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July 29, 2007

Wine reserves ()

by fluffy at 11:08 PM
When I got the mover's estimate the other day, I asked about the transport of my wine. The mover said that unless I had a heck of a lot, he'd move it, but he wouldn't guarantee that it'd be any good afterwards, due to the lack of climate control on the trucks and in storage. So I will probably want to just take it in my car, which is starting to get rather a lot of "I'll just take it in my car" items clamoring for space.

Anyway, I decided to just go through my inventory to see what I have, since some of it is probably coming due to being drunk anyway.

  • 2 of 2000 Woot Rinfrescante (a very nice vintage from a very nice winery which, sadly, went tits-up due to soap operatics in the family which owned it); this is of course the wine which led to the creation of Woot Wine, which is where I got about half of my collection. It's a very tasty blend of sangiovese, cab sauv, merlot, and cabernet.
  • 1 of 2002 Montello e Colli Asolani cab sauv; purchased at Ballard Market, not yet tried (being cab sauv I might use it as a demiglaze the next time I cook a steak; I hate to waste a 5-year-old wine on that but it was also only $10 just a few months ago so it probably isn't all that good)
  • 1 of 2003 Kona Lemberger. A very local Washington wine, and probably one to save for something special.
  • 1 of 2004 Chateau Trocard Bordeaux Superieur. Bordeaux is one of those varietals which can be really good or really bad.
  • 1 of 2004 Labouré-Roi Pinot Noir. Probably a candidate for drinking ASAP, as pinot noir is generally not very special or, you know, good.
  • 2 of 2004 Mosaic Chardonnay. I bought this since it was cheap on wine.woot and although I don't normally like chardonnay, it's great with (and in!) French onion soup. Unfortunately it's not soup season, and where I'm going, Sonoma County chardonnay isn't exactly hard to come by.
  • 1 of 2004 Mosaic Sauvignon Blanc. I actually don't know what sauvignon blanc tastes like. I think this came with the chardonnay.
  • 1 of 2004 Dry Creek Fumé Blanc (dry Sauvignon Blanc). I probably got this because Ballard Market probably had a very compelling review card. But, again, Sonoma county. A white needs to be pretty special for me to, you know, care about it.
  • 1 of 2005 Domaine de Pajot Gascogne. I have no idea what grape(s) this is. It's from France. The label is in French. It says "Vin blanc de pays des côtes de Gascogne récolté et vinifié au domaine par Damien Barreay vigneron indépendant à eauze (gers-gascogne)." From my smattering of French comprehension I think this means something like, "A white wine from Gascogne made by an independent vintner named Damien Barreay." That's also what Google's automatic translator says, more or less, so I guess I read French better than I thought and the label really is that vague.
So, anyway, which of these should I drink, which should I keep for later (how long should a bottle be held onto before it's drunk anyway? older is better to a point but then it starts to go bad...), and how many bottles of chardonnay should I just bring to Annie's birthday party to go alongside the Two Buck Chuck that everyone else brings?

Comments

#9545 07/29/2007 11:57 pm
Being in the mood for some pre-bed wine I just went and opened the Bordeaux, and it's rather nice. This would certainly go well with steak and mushrooms, though it wouldn't make a suitable demi-glaze as the flavor is too delicate for that. It's also pretty smooth, with a slightly dry finish. It tastes very much like a Beaujolais.
#9546 07/30/2007 12:06 am
According to the article at http://bullz-eye.com/wine_reviews/2004/aging_wines.htm you shouldn't keep wine in anything other than a cellar for more than 5-6 months. Most of my wines have been in non-cellar conditions for more than 5-6 months. So I guess I should just drink it all up!

According to http://www.cellarnotes.net/howlongtohold.htm basically all of my wines are due (or perhaps even overdue) to be drunk. And according to http://www.cellarnotes.net/storing_wine.html and the bullz-eye article above, I should definitely invest in an electric wine cellar when I'm settled in San Francisco. (That's one of those things I considered getting in Seattle but decided I didn't really have enough space for it. But all the homes I'm considering have much larger kitchens.)
#9547 07/30/2007 12:29 am
Huh, it turns out that one of the many, many things my new employer makes is wine refrigerators. I wonder if I can get a discount on one...
#9549 07/30/2007 07:32 am We do?
Waddya know!

