Wine-savvy

[agxo3]

technically, we can describe the diffence by alcohol content, still wines are usually from 5% ALC by Volume to 14%. Fortified Wines starts from the 14% barrier up to 25%. Beyond the 25% it's considered as spirit or liqour. this is being used by BIR for excise tax on wines & spirits. But there are several exceptions, like for example, smirnoff mule, vodka ice, breezer or twist, they are cocktail mixes ready to drink but with liquor/spirit as base ingredient, so they are taxed as spirit even if their alchol content is very minimal as per volume content.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You can be technical about it - or you can look at the methods of preparation and the resulting beverage, which I think is much more accurate than percentages.

 

For example, I have in my collection one last bottle of a truly awesome 1997 Lodi Zin from Noah Vineyards. Not a fortified wine, certainly NOT a dessert wine, but it's over 16% alcohol, and at least 1% residual sugar, which would qualify it, given percentages, as a "port"-style (fortified) wine. It is, however, neither that nor a dessert wine.. More accurately, it's just a wine made from grapes that were extremely rich in sugars that year, and in which the fermentation was stopped at just over 16% alcohol, leaving the residual sugar. It's not even a late harvest wine, just one made from very well-developed grapes. OTOH, I also have another wine, a dessert wine, with 3% resiudal sugar, and an alcohol content of just 4%. Should we then say it's grape juice and not wine?

 

Let's not get TOO technical here, guys. Wine is a variable beverage, and that's what makes it so mysterious and so challenging and so enjoyable. No two bottles from the same vintage are identical, no two vintages are the same, no two wines from the same vintage (and even from the same vineyard but made by different winemakers) are the same!

 

I'm an engineer by training and trade, so numbers appeal to me, but there is just something so wildly wonderful and unpredicatble about wine that no numbers can ever quantify. Stop measuring and start enjoying!

[agxo3]

SO SORRY if I've been out for so long.  I've been very busy with office work.  It all has to do with this restructuring that's taking place.  My Jap principals have been barraging me with emails, phone calls and visits.  Too much talk, too much paper!!!!    :grr: September/October will be critical and milestone months.  These would be the time we'll put everything to motion.

 

I can only backread a few pages.  I tried getting onboard during office hours when work slackens abit but the board seems so full that I could hardly log in.

 

Can't do much after work which usually extends past dinner time and by the time I get home I'm completely wasted.

 

Keep in touch guys and don't keep those bottles too long!

 

Agxo, we still have the bottle of champagne chilling in my ref. :thumbsupsmiley:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hey Masi! I can sympathize - I've had a rough month, but at least I have told everyone I am NOT going anywhere in july! Time to slow down a bit and enjoy a few weekends at home.

 

Keep that champagne well chilled, pare! I plan to be out there in August or September, weather permitting. No typhoons for me!

 

On the upside - I had a really great bottle this weekend. A 2002 Jessie's Grove Petite Syrah. Jessie' Grove is in Lodi, CA., and has vines that are over a century old! The petite syrah was outstanding. Plummy and juicy, full in the mouth, tannins lurking in the background, giving it structure and strength but not overpowering the fruit. Some spice (nutmeg maybe? or was it allspcie?) and a hint of black pepper. A tiny bit of licorice (or was it anise?) on the nose. Lots of ripe, dark cherries and berries! had it with a roast leg of lamb, done just medium rare with a mint sauce (not mint jelly, which i find too sweet).

 

For dessert, a 2001 Trentadue Old Vines Late Harvest Zin. Intense fruit, just a hint of sweetness. Some tobacco and some cola (!). chocolate and coffee notes. Yum!!!

 

Now THAT's the way to celebrate coming home from a two week business trip!

Edited June 26, 2006 by agxo3

[bods1000]

Greetings to MTC's wine gods and goddesses .... congratulations on a great thread!

 

Just wanted to share (if it hasn't been mentioned here) that there's a new channel on Dream Satellite called Wine TV ...... it's very informative and covers both old and new world wines!

 

Cheers!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

thanks for the compliments!

we do try to be as informative and helpful as much as possible and we also learn along the way. Hey, amateurs lang kami lahat dito sir

 

thanks for the info about that channel - kaya lang naka-Sky ako - don't know about the others. Sayang!

there's also this channel in Sky about wine but it's on Sky Platinum which I think has a more expensive subscription.

