Don Giovanni

TN: Becquer Rioja Tinto 04’ Tempranillo 70% Garnacha 30% Nose of cinnamon black pepper plush spice, hot, bold, raisins. Full-bodied hearty complex tight wine needs decanting for min of 2 hours Mouth feel supple, plum, black currants, tingle of effervescence morphing into spice. Color deep purple, luster of violet, edges of rose near the rim when tilted, great color. Real cork, this is a young wine that will age for many years 7 to 10 maybe longer. Price 10.95 makes for a quaffable wine just pass me the paella and lets get hedonistic. Alc By Vol 14% 35 year old Garnacha vines @ 30% is just right.

This will help you all out.... I just found this out....hot off the press.. Switzerland, April 2nd 2007 Swiss researchers can tell chips from barrels by Othmar Stäheli and Yves Paquier It has been determined by you can Scientifically tell the difference due to the chemical So now we know the truth, chips are not the same as barrels as many manufacturers of chips are telling the people in and out of the industry. What they will have to do is go back to the drawing board and formulate chips with more empyeumatic compounds and figure out just how long for each toast the treatment should be to achieve 100 new oak.

Please read the last few words "taste of Rioja, of northern Spain area" So area meaning Region not some plot of land to taste the Terroir of Rioja of northern Spain area, now that doesn't mean that you still did not get to taste Terroir you only tasted a small area if you taste the single vineyard or two.

Mary, I can't imagine who you are able to pull of tasting notes unless you did what you told us"cupped that wine like a little chick) IIRC. You had to warm that wine up to open it up, I could not do it with someone standing over me. Anyway good luck with the notes.

No you have to re-read my post and you will see that a single vineyard is referenced and it's site specific Terroir is mentioned .

Finally I think I can explain Terroir thru blending ? I have come to think this one out to put it into words. This thought was inspired by an article that was reading about blending that I posted. So I will give it a shot, I am sure this can be explained many ways and this is just one of them. You can make a wine from the grape Tempranillo from Rioja, if this was estate grown then you will not have a taste of the taste of Rioja, of northern Spain area. Especially if it was vineyard specific. Now go and do a traditional blending and the taste will reflect the region Rioja provided you used grapes from very different vineyards. The French call blending assemblage. This would seem just right if you would blend grapes from different soils and growing conditions in the region. Then you will have a taste of Terroir of the region. So can you taste Terroir, yes, can it be vineyard specific, yes. Does this mean you will have a flavor of the region, no....only that specific vineyard. The last level of true Terroir is to include the winemaker, yes the winemaker and the spirit of the grower, climate, moisture, minerals, and all that comes into contact with the wine for each vintage. So blending seems to create a more uniform wine of a region rather than the specifics of a single varietal, so in my opinion to truly get a taste of a region you must taste a blend. To get a taste of a single vineyard then taste a blend from the estate or a single varietal from the vineyard. So now you have it Terroir within a Terroir seems to be at the mercy of the winemaker. Thus to me this is the most important aspect of Terroir ( not the only) it is how the winemaker made the wine and where the grapes came from in that region.

Sour grapes blight Bordeaux wine event suspension of the area's 'grand cru' label, Click On Me Nice to see that I stuck my neck out in another post and then to see this, very nice. Maybe I had a good point the other day

John L., Your post was very well structured and very accurate with information that holds very true. Critics of this world are being diluted by the expansion of information and the speed it travels at. Democratization of information has helped, but still we have to deal with undervalued wines and overvalued wines. Now what causes a wine to reach stratospheric levels, quality, consistency and demand ? So how and why is the demand created ? By having a pedigree surely can't hurt, is it not a caste system then and if it is irrelevant then why market on the 1855 system as many do ? This is the injustice that I see and still I ponder how the market would price wines without such a system. Believing that we have more feet on the ground when I hear numbers like 144,000 in one day converging to taste I know then that the marketing is working and this artificially inflates the price of wines. With 10,000 varieties of grapes there will always be a wine that will be as interesting and age worthy as a over priced wine but for a fraction of the price. This is why I say go out and taste as many wines as you can. "In vino veritas"

And like sheep you are to follow the very few....and chase the price up of grape juice...yep the best wine starts as grape juice... and the cost is the same. So if you follow the winepress you are now at the mercy of that critic. Now have you or the market gained any freedom ? No, you only no have one voice or so and they are the new standard. How myopic a system that all wine can't be treated and judged and information given to the masses. Now we are down to a system that is totally broke and the sheep can't be any happier. Yet science has proven each of us has a different taste 96% of us, so how is this being expressed if we only follow a few voices. So I say to you go out and taste some wine that is not rated and go find something good , but for much less than a rated wine that may be over rated at that. Remember you are your own wine critic, so don't be a sheep and enjoy the wine world.

