Don’t have a corkscrew handy? You don’t need a corkscrew as long as you have a handy tree. In this video, Paul Clifton demonstrates by opening a bottle of syrah using a tree.
Tag: syrah
Wine Tasting: 2000 Dom. Brusset Trad. Le Grand Montmirail
Posted by on July 7, 2009
Domaine Brusset is a relatively large producer in Rhone. This wine is from an appelation in Southern Rhone called Gigondas created in 1971. Unlike Northern Rhone, which employs solely Syrah. The wine would probably be a combination of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Carrigane and Cinsault. On the nose, some cherry liqueur or kirsch character popped out mixing with some earthy barnyard but the wine was not giving much. I deliberately aired the wine before tasting but still…more cherry fruit and dry berry/flower characters came out upon tasting. It has a medium to full body followed with some astringency characters like bitter lemon/tangerine. The tannin is sandy, mouth coating and immediately dried out the tongue. The finish is relatively short and leaving my mouth dry. The style is traditional and backward. I fail once again why the both WA and WS rated this wine so high (93 and 94 points respectively) in the past. (87-89 points) rated by Michael Lam of the Beverage Review.
Wine Tasting: 2002 Talomas Shiraz Cabernet
Posted by on April 15, 2009
Talomas and Kiraala were joint projects between Robert Mondavi of the USA and Rosemount of Australia before they scraped the project when Mondavi was sold to Constellation Brands in 2004. The remaining stocks were sold off quietly and I, liked the rest of the wine vultures in Vancouver, managed to get a case of the 2002 Syrah/Cab (as well as their Chardonnay/Viognier and Cab/Merlot). Good creamy blackcurrant cassis with cola were detected from the glass. Upon tasting, upfront and vibrant black currant, wild blackberry fruit emerged followed by spices and black pepper. The wine has good acidity and good backbone. This wine was reduced by the importer from $25 to $9 when the Talomas/Kiraala project was terminated. Definitely one of the biggest BARGAIN in wine buying history! Drink it up in the next 2 to 3 years. (Rating 89-91 points) by Michael Lam of the Beverage Review.
Wine Tasting: 1999 Montirius from France
Posted by on April 10, 2009
The 1999 Montirius from Gigondas of Southern Rhone is made up of 80% granache and 20% Mourvedre from organically farmed vines that average over 55 years of age so this wines has no Syrah or Cinsault as other Gigondas might have. The nose gave out a high indcation of the Greneach varietal…cherry liqueur, sweet black cherry, cherry cough syrup but also has many old style Sourthern Rhone characteristics, that’s much dry fruits, dry herbs, earth and tar(?). When tasted, the sweet red cherry fruits and dry herbs and flowers tastes came out along with burnt earth, incense smoke and dark chocolate. The relatively high alcohol level of 14.5% stood out which means this medium body wine do not have enough fruits, structure and depth to ‘hide’ the alcohol. The finish is fair but not particularly long. Viewers who have this wine from their cellar should drink it up now.
Red Wine for Health: How Much?
Posted by on February 23, 2009
By now everyone knows that red wine offers tremendous health benefits. It promotes heart health, possibly fights cancer and slows down several aspects of aging, among other things. The question is, how much do you need to drink to reap these benefits? And is there a variety of red wine that is best from the healthy living standpoint?
Experts differ on the answer, and I think it’s because they really don’t know. The ones who most cautious about drinking alcohol say that one glass per day is enough. But others recommend 2, 3, even 4 glasses.
Our answer is to go with what feels right to you, as long as you don’t make your daily dose of wine just an excuse for getting drunk. One glass daily will provide you with most of the touted health benefits of red wine, so if more would not feel right to you, then limit yourself to just the one. On the other hand, if you’re the type who likes to nurse a bottle all evening–sharing it with at least one other person, we hope–then go right ahead and drink 2 or 3 glasses.
The magic ingredient in red wine, everyone agrees, is resveratrol. It is has many anti-aging properties that are still undergoing much study. But what’s known so far is quite positive, indeed. There are also other antioxidant chemicals in red wine that have been credited with a lowered risk of heart disease. Furthermore, you get the benefits of a class of compounds called polyphenols (also found in tea, chocolate and fruit).
On balance, the red wine that is richest in all of these wonderful chemicals is Cabernet Sauvignon. It is followed close behind by Petit Syrah and Pinot Noir. So our recommendation is to select one of these varieties to get the most concentrated form of the “good stuff.”
P.S: Just saw in the news that an Australian scientist has succeeded in injecting red wine with 100 times the natural amount of resveratrol, without affecting drinkability. It might be a while before a wine based on this breakthrough appears on the market, but we will definitely be among the first ones to get hold of it as soon as we can!