Wine-savvy

[bods1000]

sorry bods n masi had an emergency kasi.  friend of my wife died in a car accident.  next time na lang.

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we understand, pare....

we can meet next time.

[bods1000]

so...no takers for the wine weekend? oh well....

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masi and I will have some serious talk about this........

The flesh is willing, the spirits are beckoning, but the leash is marine-grade

[bods1000]

This year feels like it will be not as good as 98. Long, wet, cold winter, followed by soggy spring and a late summer (and cooler than normal, on the average). That will make for some less than optimally ripe grapes unless we get a nice, long warm spell that lasts well into October. Only time will tell. Should make for some pretty decent pinot noirs out of the Russian River area, though.

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A growing season that is short, wet, and cold, or too cloudy is murder on grapes. It can produce grapes with very low sugar levels to make good wine. The fermentation of sugar is of course where the alcohol in wines come from. Alcohol gives that "mouth-feel" and the buzz; further it extracts the flavor from the skins and also helps in preserving the wine so that it will not unnecessarily spoil.

 

Low sugar levels therefore would rescind these desirable characteristics. Sugar levels in grapes is called brix, and it is usually a 55% brix-to-alcohol conversion - meaning a grape harvested with a brix of 22% would generally produce a wine of 12% alcohol.

 

What is unfortunate is that conditions that lead to low sugar also lead to low acid levels. Acid is experienced as tartness and is a balance against sugar.

 

Now this is where some widescale fraud has been reported in the Burgundy region of France. Simultaneous chaptalization and acidification is reportedly widely practiced in the region, although it has been illegal in France since 1913.

 

Chaptalization is the addition of sugar to grape must (crushed and unfermented grape skins and juice) to boost sugar levels. The law allows boosting by 2% but most Burgundian winemakers exceed this level, especially if there is a vintage at stake.

 

In 1989, Bouchard Pere & Fils was convicted of this offense - their defense screamed that they were being singled out for doing something which everyone else was doing.

[masi]

great report, pare!

although you forgot about the cigars hehehe....it was a totally different experience drawing in smoke while trying not to inhale. Quite difficult to master, I should say, but I should get the hang of it with more practice, right pareng masi?

We only had one tapas to go with the two bottles - I forgot what it was as the evening got more interesting as the night wore on hehehe....

And yes, I forgot to buy a wine again

 

cheers!

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oh yeah! the cigars...I brought a 5-pack Don Juan Urquijo Robusto Vintage Blend 1993 to the eb with my smoking paraphenlia, a Savinelli scissor cutter, and matches. DJU's are the premium cigars of our very own, Tabacalera, with the binder, filler and wrapper coming from Ecuador, Guatemala and Dominican Republic, not necessarily in that order and aged solera-style in a humidity and temperature controlled bodega for 10-years minimum. DJU was rated 89 by Cigar Aficionado.

 

I gave bods the basic cigar smoking 101, a "bad" habit I started way back in 1995. Aside from the basic blend, i also told bods a cigar's basic parts, the butt (the open, thick portion of the cigar which is lit), the shoulder, the point where it tapers and the head or cap, or the sealed part.

 

It started with "nosing" the cigar and capturing its flavors. The DJU is characteristically rich earthy, leather musk with a mild hint of cinnamon and cedar wood.

 

Then we came to "cutting" the cap. The amount of cut rests on the smoker depending the on draw he/she prefers (yes, women smoke cigars, no one should get any crazy idea with this line :grr: ). There are basically 2 ways of opening the head either by cutting or punching. In cutting you can either use a pair of cigar scissors or a guillotine. Never bite it off ala, Clint "Go ahead punk make my day" Eastwood. A no-no.

 

After the cigar has been cut (a non-sexist comment, i hasten to add), we proceeded to drawing the flavors of the unlit DJU. The initial experience would be a dry, spicy tangy sensation, on the lips and rich earthly leather musk, cinnamon and cedar as in the "nosing".

 

The lighting, which is the pinnacle of the entire ceremony, using matches, not lighters as fumes of butane can contaminate such a natural product. A staccato of short draws while you rotate the cigar around the flame. Let the phosphorus ignite before touching the cigar to the flame.

 

... and the rest is history... I will let bods post his personal views on this experience.

 

It was truly a captivating night, more than what bods and i could merge our thoughts on this thread. bods and i hold secrets which we vowed not to tell while sober... :upside:

 

that's the end of this post, I may now take a few questions.... (bigla naging press conference)

Edited July 8, 2005 by masi

[masi]

Masi Pare... it's so traffic pare in the harap of our buildings!   Like the cheap wines that has proliferated the market!

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yup! i would liken the masses, who went to the rally, to cheap wines. the leaders would be your counterfeit and the supporters, Indian and chinese wines.