Hopefully not because Wine Spectator picked the 2005 as one of their Great Wine Values? ← Not a chance..

Yes my point that first growths are over rated and if the system was rendered obsolete then we would see more price stabilization. Only since the Internet and wine critics reports that are now available at the click of the mouse has the system seemed to be working to a point. Up until this time from 1900 onward it was the name and not the quality that made the Châteaux's first growths coveted. I still think that over 40% of the wine is for bragging rights and 30% for speculation and this distorts the market. Price equalization would bring some wines up and other wines down, this would be a free and fair market. The biggest problem is that all the inventory and cellars would have a value change that was predicated on a monarch system of royalty. This alone would cause financial chaos and be the biggest impediment toward any revision. Back in Europe my family would have the title of Count, yet in a democratic system I am just the same as anyone else. Now it would be unfair if I was a Count today and then at birth you and I would already be valued differently.

Proven, now on how you enjoy your wine and how the brain communicates this. I can across a very nice article in Wines-Vines April 2007 written by Suzanne Gannon. Dr Terry Acree, from Cornell University's depart of food has scientifically proven how we enjoy wine. It all boils down to two into two parts, one being a blind tasting and the other being the expatiation of what is in the glass because you would know the wine in that glass is. Side drift go put that on a label..... Forty of them are common in wine and each has a specific descriptor. It's the cilia in the nose, that has neuron that also has a protein molecule on it surface... then information is transmitted to a specific area of our brain and this is what or how we determine the pleasure of the wine consumer. Humans have such a diversity in smelling that the number is as high as 96%...now I thought only snowflakes were so very different.... that's 96% diversity..... wine tasting and notes are simple subjective and now proven by science why with this 96% diversity. Now so there is no such thing as your typical wine lover... a break down by % is as follows... Six groups are the "enthusiast" 12% "the image seeker" 20% EH Hem This is why I still feel the 1855 classification system is broke or out dated. Now you know why Bordeaux is so crazy with the prices...well this is one factor... "the savvy shopper " 15%.... Keith this might be both you and I... "The traditionalist " 16% "The satisfied shopper" 14% this is the best one "The over-whelmed" 23% this being the toughest market...I call them the crusty crowd....they can make your life ...#ell As The President of Constellation Wines Mr Fernandez went on to explain 5 industry trends That last line is a producers best wish. He also told the audience that we are in a very healthy business and he has never seen things so intense. Cheers! Looks like prices in general will be solid...and I might be wrong on the value of Bordeaux in the long term...I still feel you have to buy after the hype...time will tell..we can guess all day long on that one. Still admittedly I am not perfect and do have many ideas and am not too full of myself to admit I am human. I hope you enjoyed this report.

Tasting Notes on 2001 Borsao Reserva Campo de Borja Red wine a product of Spain: First impression, the nose: very lightweight rose nothing special, some spice, lavender The look: thin legs, with the glass tilted so the wine can run up to the rim, the color of the edge closest to the rim had a bit of color light Ruby. In the glass with good light and a white background the color was medium to slightly dark Ruby red. After the first sip: Why did I buy this? Mild spice on the lips and on the tongue, very neutral homogenized wine, probably wound not cook with this wine nor finish drinking it a real bummer. Mouth feel: green stems, unripe tannins, and astringent aftertaste no pleasant hang time, OMG a moment of tin. The producer should be ashamed to call this a Reserva ! Alc 14.5 By Vol more like 12.5% Cost $14.99 should not have been released, maybe good for making cheep vinegar. RS 1% Grenache 50%, Tempranilla 25% and 25% Cab Sav. Grading a,b,c,d,f, this one is a D for dud. Avoid this dog of a wine.

New-age biodynamic wine production grows Click On Me It's a nice read and inspiring to see the growth.