[bods1000]

Thanks Bods, have been to this place and excellent choices as well.  Sayang Spanish wines dito sa Philippines, under rated.  Spanish wineries such as Mas Gil, Vinos Conrad and The Sadie Family are already at par with old world wineries.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

there's a proliferation of grocery-type Spanish wines here and most of them are really bad. The good ones are hard to find and they are mostly in specialty restos with hardly any advertisement. The distributors here of Spanish wines usually go for the cheap ones that can compete on grocery shelves with the more popular Aussie and California wines.

[storm]

Padaan lang Pareng Bods.

 

The pizza we ate in Avellana Art Gallery was from Mama Tina.

 

Rene Babier Wines, the Housewine of the Avellana Art Gallery, is Spanish.

[new2dabeat]

Let's not get TOO technical here, guys. Wine is a variable beverage, and that's what makes it so mysterious and so challenging and so enjoyable. No two bottles from the same vintage are identical, no two vintages are the same, no two wines from the same vintage (and even from the same vineyard but made by different winemakers) are the same!

 

I'm an engineer by training and trade, so numbers appeal to me, but there is just something so wildly wonderful and unpredicatble about wine that no numbers can ever quantify. Stop measuring and start enjoying!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Amen to that!

 

Anyway, what with the mini-heatwave that hit the Bay Area this past week (I got sunburned just walking around the Financial District on lunch breaks!), I stocked up a cache of various Prosecco (NOT of the Spumante variants, mind you) to chill n' sip on those hot days. Cracked open a few bottles of the Dolce Vita (only 7 bucks at BevMo - woohoo!); nice and crisp, clean finish, great for cooling down with some chilled watermelon or musk melons.

[masi]

Recently opened a bottle of Stepping Stone Coonawara Cab Sauv 2001 of the Stone Haven Winery.

 

Mid-red and purple tones, long legs and vibrant nose of dark berries, hint of smoke and cedar,

 

Moderate elegance and complexity in the body with well balanced tannins.

 

Finish was smooth and wonderful.

 

I have this uncertainty with Australian Cab Sauv as I've been drinking mostly their Shiraz. It was a great feeling to have something different every now and then.

[bods1000]

You can be technical about it - or you can look at the methods of preparation and the resulting beverage, which I think is much more accurate than percentages.

 

For example, I have in my collection one last bottle of a truly awesome 1997 Lodi Zin from Noah Vineyards. Not a fortified wine, certainly NOT a dessert wine, but it's over 16% alcohol, and at least 1% residual sugar, which would qualify it, given percentages, as a "port"-style (fortified) wine. It is, however, neither that nor a dessert wine.. More accurately, it's just a wine made from grapes that were extremely rich in sugars that year, and in which the fermentation was stopped at just over 16% alcohol, leaving the residual sugar. It's not even a late harvest wine, just one made from very well-developed grapes. OTOH, I also have another wine, a dessert wine, with 3% resiudal sugar, and an alcohol content of just 4%. Should we then say it's grape juice and not wine?

 

Let's not get TOO technical here, guys. Wine is a variable beverage, and that's what makes it so mysterious and so challenging and so enjoyable. No two bottles from the same vintage are identical, no two vintages are the same, no two wines from the same vintage (and even from the same vineyard but made by different winemakers) are the same!

 

I'm an engineer by training and trade, so numbers appeal to me, but there is just something so wildly wonderful and unpredicatble about wine that no numbers can ever quantify. Stop measuring and start enjoying!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

right, pare! It's the very unpredictability of wine that makes it so appealing. When you indulge in something with a mind to having some room for error - buying and tasting different wines carries a stroke of luck with it - makes it all the more exciting

 

but people in the wine trade - doing business buying and selling wine - do sometimes have to suffer with all these technical and boring stuff in order to do business properly. I do hope pareng spurt is still sane and can still get to enjoy wine even after wading through all that technical stuff

[bods1000]

ok if you don't mind, some more quotes from Jay McInerney from his book Bacchus & Me. His chapter about dessert wines is intriguing and a fun read:

 

On the fungus responsible for giving Sauternes that heavenly flavor:

Not since Baudelaire smoked opium has corruption resulted in such beauty.

