Well I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth; it just seems that way and I profusely apologize. I blame the economy. That’s a pretty safe fallback, but in truth, it’s totally the reason why this blog has been silent for so long. Wine costs money, and I haven’t been spending much on wine because those dollars are needed elsewhere. A bottle to review here and there simply got lost in the shuffle.

We did have a recent Grape Nutz event, but there are no pictures to prove it. Just trust me. It was grand, and resplendent with good wine, good company and the ever-important good food. I mean, you can’t go wrong when the first bottle opened upon the guests’ arrival heralds the familiar yellow label of Veuve Clicqout champagne. The presence of such goodness always bodes well for the remainder of the evening.

There was another oh-so-light sparkler that night; the Cresta Azul Cava. The blue-label one on the right.

The Vino de Aguja Afrutado, from Catalogne Spain, a blend of macabeo, moscatel, parellada and xarel-lo was fruity, soft and almost shimmered; it was delightfully spritzy, fresh and invigorating. It was like a good spring rain, or a cool drink on a hot day. And it was ridiculously easy to drink. Way too easy.

We were able to try two wines from the Pecorino grape. Pecorino is a white wine grape that brough back from the brink of extinction and thought to be the unproven parent to all white Pinot varieties. It’s a thin-skinned grape with a medium yield and is somewhat inconsisten from harvest to harvest, ripening early in the season sometime in September. The two bottles we sampled held vastly different flavors and were beautiful representations of the nature of this grape. The 2006 Barone di Valforte, Abruzzo was full-bodied with moderate acidity and a whisper of minerality; it was yellow fruits with some ginger and white pepper notes, and also nut flavors like almond and hazelnut.  The second variation, a 2006 Aires Pecorino, Colline Pescaresi, Ciavolich was the richer of the two, golden yellow with the pronounced taste of ripe peaches, elegant floral notes and definite hazelnut qualities. The taste was smooth and velvety, rich with honey.

The other white we sampled was Molly Dooker’s only white varietal, ‘The Violinist’ a 2008 Verdelho from McClaren Vale in Australia.

It was fresh and lively, aromatic with the ripe taste of pineapple and citrus with a creamy easy texture. It’s definitely a good summer wine.

There was a dessert white too, which I bravely partook despite my known disdain for the mouth clenching sweetness of them. It was a 2004 Chateau Fayau Cadillac (not like the car…more like CA-de-YAY)  from the Gironde in France, a blend of 90% Semillon, 5% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Muscadelle. Although it was not a true Sauternes, it held it’s own against the acclaimed dessert wines of the area, showing a bold brilliant gold color with a characteristic botrytis nose of honeyed apricots and spice alongside the ripest peach flavor. It had a rich and lustrous taste in the mouth, but alas, was still much too sweet for this girls tongue. Other Nutz who love the sweet stuff were swooning.

The reds were well represented too. We had a Red Guitar Tempranillo Garnacha blend that I’ve had before. It’s a good balance of the two grapes in a reasonable bottle, but nothing special to write home about. There was a beautiful Blaufrankisch, also known as Lemberger, a medium bodied red wine with low tannins and light acidity. The grape originated in Austria but some of it’s best representation these days is coming from Washington State in the Yakima Valley. We sampled the 2004 Facelli Winery Lemberger.

The wine is a lovely reddish purple with warm tastes of plums and raspberries, a short finish that tastes a bit like a sour cherry. This is the second Lemberger we’ve had at a Nutz gathering. The very first meeting where we convened we shared a Shooting Star Lemberger that impressed me a great deal. There’s lots more to be found with this delightful red.

The last red was a 2005 Dos Por Ciente, First Drop from South Australia, a blend of 98% Shiraz and 2% Albarino- a most unusual combination. The presence of the Albarino, like another of Australia’s common blends of Shiraz and Viognier, helps to soften the edges of the red grape and offer a bit of fruitiness to the dark berry profile. This wine has a strong cherry nose with a soft tannin that isn’t at all heavy and a hearty blackberry flavor. To sip it with a sweet bite of strawberry made the Albarino shine; a bite of something more savory brought out the Shiraz. You wouldn’t think that 2% of something would even be noticeable, but we were all pleasantly surprised to discover that we could all taste it with the right accompaniment.

Hopefully I’ll be a little more verbose on the blog in the coming months; it isn’t for lack of desire. I’m wishing to be drinking and enjoying the Nutz far more than I am. Damn economy.