I just tell people to write and put down what they are experiencing...once they get that down the rest is easy all you do is type.....the world would be boring if only the top wine critics wrote a TN: This is one that I did by just taking small notes and then the next day expanded them to what they became. Quote: Châteauneuf-du-Pape Bosquet des Papes (literally translated "The Popes Thicket"). Vintage 2000 ALC. 13.5% By Vol 100% Grenache CUVÉE Decanted 1 hour and developed as the night went on. The nose: earthy not funky Brett but honest clean earth, menthol ,plum, black pepper spice that tickles your nose, black licorice intertwined by anise, cherries, brambling raspberries. The color: a wonderful bright Ruby red, when tilted so the wine touches the edge of the glass the color changes to a pale pink then to translucent, this tell me the wine has some years left, just by looking at it. The first taste: Nice mouth-feel well balanced, sweet on the tip of your tongue, fuzzy on the top of the tongue, tingles the sides and then a snap in the back finish followed by spice ever so nice. The second taste: Brambling deep dark raspberries, velvet, good balance or acidity, whiff of vanilla, followed by coconut on the exhale...a real seductive wine, again the anise and black licorice, red cherries, plum, black pepper, the hang time, long short as opposed to medium long, this wine is starting to hit it's zenith over the next few years should be very nice and hold up. One word "Gouey-ah-tha-lah" whom ever can tell me what that word means I will send you one bottle of something nice, limited to the first correct answer. USA only. The cork OMG how beautiful the embossed bird with grapes in it's beak perched on a vine.., I love this cork.. the bottle raised embossed heavy glass nice punt and the raised embossed logo was very impressive. My Score Points 92 $37.00 bought in Ithaca, NY at Sparrow's Fine Wines Address: 726 W Green St, Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: (607) 256-7145 Disclosure I have no affiliation with this store in any way.

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, well it's broke after 152 years. The idea was a very good marketing idea at that time for the Châteaux's of the day. With the change of ownership and some increasing the land and some decreasing it, I ask why no reclassification ? What system is so perfect that it doesn't need a tune up every now and again? If the vineyards are living then like all things living some evolution has to occur. How could such and old classification stand the test of time? Even the Dow Jones index gets changed as time go on. So if you are using this system to buy and price wine then you are just not going to be right on the money...you might be 40% right... maybe. The injustice that is imposed upon newer Châteaux's or older ones that have and are vinting wonderful wines can't get the dollars that they should....when the Châteaux's that have such a high classification can put out plunkish wine and sit back and charge a false market price. The point is that the market price of the wines are now out of the control of true market. The true market should be based on quality not status granted 152 years ago. Ok I still have to remember someone in France has a working........ and I will give the inventor his due Joseph Guillotin - thank you....a Guillotine.. So off to the Guillotine with the classification of 1855 and then you would have a more democratic open market and you better believe it prices would go up and down over night...to reflect the true market and not a name.

I found this great article on blending, enjoy. Click on me to read about blending !

Bordeaux 2005 Prices irrational exuberance Ok now try this thought on ...... Now it was asked how many bottles are being bought for speculation? If as I suspect wine hedge funds are in this game plus the regulars then you might actually see a correction when the first market disturbance occurs, a collapse in the dollar, a small war, another oil spike, an act of despicable unpredictable chaos with the weather...then you will have a market correction.... how about another great year vintage... What goes up this fast and stays up ......if I was long I would sell into this market..that is unless I was going to drink the wines...but how many are really going to drink the wine...? This is the point how many ? Maybe it will all get bought up and drunk....then if you are ITB this is a very good time to be in it due to irrational exuberance...sound familiar...the day Alan Greenspan ever talks about wine I would run for cover if I was long. Right now is what I saw in the stock market...then the real estate market....reading on the Dutch bulb market..the Hunt's silver market.... people "the prices will fluctuate" this is a given and the next move will be down...It may take a year or two but this will happen. the QPR is out of whack with the correlating and astounding vintages of past. Maybe it will be the producer that bottles his 2004's and gets caught selling them as 2005's...it could be that simple. My bet is down not up... my 2 cents...

