:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Friday, January 21, 2005 ::

:: Oenophile ::

At the moment, I'm enjoying a glass of "Val Conde Reserva 1997," a Spanish red wine. I'm not sure if it's a merlot or a cab type other than the label also says "Utiel-Requena." Up until recently I've only purchased California wines but this stuff looked interesting since it came wrapped in a gold wiring, giving it a posh appearance. Being on sale for $4.99 and the fact that it had a hyphen in its name, I figured it's worth a try.

Well, it's... a red. My palatte isn't refined enough to start talking about "oak" or "tannins" or if it has a nice "bouquet" or anything so I'll try laymen's terms:

- It's red. A deep, dark red but it has a very light texture. Not quite watery but it's thinner than your typical cabernet.

- It smells, or rather, it's bouquet has grapes, berries and alcohol.

- Just typing this blog makes me feel as fruity as its aroma, by the way.

- The flavor is is sharp but not very fruity. Or is that another way of saying it's "dry?"

- It went well with my dinner of Italian sausage and peppers last night.

- If there's oak flavor here, it's completely lost on me. It's like telling a guy who's never seen a movie before 1980 to view a black-and-white film and find the McGuffin.

Despite this post don't think for a second that I'm on my way to being an oenophile anytime soon but I don't know if it's old age or what but I do seem to be enjoying wine more these days. I actually got a couple of bottles for Christmas; a 2001 Gloria Ferrer chardonnay and a 2002 Saintsbury Pinot Noir from Carneros (thanks for the advice JH =)). I haven't had the pinot yet but the chardonnay was... cheeky. I liked it and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

For that matter most guys, if pressed, will admit that a cheeky chardonnay is one of their favorite guilty pleasure, almost up there with Krispy Kreme donuts, movies like "Old School," and every little word that comes out of Jessica Simpson's pouty little mouth.

Anyway...

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 1:25 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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