Pairings

On Filipino Food and Wine Pairings: an Experiment

I never thought it would feel this quick, but I’ve spent almost 10 years in the wine industry, accompanied by all types of grapey gripes. They range from folks who think red wines are served too warm (which is a perfectly reasonable thought that I also vibe with), to those who decry Chardonnay as if it was Satan manifested into a liquid. Some are oddly offended by the slightest hint of sugar to the point where anything remotely sweeter than battery acid is considered a flaw. I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum (even when said yum yucks other yums), but damn. Let’s loosen our sommelier pins just a smidgen.

Onto what Lagrein-ds my gears: I fucking hate pairing suggestions that generalize off-dry wines into super generic categories for particular cuisines, like this line: “try this German Riesling with Asian food”.… read more

Tasting

God damn it, Riesling.

If Tyra banks were a Riesling (spoiler alert: she probably is, but like a Californian one or something), she – and I, for that matter – would be yelling at wine consumers à la Top Model cycle 4’s Tiffany. Alas. We coerced the masses to join the Church of Riesling and tried to convince the world that it was everyone’s undiscovered main bae: I did my best to promote the versatile berry, including the times I poured the gamut down the throats of university students during multiple hilarious post-secondary stints, or the time I shared some with a friend out of a thermos in the library while studying mathematical proofs. I’ve often dubbed Riesling a Millennial gateway grape (I’m talking about you, Sean) since it’s famed for occasionally having a sweeter personality, but maybe I should stop this persuasion before Riesling becomes the next to blame for our spending habits after avocados and rompers.… read more

Life · Quaffing · Tasting

2015 ends and 2016 trends

I’m a bit late to this #bye2015hello2016 stuff! Anyways, I’ve said it way too many times than you care to read: I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. But this is the first year where reflecting and looking forward to the next year has felt the least forced. Despite my abrupt and perhaps ephemeral positivity, I won’t be superimposing any fortune cookie pieces of advice onto filtered landscapes anytime soon – March seems to be my I-fucking-hate-everything downfall month anyway, so we’ll see how much my outlook relapses.

joshlikeswine2015

At the beginning of 2015, I made the tongue-in-cheek resolution to be a bit more selfish: to not to be guilt-ridden about having a balanced serving of things that make me happy and to give less of a shit about what other people think.… read more

Life · Quaffing · Tasting

Post-Pride and Pre-WBC15 Wine Dump

Bit of a tasting note dump between the Maryland trip and Vancouver Pride, since I am not drinking for a week in a simultaneous effort to recover from Vancouver Pride antics and to prepare my liver for the Wine Bloggers Conference in New York. Huzzah. I am surprisingly doing well so far, and I have stepped into the world of non-alcoholic beer.

(I’ve failed miserably.)

There’s not really a common thread here, except for maybe the general Old World?

I’ve also found out that my travel buddy had to cancel her attendance to both the Wine Bloggers Conference and our pre-conference trip to NYC due to a health issue, so I’m semi-alone in NYC (semi- because I’m meeting up with some Vancouver friends still) and I’m a little scared but also super excited. … read more

Life · WSET Diploma

WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 15: Germany

It’s been a weird past couple of weeks. I don’t know why I think it’s necessary for me to mention that I moved onto my first iPhone, but I’m going to: I’ve moved onto my first iPhone. And I instantly turned into the person I thought I would never be – the person constantly glued to their screen, swiping down on every app just to refresh what might be minuscule and insignificant updates that other people filter just so their lives look more entertaining than yours. I’m making it seem like I’m much older than I am, which seems to be a shitty inadvertent theme anyways?

Fancy dinner on some Sunday. It was great. I shall not talk about the accidental crunchy journey home because it’ll give you more fodder to poke at what might be my already hilarious life, but I’m still mentioning its existence because it makes me look mysterious even though what it should make me look like is gross.… read more

Quaffing

Bree Van de Kamp: 1997 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Ruppertsberger Gaisböhl “R” Riesling Auslese

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med+ gold, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, mineral, ripe citrus, lemon curd, marmalade, red apple, baked apple, apple pie, peaches, petrol, spice, honey, floral
Mouth: medium-dry, med+ body, med acid, med- alcohol, med+ length, pronounced intensity, ripe apple, honey, spice, minerality, earth, lemon, peach, dried apricot, slate, pastry
All in all: Very good quality: this unctuous Riesling Auslese achieves great balance with the body, intensity, sugar, and acid. Alcohol has just the slightest imbalance despite a mere 11.5% ABV and there could be a little more complexity. But the intense concentration of what flavours are there is impressive. Drink now, not suitable for ageing.

