast.

Here are my comments on this blend:

Appearance - clear deep lemon yellow

Smell - buttered popcorn and limes

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - Right now this is the weakest of the 3 Sheridan Chardonnay blends I made. It needs time in my cooler, in bottles to become more complex. It actually improves on airing in a glass. Right now I'd rate it as "good" with the poten

retaste from a bottle from my cooler:

ial to become "good-very good".

Chardonnay Viognier 2023-24

This is a 50/50 blend of Sheridan Chardonnay fermented with 71B yeast and Fresco Chilean Viognier juice fermented with D47 yeast.

Here are my comments on this blend:

Appearance - clear deep lemon yellow

Smell - buttered popcorn and limes

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - Right now this is the weakest of the 3 Sheridan Chardonnay blends I made. It needs time in my cooler, in bottles to become more complex. It actually improves on airing in a glass. Right now I'd rate it as "good" with the potential to become "good-very good".

retaste of this blend:

Appearance - clear deep lemon yellow

Smell - really good intense nose, buttered popcorn, bananas and key lime pie that lingers

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - This is really tasty. A total sleeper morphing from okay to really good. If you can buy Fresco Chilean Viognier I suggest that you buy it.

 

[ibglowin]

Too much Pinot in the cellar so........

DNS!

 

[Hazelemere]

retaste from a bottle:

Appearance - clear lemon yellow

Smell - very fragrant, complex nose

Tannin - good

Acid - good

Flavour - this is a tasty, complex, balanced house white wine for everyday drinking. I'd rate it as very good. It has no apparent flaws. I'll make this again if I can. It has a really good aftertaste and had all of its parts fermented with D47 yeast.

I'm retasting this now. This is getting better and better. Cyser Pyment is something to consider if you have high acid white grapes, access to really good apples that have tannin and acid (e.g. Russets, Macintosh, Gravensteins, Cox Orange or Cox Pippen, Spartans) unpasteurized honey to chaptalize your apple juice (un-watered). We have an Italian electric apple grinder that we use to grind apples and then press them in a pneumatic stainless steel press. Consider D47 yeast which should give you a really good finish. It can foam, so don't overfill your glass carboys. The Fresco Chilean Viognier in a pail had low SG 1.083 but this wine has morphed into something really good. Here is a scenario for you:
White hybrid grape (e.g. Seyval) + high tannin/high acid apple + unpasteurized honey (whatever you can get locally) with D47 yeast plus nutrients containing vitamin B. High acid apples are still low in acid compared to grapes. Cyser Pyments can be sensational from individual ingredients that are not.