I’ve joked in previous posts about serving the in-laws wines that I don’t like, and I am embarrassed to admit that I have served ‘plonk’ to the in-laws on several occasions because I wasn’t sure how else to get rid of it, aside from just dumping it down the drain.  

Well, this past Christmas, my mother-in-law moved way up my likeability scale when she gave me several bottles of ‘good’ wine including this Molly Dooker Blue Eyed Boy and a Ramey Chardonnay.  I’ve held off opening these bottles for a somewhat special occasion… and I can’t think of a better time to open this Aussie Shiraz than now… to get my palate prepped for my upcoming trip to Australia in a few days.

Molly Dooker Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz 2007

Fruta muy grande!  Real cork closure.  The label noted 16.5% alcohol, but I have no doubt that this one is closer to 18% alcohol.  ~$50/bottle.  Deep dark inky purple color.  Huge nose of blueberry, baked blackberries, very pungent prune, cedar and a creamy vanilla.  The mouth was equally bombastic – loads of dark fruit jam and too much wood.  My first taste made me wonder if they spiked this wine with blueberry and prune concentrate.  The finish was dominated by a grape cough syrup and oak taste.  I really had difficulty finishing two glasses of this one – drinking it was uncomfortable.   At roughly $50/bottle, I really expected more – or actually less.  Overpowering in every respect.

I broke out the big ass glass for this... ?

I’ve had many Shiraz’s in my day, and have historically paired them with bison burgers (not sure why), or when I needed to add more dark fruit to my diet.  Rather than a great burger pairing, this Dooker seemed more inclined to be spread on my morning toast, or as a stand alone fruit smoothie. 

After tasting and being so bleeeeck about Molly I searched the net to get other’s perspective on this particular jammy ‘jewel.’  The Wine Spectator scored this one 92 points and Jay Miller scored this one 95 points (not surprised).  Many other bloggers rated the 2007 Molly Dooker Blue Eyed Boy with reasonably good reviews (here, here, here, and GV here).  Guess I’m the odd man out on this one (again)…

I’ve only written a couple of not so positive reviews on this blog, and each time the PR person from that winery has contacted me with the offer of a new bottle to retaste (which I’m grateful for).  In this case, I doubt anyone from Molly Dooker is going to find this little blog, but I actually hope they do – especially since I’m heading to Australia in a few days and would love to stop by for a retaste and better perspective of Molly Dooker wines.

I’m going to leave this one to sit for a couple of days and come back to it to retaste…

___________________________

Durch ein Video im Winzerblog, das mir nachhaltig die Sprache verschlagen hat, stieß ich auf die Weine von Molly Dooker, die man schütteln muss, bevor man sie trinken kann. Zuerst hielt ich es für einen der gängigen YouTube-Scherze, aber eine Recherche im Internet ergab: Diesen Wein muss der Connoisseur tatsächlich samt Flasche kräftig rütteln, bevor er ihn genießen kann. So behauptet es der Hersteller auf seiner Webseite jedenfalls, und auch das Video im Winzerblog stammt von dieser Seite.

Der Effekt ist folgender (laut Hersteller): Molly Dooker fügt den Weinen Stickstoff zu, um sie haltbarer zu machen. Doch der Sticksoff verhindert jegliche Oxidation im Wein. Deshalb muss man die Flasche öffnen, etwas abgießen, wieder schließen und dann schütteln. Der Stickstoff löst sich, Sauerstoff kommt an den Wein und der runde Geschmack des Weins tritt hervor.

Eine Einschränkung macht der Hersteller: Weine, die älter als zwei Jahre sind, soll man nicht mehr schütteln. Wohl wegen des Depots. Aber was macht man dann mit dem Stickstoff, frage ich mich? Und warum muss Molly Dooker überhaupt Wein, der jünger als zwei Jahre ist, auf diese Weise konservieren? Ist es übler Fusel, der nicht einmal zwei Jahre in Würde übersteht?

Das scheint mir eher ein Marketing-Gag zu sein und erinnert an Tequila mit Salz und Pfeffer. Auf das Ritual kommt es an und nicht auf den Geschmack. Stellt Euch vor, Ihr sitzt im Restaurant und schüttelt Euren Wein erstmal kräftig durch. Garantiert schauen Euch alle an und Ihr habt für die nächste halbe Stunde die Diskurshoheit.