 

On the perfect match of Sauternes with some foods:

Ham and Sauternes is excellent: ditto prosciutto and melon, either together or separately. Any time you can eat foie gras with Yquem is easily worth the three-week loss of life expectancy.

[bods1000]

i learned from the book that the reason why Sauternes, especially Yquem, is so expensive, is that the grape pickers in the Sauternes have to make multiple passes through the vineyards because the grapes do not rot on the same day at the same rate. Even in the best years, the grapes rot unevenly, and the pickers select individual grapes rather than bunches. They say this process is expensive - the shriveled grapes yield less juice per acre than their healthy counterparts - as little as half to a quarter of the red-grape yields in the Medoc. The proprietors of Yquem even claim that an entire vine yields just a single glass of this decadently-rich drink.

[storm]

Went to Pandy Aviado's opening at Crucible Gallery. The red wine was so light and a bit sweet, taste more like grape juice.

 

It's Spanish I guess.

 

The 2003 Cab Sauv (forgot the brand) served at the Lopez Museum opening last Thursday was a lot better. I drank about 3 glasses. I turned red. Great cocktails. :thumbsupsmiley:

[agxo3]

Went to Pandy Aviado's opening at Crucible Gallery. The red wine was so light and a bit sweet, taste more like grape juice.

 

It's Spanish I guess.

 

The 2003 Cab Sauv (forgot the brand) served at the Lopez Museum opening last Thursday was a lot better. I drank about 3 glasses. I turned red.   Great cocktails. :thumbsupsmiley:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Turned red to honor the color of the wine? :cool:

 

Great that you guys are out tasting new stuff! I just wish I had the time and energy.........these days I fall back to my tried and true olf friends - Noah's and Niebaum-Coppola, Jessie's Grove and J.......

[Spurt]

there's a proliferation of grocery-type Spanish wines here and most of them are really bad. The good ones are hard to find and they are mostly in specialty restos with hardly any advertisement. The distributors here of Spanish wines usually go for the cheap ones that can compete on grocery shelves with the more popular Aussie and California wines.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

question, phylloxera is still existing in the old world wineries? like it reach the soil of calatan in late 1800's pa di ba? until now meron pa rin? there are other areas they'd say they have the ungrafted vines pero sobrang as in mahal ng prices. say, Bolliger is claiming ungrafted ung vines nila in a small area, to justify the price & the quality....?

[Spurt]

right, pare! It's the very unpredictability of wine that makes it so appealing. When you indulge in something with a mind to having some room for error - buying and tasting different wines carries a stroke of luck with it - makes it all the more exciting

 

but people in the wine trade - doing business buying and selling wine - do sometimes have to suffer with all these technical and boring stuff in order to do business properly. I do hope pareng spurt is still sane and can still get to enjoy wine even after wading through all that technical stuff

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

hey, i totally agree, but for "taxes" sake, it's better to have an established technical description than let this guys from the BIR decide how much you pay, hehehe. and who gets bored if you have to taste every new variant so that you have the ways to decribed it to the buyer.

[bods1000]

hey, i totally agree, but for "taxes" sake, it's better to have an established technical description than let this guys from the BIR decide how much you pay, hehehe. and who gets bored if you have to taste every new variant so that you have the ways to decribed it to the buyer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

pare I believe it would be better if we taste the wine together - mas maganda ang consensus opinion di ba? , and to hell with those guys from the BIR and the BFAD.

[bods1000]

Went to Pandy Aviado's opening at Crucible Gallery. The red wine was so light and a bit sweet, taste more like grape juice.

 

It's Spanish I guess.

 

The 2003 Cab Sauv (forgot the brand) served at the Lopez Museum opening last Thursday was a lot better. I drank about 3 glasses. I turned red.   Great cocktails. :thumbsupsmiley:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

sayang yang Pandy Aviado opening na yan - i read about it in the papers, nakapunta sana but then again I would have had to bring a bottle of my own Why do they serve mainly bad wines at these exhibits? :evil: It doesn't do justice to the artists and their works...i don't know in the States - baka magaganda naman yung mga wines served at the art exhibits...