 

this parallelism is worthy of an award!!!! :boo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

(we can't be apolitical but we can be non-partisan)

[Lipstick]

yup! i would liken the masses, who went to the rally, to cheap wines.  the leaders would be your counterfeit and the supporters, Indian and chinese wines.

 

this parallelism is worthy of an award!!!! :boo: 

(we can't be apolitical but we can be non-partisan)

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Wahahahahahahahahahaha. And another award for me! :boo: We really should come up with a list of awards to give out in this thread Pareng Bods and Masi. Parang Best Vintage MTC Member ..... Most Promising Grape Member ... Best Sour Grape Member ..... etc .... hahaha. This would be a good discussion when I finally get to attend a WEB! Why do I hear another award coming.....

 

Lemme backread ..... my head has been filled with so much wine that it hasn't been able to think straight.

[Lipstick]

It would be false advertising on my part, but I delight in what the word deluge connotes I go for whatever gushes...........

 

I kept some of the pixie dust and would flick back some to you - the luck I had yesterday would I think keep me in good stead for the next few days...........hehe that Nicotina sure is naughty to adulterate their pixie dust I hope your evening's enchantment would rub off on some of us.....

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Hall of fame!!!!!!!! False advertising daw on your part

 

I have been enchanted for 4nights in a row! Wot a superb batting average! Hehe. Trust you too have been enchanted this week aside from that night with the pixie dust casualty.

 

it's DJU not RnJ, my man... before we smoke cubans here, we'd better be ready to pop some "cru" as well

 

or may lipstick would be such a generous hostess to purchase cubans at the BKK duty free on her way back....   (hint)

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Senyoorrrrrrrrrrrrr ..... anong sabi mo? Di ko marinig eh.

 

:upside:

 

anong oo nga no?

 

well..now I am having second thoughts na talaga...i bet you guys will tell the thread na naman how good the food is. mouth-watering talaga last time when I was reading the post of his highness MASI. It will be in J.Vargas right? hmm kinda far...will think about it..... and besides... Ms. Lipstick might be there right?...I guess she can represent the girls here I see that she is the First Lady of the Thread.

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Oh dear Ms. HBC, I am definitely NOT the First Lady of the Thread ... I am the bar wench and no more than that. You should've gone to the WEB and kept those two depraved men company ..... imagine ang tingin nila sa wine bottle eh babae na?

[Lipstick]

Go for it!

 

To quote someone famous (my mind's blanking out!  help me here! who said this???) Life is too short to drink bad wine!

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Si bods?????

 

Great? Well, delicious is more like it. Lip-smacking yummy (with apologies to Ms. Lipstick).

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Non taken Mr. Agxo3! I kinda find it cute that you boys remember me when any reference to "lips" is made.

[Lipstick]

btw, as for the eb, only bods and i showed up.  but we were kept in awe by the Senoritas we had, a tampranillo and a shiraz.

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You boys should stop hanging out with each other ..... ayan ang tingin sa wine bottle eh babae na.

 

simply put.... passion!!!! 

 

last night was a blast!!! last time i drank where the bottle to person ratio was 1 was with a relative who took me out to a steak dinner, wine and cigars at Sam and Harry's  in Washington, D.C.  he was a timid and reserve man but after 1 bottle each, we were laughing and racing on I-95  with a blood alcohol level which could be tagged as "flammable"!!!

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Haha flammable. That's funny. I reckon after my '93 bordeaux night I could be tagged flammable. Especially the night I had the '89 bordeaux.

 

WOW!  for the 2nd time!!! a 1993 vintage... Sayang you spilled it !!!  

well, at least you can always buy a new white shirt! :upside:  (fallout of the hangover and the espresso!!!!)

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Ya tawkin' to the Butterfingers here pare. Yes I can always buy a new white shirt but not exactly the same one! You keep invoking your hangover... feeling ko pare kahit walang hangover at espresso eh flip ka talaga.

 

 

oh sorry i got it all confused!  i still carrying a hangover of the twosome WEB bods and I had last night and this inspite of the 4 espressos i had today (2 in the morning, 2 after lunch)!

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Ayun pati.... being a cozy twosome with Bods is really kicking in those flip tannins. Ayan para di OT todo todo walang preno.

 

[Lipstick]

i think they appreciated us for following up our meetings.  what we spent last night was no henny penny!  beside, i'll be going back with the wife to pick a gift this weekend.  I was talked into this Spanish cava as Europe's best selling sparkling wine, beating the French!!!! and it's way, way cheaper than a Dom.  who knows i might get another tampranillo in the process.

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Henny Penny? Isn't that the red manok in some story?

 

Uh oh, if I were your wife I would start getting jealous of the tempranillo! You haven't stopped raving about it! In fact because you have been raving so much eh.... pupunta ako ng Barcino at bumili ng isa! Soon!

 

i must have drank faster than i could talk.....

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Somehow this is hard to picture .... is this possible at all????