From a producers standpoint I can see if you are allergic to some things than you should avoid them. That said if what was done to wine was so bad then where are all the sick people? How many people went into anaphylactic shock that you know of by drinking a glass of wine? Yet 80% of all food allergies that end in death are from peanuts. Now one school of thought has said that just like the snake handler who has to take a bit of venom each day and if you get bit you won't die....so they actually suggest people with allergies eating the very food that could kill them in very very small quantities. Let's talk about sulfates, in the USA we can go up to 350 ppm way too much...I use 40 ppm and the wine is just fine....now go to the supermarket and go to the dried fruit section and grab a handful of apricots...guess how much sulfates 2,000 ppm ...yes 2,000 ppm not nary a mention of them though? All you are going to get is lying through omission....it will go like this "to the best of my knowledge I don't recall using XYZ" and you walk away. Producers are not going to list copper, ash, clay, mega red, purple, concentrates all kinds of acids, Micro-oxygenation, oak chips, oak dust, the field mice and snakes and such that are in the harvest, the ladybirds or ladybugs, aphids, bees, berry moths, mites......so where does it stop....do you really want the Library of Congress on a bottle? Now I propose each vintage should be lab tested and if anything really harmful is present then the product should be avoided or not sold. Anyone if he ever heard of food recycling ...that is food you order and don't eat and the restaurant simply puts it back into the food chain? I have personally seen this ....and thank G-D the restaurant is out of business, yet I hear the same story told, should restaurants have to post some sign that food is recycled for full disclosure? For people in the industry this is a joke, I warn you all you will find more producers telling you good things that are not true....and you will have allowed this regulation to be imposed on the wine industry.... How about all fast food places post a sign on the door this food will kill you or make you fat and then kill you, but in the end if you eat this food all the time you will die anyway. Also confirmed that french fries at least in the USA have a chemical that causes cancer. How about cigars a fair warning should tell you all that is in it all the thousands of killing chemicals...so at the door of the smoke shop a sign should read...buy this and you will eventually die....a proven fact...yet I ask how many people have had one glass of wine and died? The truth in labeling is a bunch of rubbish and just politically correct....did you know that they have linked the use of deodorant to cancer...hum...don't we have our priories backwards. I am organic and this is a big problem, why ......because you will be told less if you ask the big producers to disclose...same for the small producers....suddenly the world will have gone organic.....no need to label then. Conclusion, we have better things to worry about in the food chain than how a wine is made. Now I'll drink to that!

While at the J. Paul Getty Museum 1200 Getty Center Drive Los Angeles, CA 90049-1687 The Punt and it's history in glass and the color green. I observed waldglas or forest glass The search for the punt and the bottle and the use of glassClick On Me it was a 5 ounce glass with a punt in it the date of this glass was estimated at 1480-1520. I also came across a beaker with a punt 1400's. The worlds oldest bottle of wine was found near Spayer, Germany, inside Roman stone sarcophagus the bottle was from 325 AD and was found in 1867...no punt. So I think that with sparkling wine came the need for the punt. I have found this information and just don't know if it true. People write history and manipulate it. So Quote: As early as 1630 a retired British Admiral, Sir Robert Mansell, while searching for a way to make coloured glass had invented a manufacturing process incorporating the use of iron and manganese which resulted in English glass bottles being much stronger than those being manufactured in France at that time. the Brit linkClick On Me What I found very interesting is that glass in the north Germany etc. was green Quote: With the sand ferric oxides came into the mixture, which colors the glass green in quantities of less than 0.1 %. Could this be the reason for our green glass today? So with my observations at the museum I have concluded that the punt was a technology breakthrough in the glass world and this was due to the high pressure in the bottle of sparkling wine. The pressures I believe the pressure of a sparkling wine is up to 6 atmospheres ( one atmosphere is equal to 14.7 PSI) to the min of 2 atmospheres and this did cause glass without a punt to explode. The punt would do the trick and as it was adopted as early as the 1400's I would conclude that sparkling wine under glass was invented before this time.....leading to the use of the punt. Thus the punt shows up in a glass that I saw from the 1480's and from the beaker with a punt 1400's. The only reason for this was due to the changing the way the glass was made in manufacturing due to the sparkling wine under glass problem. Conclusion, I have dated the first use of the punt and sparkling wine was the catalyst. No one knows for sure, but this is my best attempt to date the punt and give reason for it as well as the color green being prominent in glass today. If anyone has other information I am all ears and love to learn. last I found this Wine evolutionClick On Me