October 30, 2014 – @sommeligay

WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux

October 30, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

First off, the premiere of this hot mess:

Fantastic coincidence that we studied Bordeaux in class this week. The screencap is from some reality TV show called the Ultra Rich Asian Girls of Vancouver, or something equally as unnatural-sounding, and it’s going to be a terrible trainwreck that everyone’s already predictably complaining about. Watching people’s reactions to something as obtuse as this show is almost as fun as watching the actual show itself. That, and there’s two degrees of separation with the girl who asks for a straw to put in her “Latour” from “Pomerol”, and that just makes it much more amazing.

Also, this.

(That label isn’t fooling anyone – that’s clearly Villa Teresa Rosé Frizzante.)

Back to Bordeaux: the renowned region is pure business.… read more

WSET Diploma

When life gives you rot, make it noble: Château Coutet Sauternes-Barsac 2000

October 30, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

I was in the middle of tasting the first three wines in our second flight when I saw the instructor pouring the first bits of the fourth wine into her own glass. Bordeaux class, so Sauternes, unquestionably.

Yeah, gurl.

How often do you get to try one of the most prized dessert wines of the world? I’m not bragging, because all we get is a wee dram enough for tasting, and God knows I’m poor as fuck from WSET diploma tuition, anyways. This is as close as it gets, except for that time I knocked over my boss’s glass of Château d’Yquem. It shattered all over the floor and in perceived slow motion, I’m sure.… read more

WSET Diploma

“Time of the Season” – The Zombies: Château La Cabanne Pomerol 2005

October 30, 2014November 16, 2015 by Josh

[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

Pomerol and Saint-Émilion are the two famous appellations on the right bank of Bordeaux. Pomerol is the softer and the less drier appellation of the two, not to say that it’s necessarily sweeter, but perhaps just riper and broader in its fruit. Merlot rather than Cabernet Sauvignon reigns supreme on the right bank: this particular blend is 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc.

My palate was going at this point, as the 7th wine of our fight of 8, but there was a subtle nose of dried red fruit, dried black fruit, plum, a hints of leather and graceful herbaceous notes. There was a bit of opulent “plum jam”, according to the instructor, along with a soft texture and silky tannins.… read more