1997 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Ruppertsberger Gaisböhl "R" Riesling AusleseIt’s a Friday night. I’ve been home all day studying (and recovering from last night, for that matter) just to give myself an excuse to open something fantastic given I work through this fat stack of Champagne flash cards (which I did).… read more

Life · Tasting

I suck at wine: 2014 VIWF Blind Tasting Challenge

My 2014 Vancouver International Wine Festival activities begun on Wednesday! Insert majestic trumpet sounds here.

I was really scared for the Blind Tasting Challenge (at the Pacific Culinary Institute of Arts) on said morning . This mostly meant barely being able to keep my breakfast in my stomach, listening to Glee’s rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” on repeat for high energy (do you hate me yet?), and then thinking that coffee was a bad idea. A classmate saw me looking at the water as I was listening to music and taking refreshing winter breaths of Granville Island air – she was just as nervous as I, but another classmate told us we were more jittery and nervous than we needed to be.… read more

WSET Diploma

“Love Shack” – The B-52s: NV Dr. Loosen Sparkling Riesling

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med lemon-green, bubbles
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, rubber, petrol, mineral, citrus, stone fruit, peach, apricot, apple, apple skin
Mouth: off-dry, creamy mousse, med+ intensity, med body, med alcohol, med+ acid, citrus, rubber, mineral, apple skin, stone fruit, med length. stony finish
All in all: Good quality: the sweeter and simple ripe stone fruits are balanced well with the bright acid, bubble, and Riesling mineral tones. Average length. Drink now, not suitable for ageing.
Identity Guess:
Mid-priced Non-Vintage New World sparkling wine.
Is really:
Mid-priced Non-Vintage Deutscher Sekt from Germany.

NV Dr. Loosen Sparkling Riesling[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 2 – Week 4]

Disclaimer: I liked this. Bite me.

This was the third wine in our six-wine flight and it was obvious that the first two were a traditionally-made blanc de noirs and a traditionally-made blanc de blancs.… read more

WSET Diploma

2011 Max Müller I Sommeracher Katzenkopf Weissburgunder Spätlese Trocken Franken

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med lemon, legs
Nose: clean, med intensity, youthful, floral, citrus, mineral, apple pear, stone fruit, nectarine, custard, yoghurt, baking spice
Mouth: dry, med body, med acid, med alcohol, med+ flavour intensity, med+ length, creamy, floral, stone fruit, peach, ripe nectarine, baked toasty quality, green fruits, pear
All in all: Very good quality: complex and concentrated with a relatively long length. A great expression of the variety. Drink now, but has potential for short-term ageing.
Identity guess: High-priced (Trebbiano/Pinot Blanc/Viognier) from the Northern Rhône; 2 years old.
Is really: TBA-priced Pinot Blanc from Germany; 2 years old.

2011 Max Müller I Sommeracher Katzenkopf Weissburgunder Spätlese Trocken Franken

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 8]

A taste of this guy and I understood what Oz Clarke meant with his vivid description of Viognier:

“If you wanted serious, swooning wine, with texture as soft and thick as apricot juice, perfume as optimistic and uplifting as mayblossom, and a savoury sour creamy richness like a dollop of crème fraîche straight from the ladle of a smiling farmer’s wife – in other words, a wine which just oozed sex and sensuality – Condrieu, from the Viognier grape, was it.”

read more
WSET Diploma

2010 St Urbans-Hof Okfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett

Tasting Note:

(Apparently slightly corked. A little hard for me to pick up)

Eyes: clear, med lemon, legs
Nose: clean (but I guess not then), med intensity, youthful, citrus, mineral, lemon, lime, petrol
Mouth: medium-dry, med body, high acidity, low alcohol, med- length, high flavour intensity, citrus, mineral, lemon, lime
All in all: I had this as good quality, especially because of the great balance between sweetness and acidity, but apparently this was corked.

2010 St Urbans-Hof Okfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett

[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 7]

The first sniff by the instructor was followed by a warning – I thought it was just a false alarm, and I still couldn’t fully pick it up after the good-as-gone red light, but apparently this poor little German Riesling was slightly corked.… read more