October 8, 2014 – @sommeligay

WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 1

October 8, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

Dear Diary,

Like some sort of academic pregnancy, I will subject the next 9 months of my life to some form of patient growing of what is hopefully my knowledge of wine. And I will subsequently hope that, somewhere, my diploma will be birthed out of a printer in the UK by some person whose accent sounds equally as charming as it is foreign – yet familiar, like fusion cuisine or a fucked up awesome bottle of sparkling Jura.

I can feel it already – I won’t have time to write to you about people for whom my heart beats, and instead I’ll be on my knees begging the Gods to reveal to me why I can’t tell the difference between a Grecian Xinomavro and a Piedmontese Nebbiolo.… read more

WSET Diploma

I don’t even know why I guessed Hermitage: 2011 Emiliana “Coyam”

October 8, 2014November 17, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma Unit 3 – Week 1]

I don’t even know why I guessed Hermitage, because I’ve never had one, and there’s no way they’re going to display something that rare (in this market) and expensive on the first day. But sometimes it’s almost like designing (or maybe I’m just watching too much Project Runway in between my tasks which results in garbage fashion analogies), because given the circumstances, it’s important to make it look (or taste) expensive. Or something like that. Maybe ignore this paragraph.

The reveal of Chile seemed so obvious, afterwards, though before landing in the northern Rhône I did venture a Touriga Nacional-based blend from Portugal, if that gives you any more idea about how punchy yet spicy and earthy this was.… read more

WSET Diploma

Chiantioja: 2002 Lopez de Heredia “Vina Tondonia” Reserva

October 8, 2014November 17, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 1]

Yeah! Rioja stunner on the first day.

In the first few wafts of the wine, you get this intoxicating and familiar savoury soy characteristic which sort of masks the dried red fruit and makes it seem more brooding than it is. That soy quality is a common benchmark in aged Rioja, for sure, but there’s something about this that yelled Sangiovese to me. Both Chianti Classico and Rioja Reserva see oak, though the former sees a minimum of 7 months while the latter sees a minimum of 12 months. Oak is still something I struggle with, and I’m sure there’s a wood joke in there somewhere that I’m not going to bother venturing because it seems suspiciously easy.… read more

WSET Diploma

And we’ll never be royals: 2012 Maison des Bulliats Régnié

October 8, 2014November 17, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 1]

It only strikes me now how overlapped the Venn diagram between Gamay and Barbera can be – both tend towards high acid and spicy red fruit, though both also grow differently and can be vinified differently in different subregions. Purer red fruit, for example, in Barbera d’Asti, and a bit spicier and darker in Barbera d’Alba, sort of like how you can get estery Gamay from Beaujolais Nouveau over to the earthier and grittier cru Beaujolais like this one. And suddenly my Sansa Stark = Cru Beaujolais and Arya Stark = Barbera d’Alba analogy sort of makes more sense.

This wasn’t as complex as a Sansa Stark though. Spicy red fruits, yes, and a nice glowing acidity, but mostly fresh, and just fresh – and sometimes it’s hard to be a fresh red.… read more

WSET Diploma

Thinking ’bout Gew: 2012 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer

October 8, 2014November 17, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 1]

It’s often hard to forget grapes like Gewurztraminer. I adore how Oz Clarke describes the grape as wanting to “please everybody”, such that it dolls itself up: it’s voluptuous, perfumed, and heady. At times, it reminds me of either the quirky and suave fellow or the aunt who seems to only appear at those family gatherings and you know she’s just there because you can smell the perfume from miles away. That’s the classic Alsatian expression, of course, and there exist some leaner examples which are delicious but are almost disappointing when all you want are, according to Oz Clarke, “clouds of Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium, Calvin Klein’s Obsession and Giorgio of Beverley Hills to billow out before you, announcing the arrival of the one grape no one can resist.”… read more