There’s little more disappointing than a corked bottle of wine. You choose a bottle of your vino of choice, looking forward to its aromas and flavors, anticipating its tap-dance on your palate. Grab a glass and the corkscrew, peel the foil back, and ease the cork from the bottle. The liquid splashes red, or golden. You lift the glass to your nose and… ugh.
What is corked wine? Why does it happen? What should you do about it?
I’ve been referring to a particular tea to which I compared the previous Assam samples as my “Gold Standard.” To make sure that I wasn’t falsely imagining it better than it was, I tasted it using the same method as the new arrivals. The verdict – it’s still the Gold Standard. Unfortunately, it’s totally unavailable. No one, anywhere, carries tea from this estate anymore.
So, without any further ado:
Singlijan Estate Assam TGFOP1
Dry Aroma: floral and fruity
Brewed Aroma: tree fruit, malty, creamy, citrus
Color: dark copper
Flavor: malty, savory, fruity, with citrus notes and floral finish
Sweetened: fruit and citrus enhanced, with honey notes
Overall: This tea is very balanced, with restrained tannins that play well with the other flavor components. It leaves your palate clean, with a long, lingering finish of apple, lemon, and honey. The mellow tannins allow the natural sweetness to come through. Complex flavor, appealing aroma, and general good behavior make this my far and away favorite. 5 out of 5.
Thanksgiving is a hard meal to plan for. Logistically, it’s a nightmare – lots of separate dishes, all having to come together at once. There’s a huge bird to roast that takes hours to prep and cook properly. A vast array of sweet and savory flavors lie in wait to sate the palate, and put us all into a postprandial coma.
All of which presents a dilemma. I want to have a good glass of wine with dinner. But the quantity of food and the flavors makes choosing an appropriate drink a bit of a challenge. With candied sweet potatoes, oyster stuffing, and turkey legs waiting to send you into carbo-overload and tryptophan nappy-time, this is not an opportunity to whip out the best vintages. That being said, Thanksgiving is a “special occasion” with friends and family gathered around the holiday table, and cheap plonk just doesn’t seem right.
So, what’s called for are decent wines that won’t get lost or be squandered competing with the bounty of the rest of the table. They also need to be assertive enough to hold their own against a fair amount of heavy eating without adding too much of their own weight. To this end, I would suggest serving three wines, scaled in quantity to serve all of your guests at least one glass of each.
So, the Euro-to-Dollar conversion is kicking our ass, and the cost of good California wines is climbing ever higher as wine collectors realize the potential of premium vintages. The economy is swirling the bowl, and you’re just an average Joe, plumber or not, trying to find a decent bottle of juice to quaff with Friday night dinner. You’re no power exec, surfing the company expense account while buying vintage Bordeaux’s and “cult” Californian Cabernets. You want something red, something solid, something that isn’t going to put your kids’ college fund in the crapper.
Fortunately, there are still quality wines to be found that won’t send you into sticker shock. When an entry-level Burgundy or Bordeaux starts at $30 a bottle retail, it’s good to know that by shopping from the neighbors of great wine districts, or by choosing younger wines from the same pedigree, you can get the quality and character without the price tag. By shopping wisely, you can keep yourself in good vin rouge for $10 a bottle, with a splurge up to $14-15 for those relaxing weekend evenings.
A week and a half ago, I posted the first part of my Assam tea reviews. While I haven’t found a new favorite, there was an interesting variety that I might add to my regular rotation. The second round of tastings is complete, and I’m not sure we’ve made any improvements.
Koilamari Estate TGFOP1
Dry Aroma: fruit/citrus
Brewed Aroma: malty, citrus
Color: deep reddish-brown
Flavor: malty, slightly cooked-fruity, good body and solid tannins, with a leathery and floral finish
Sweetened: maltier and leather notes more pronounced
The tannins in this tea are assertive when brewed for 4 ½ minutes. The citrus in the aroma doesn’t carry through into the palate. The tannins tended to overwhelm the other flavors, so perhaps a shorter brewing time is called for. However, the body was just about right at this length, so shortening brewing to attenuate the tannins may leave the liquor thin. Showed promise, but ultimately disappointed. 3 ½ out of 5.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Zinfandel. It’s a vividly dark purple grape that unfortunately sees most of its utility in pedestrian, sweet “white” Zins of miscellaneous and anonymous vintage. White zin made from this dark grape, but the juice is not fermented with the skins. It is the quintessential non-wine-drinker’s wine, the base for summer spritzers and the refuge of someone who’d rather be drinking an alcopop. When treated well, however, the Zinfandel grape produces big, burly, fruit-driven wines with flavors of black fruit, spice, and licorice. Zinfandel is genetically identical to the varietal that Italians call Primitivo.
BV Napa Valley Zinfandel is an affordable wine: $13-14 most days. Beaulieu wines are generally solid, but not necessarily outstanding in their field. Zins are usually pretty big with lots of tannin structure, so before tasting this I poured it into a decanter, to sit for a little under two hours prior to sampling.
Name: Beaulieu Vineyards 2004 Zinfandel, Napa Valley
Type: Red
Country: California
Region: Napa
Grapes: 100% Zinfandel
Price: $14
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