[Lipstick]

but there were just a few things really worth remembering last night, and that, i think you will fully agree with me.

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no, problemo, pare...

 

yes, it was an enchanting evening, to say the least

 

My waterloo was the cigar, though I loved it!

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Pareng Bods and Masi .... please tell me that hindi kayo nagkaka developan.

 

Hehe.

 

We only had one tapas to go with the two bottles - I forgot what it was as the evening got more interesting as the night wore on hehehe....

And yes, I forgot to buy a wine again

 

cheers!

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Hehe ayan na naman. Kung hindi kayo na i-in love sa isa't isa eh baka maganda yung bar wench sa Barcinos????? Who probably is the wife of the owner?

 

It was truly a captivating night,  more than what bods and i could merge our thoughts on this thread.  bods and i hold secrets which we vowed not to tell while sober... :upside: 

 

that's the end of this post, I may now take a few questions.... (bigla naging press conference)

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Haha ok that's it, you boys should never drink together again! God only knows what you guys will spill when inebriated!

 

Masi pare, since parang press con eh can you tell me if good looks run in your family since you are the second cousin of a friend?

 

Bods pare, sasama na rin kita sa press con ..... eto medyo malalim ang tanong so take your time --- could you liken the important women in your life to the many good drops you have had? With matching description plus vintage and variety hah?! Game!

[Lipstick]

Ok I think I deserve to receive an award for being the Monologue Queen! I have the lousiest timing ever! When everyone is here am often stuck somewhere in U.N. attending to my amba duties! And this sucks like cheap wine! Ha ha ha ha.

[agxo3]

see? even the whatever-it-is got confused with the bad wine you were feeding it. Can't decide if he's a tree or a shrub

 

so far, pare, I don't hear any screams around here hehehe....

 

you really got to taste all those cab vintages? We couldn't even get a decent cab here....

I'll take note of that 99 or 95 - thanks, pare.

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One reason I will never move too far from this area is the wine!!! Yup - I have been lucky enough to be here through the 90s - perhaps the best decade ever for cabs from the Napa Valley. I've had Caymus (pre-Screaming Eagle) and Heinz (the 97 Martha's Vineyards cab is superb!), Neibaum-Coppola and Merryvale, Beaulieu Vineyards and Mondavi, Opus One and V. Sattui, Plumpjack, Chimney Rock (95! 95! 95!), Stags Leap, Louis Martini, Hess Collection and many, many more! And all I can say is - wow! What a blast! The 90s were truly a wine conversion decade for me. That's when I really got into reds of all flavors, led by the Napa Valley cabs.

 

I still have those 93 Retzlaff cabs to pop open.......those are from Livermore, just over the hill from Fremont where I live. Back when Noah was still the winemaker there. Now of course, it's Bob who's the winemaker and I still think (despite the success of the 2000 New vines) that he's better at whites than at reds. He disagrees, of course. Noah is feeling unloved, I think. I haven't gone to Yountville to see him in over a year. I should go this summer, but I'm afraid of coming back with yet more wine, and my new wine cabinet is already overflowing!

 

I also found a wierd little place just south of St. Helena called Praeger Port Place. As the name denots, they specialize in port-style wines of various varietals. Really a funkly place. Unusual.

 

Nope, no screams yet - but I'm not opening a bottle of that port until this weekend some time. Stay tuned - keep listening!

[agxo3]

so...no takers for the wine weekend? oh well....

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Hey Rain! Still in Cebu, I see! Hopefully, you'll get your permits soon and not miss the all-too-short Icelandic summer! In the meantime, I would gladly take you up on your offer - but being as I'm 8,000 miles away I will just have to live vicariously.

 

So guys - what are you waiting for? That was an offer one cannot refuse, if I ever heard one! :evil: :evil:

[agxo3]

i'll be there bods!!!  pare, the robustos kept with the tradition of our forefathers, when everyone spoke spanish. i remember my grandfather sitting on his favorite wooden chair, cigar on 1 hand and a cupita of rum, brandy or wine on the other.  i dreaded visiting him as i couldn't stand the stench of the cigar, well, i was young then.

 

i think they appreciated us for following up our meetings.  what we spent last night was no henny penny!  beside, i'll be going back with the wife to pick a gift this weekend.  I was talked into this Spanish cava as Europe's best selling sparkling wine, beating the French!!!! and it's way, way cheaper than a Dom.  who knows i might get another tampranillo in the process.

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Hey Masi! You might also look into an Italian sparkler. No, not the el cheapo Asti Spumante sweet cloying grape juice, but a nice light prosecco. Dry, of course, but with a nice hint of stone fruit, a burst of citrus (grapefruit, maybe?), and a nice looooong finish. Also much, much less expensive than a Dom Perignon, or a Cristal, or a Perrier Jouet, or a Veuve Cliquot, but quite enjoyable.