[masi]

sayang yang Pandy Aviado opening na yan - i read about it in the papers, nakapunta sana but then again I would have had to bring a bottle of my own Why do they serve mainly bad wines at these exhibits? :evil:  It doesn't do justice to the artists and their works...i don't know in the States - baka magaganda naman yung mga wines served at the art exhibits...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

mahirap na if they serve good wines, baka guys like us would go for the wines and not the art!!!!

[storm]

Turned red to honor the color of the wine?  :cool:

 

Great that you guys are out tasting new stuff! I just wish I had the time and energy.........these days I fall back to my tried and true olf friends - Noah's and Niebaum-Coppola, Jessie's Grove and J.......

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree! :thumbsupsmiley: Pinatigil ako ni Bing after my 4th glass. Although marami naman kaming wine colored face, including the Lopez patriarch.

 

sayang yang Pandy Aviado opening na yan - i read about it in the papers, nakapunta sana but then again I would have had to bring a bottle of my own Why do they serve mainly bad wines at these exhibits? :evil:  It doesn't do justice to the artists and their works...i don't know in the States - baka magaganda naman yung mga wines served at the art exhibits...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

In some openings, the wines served are quite good like in Avellana, Blanc, Ayala and Lopez Museums, the CCP and Hiraya Art Gallery.

 

mahirap na if they serve good wines, baka guys like us would go for the wines and not the art!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Marami namang ganun.

 

 

 

O kailan tayo magmeet ulit?

[agxo3]

pare I believe it would be better if we taste the wine together - mas maganda ang consensus opinion di ba?  , and to hell with those guys from the BIR and the BFAD. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'll drink to that! :cool:

[agxo3]

sayang yang Pandy Aviado opening na yan - i read about it in the papers, nakapunta sana but then again I would have had to bring a bottle of my own Why do they serve mainly bad wines at these exhibits? :evil:  It doesn't do justice to the artists and their works...i don't know in the States - baka magaganda naman yung mga wines served at the art exhibits...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Some places serve good wine at the gallery events, like the gallery in Livermore (Studio 7). They serve Retzlaff and Fenestra wines at their openings. Others don't - and I really don't understand why. The wine should compliment and highlight the enjoyment of the art. If the wine is bad, then I spend all my time with a real sour look on my face and a bad disposition, which would make me less lilely to like a piece enough to buy it. OTOH, I've bought two pieces at Studio 7 so far! Is ther a correlation? Perhaps.....

[Spurt]

mahirap na if they serve good wines, baka guys like us would go for the wines and not the art!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

guys, i think we can arrange a painting session for some group of artists, like the saturday group, i tried this once with some friends, pero hindi yung nude painting sessions, some nature subjects, got at least 4 paintings, one is from Abel Lucas. My suggestion, let's find a place or we can ask the artists kung ano trip nila i-paint. Tayo na bahala sa cocktails & food but of course, the wines. Watch & Wine.

[diver_703]

white zinfandel

[bods1000]

mahirap na if they serve good wines, baka guys like us would go for the wines and not the art!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

that's not a bad thought at all

But I guess it's harder to keep a straight face and hide your displeasure with a bad wine than it is with a bad painting, di ba? Sa painting at least I can pretend to like it.....

[bods1000]

I'll drink to that!  :cool:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hopefully come September we'll have that consensus drinking

[bods1000]

Some places serve good wine at the gallery events, like the gallery in Livermore (Studio 7). They serve Retzlaff and Fenestra wines at their openings. Others don't - and I really don't understand why. The wine should compliment and highlight the enjoyment of the art. If the wine is bad, then I spend all my time with a real sour look on my face and a bad disposition, which would make me less lilely to like a piece enough to buy it. OTOH, I've bought two pieces at Studio 7 so far! Is ther a correlation? Perhaps.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

yes I guess that would be true - an unpleasant wine could influence your buying decision at such an affair, especially if you know your wines. For those not well-versed, I guess it wouldn't matter. But if you consider that art appreciation and wine appreciation can sometimes attract the same set of people, I guess it would be prudent for the gallery owner or whoever to make sure that some relatively good, albeit not too expensive, wine is served at such occasions...