Wine is one thing that is relatively cheap in the Bay Area.
#9550 07/30/2007 07:48 am
It's real cheap in Washington too. Which is another reason why it's so funny that I end up "collecting" it.
#9552 07/30/2007 03:01 pm
How long you should keep something definitely depends on what it is. But yes, cooler temps + no sun is best for longer-term storage. I have to disagree with you, there are MANY special pinot noirs, but they are typically not wines to save, they're usually drink now.
Gascogne - no idea, but it's that southwestern region of France, which includes Bordeaux. So it may be similar.
Sauvignon Blanc - not one of my favorites. Winespectator says: "Another white with a notable aroma, this one "grassy" or "musky.""

Think the WS gave an 83 to your Bordeaux. That would be the one most likely to age well in your list (oh, also the Cab Sauv, but it's 5 years old already). Almost never should you age whites. Except maybe Chardonnay, but Chardonnay sucks, so don't drink it.
-bill
#9553 07/30/2007 03:21 pm
Yeah, I don't like chardonnay generally. (Except with a good rich French onion soup. And even then it has to be a good chardonnay.)

So far I haven't find a pinot noir I've liked but maybe the one I have would be good.

It's a bit funny that the one I decided to drink at random is also the only one which would have probably been worth saving. Oops.

Also the Gascogne is a white, FWIW.
#9562 07/31/2007 08:09 am
Okay, I have had some good French pinots, but they can be spotty and they have also learned that they can charge a lot for them so you generally have to go up in price to get a good one. California is kinda 'eh' but I think Washington State and Oregon are the places to go for pinots. Unfortunately that movie about the guy who wants to cheat on his fiancee has made lots of people want to drink pinot noirs so the rest of us have to suffer if we like them.

If you would like to know what PN I have really liked, I can get you a list... if you care.

Bordeaux whites are Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle by law. The general idea behind naming the wine by a larger region is that the grapes come from too large of an area, so it can't get the more prestigious region name classification.
-bill
#9563 07/31/2007 08:17 am
I think all the PNs I've tried so far have been from California, so okay maybe this French one I have in my queue could be okay.

I haven't seen Sideways, if that's the movie you're referring to. I know that fellow Merlot-haters hate that movie because now whenever they state that they don't like Merlot people are all "Oh, just like the guy in Sideways?" as if everyone defines their tastes based on a line from some rectum in a movie.
#9564 07/31/2007 09:04 am
yeah, that one. but there's nothing wrong with merlot. it's just highly variable in quality as well as the flavors in it. it's one of the more popular reds so you'll get a lot of crappy ones, especially if you like to buy cheap. i think the guy in the movie was basically just showing elitism. not that i've seen it, ha ha.
-bill
#9565 07/31/2007 10:00 am
Yeah, I've had a lot of crappy Merlot, mostly what shows up at parties, since that's mostly $4/bottle crap. I've had some good cab-merlot blends, and I suppose I could try a $20 merlot, but why bother when a $12 sangiovese is just as good?
#9566 07/31/2007 10:20 am
yeah... some of the less-well-known areas and grapes are great discount alternatives and are just as good - reference tempranillo, the portuguese reds, some of the s. american ones... good stuff to be found! like independent music on the internet, either listen to a lot of stuff or have somebody with good taste recommend things.
-bill
#9567 07/31/2007 10:30 am
Yeah, I was gushing about tempranillo quite a lot several months back, as you may recall. Smile
#9574 08/01/2007 07:21 pm
Opened the Pinot tonight. Okay, I've found a pinot I like!
#9577 08/02/2007 04:33 am
Apparently needing to get rid of wine makes it better?
#9578 08/02/2007 02:19 pm
yay!
and yes, i remember, also for some reason i marked that post as "hold" in bloglines.
-bill