Tag: Malvasia

Pairings

On Filipino Food and Wine Pairings: an Experiment

Posted on by Josh

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

Life · Tasting · Travel

On Tokyo, Central Italy, and Miss Vanjie

Posted on by Josh

I wish I could insert a montage of video clips here, combining all the clusterfucks and thrills of the past few months, but written description will have to do. Also, apologizing for a lack of posts is a tired cliché of the peak LiveJournal era, so I won’t do it. Oh, to be 13 again.

Imagine leading a tasting on Japanese whiskies – in Tokyo!

But also, imagine being so disorganized that you plan your Tokyo activities while waiting to board the plane, get lost from hopping on the wrong train from the airport, and have the police yell at your conference’s group in Japanese as we wrestled and tackled each other in Ginza. At some point in the week, you meet up with a Frenchman who tells you a story about the Japanese boyfriend that he keeps secret from his wife and kids, but is still lonely enough to crave your company: he doesn’t say it, but even as we overlook the city, he feels a claustrophobia about Tokyo that’s temporarily soothed by our sashimi and Bordeaux barrel-aged Japanese whisky.… read more

Tasting

Putting the Rain in Monterey’s Thermal Rainbow

Posted on by Josh

It’s a partial shame that I was in the USA for Canadian Thanksgiving and in Canada for American Thanksgiving. I didn’t get my fill of holiday food – and I’m not headed back to Canada for the big holiday extravaganza (much to the discontent of my colleagues and family) – so I’ll have to make do, and I’m not mad at that. Huzzah! Maybe my mind will change (it won’t), but nothing sounds better than eating take-out, drinking an entire bottle of Champagne, and binge-watching feel-good movies.

But yes, Canada: I’m perpetually unafraid of rocking my combination of short overalls and thick plaid jacket, but I was greeted with all of Vancouver’s rain: I realized my mistake during my ride-share to the San Francisco airport.… read more

Quaffing

On pairing wines with moods: Keber 2015 Bianco Collio

Posted on by Josh

I suppose pairing wine with a mood is sort of like pairing wine and food, where you can either complement the atmosphere, like a melty and indulgent oaked Viognier for a broken heart – or contrast – like a taut and high-acid sparkling Riesling to slap you in the face and tell you to get your shit together. There are classic pairings, though, like oysters and Muscadet, and pairings like Champagne and merriment weave together well enough that their sales correlate with the average American income in the following year; wines like vintage port seem fitting as a pensively cerebral way of celebrating a journey involving arduous efforts.

What a surprise, then, that this wine from northeast Italy was an unintentional complement to the previous night, providing cologne-like florals, gentle intrigue, but a nice level of restraint.… read more

Tasting

12 other white Italian grapes for when you’re over Pinot Grigio

Posted on by Josh

It’s clear that we’ve taken a departure from the experimental seminars of 2015’s Australia to the tacit themes of longevity and traditionalism of 2016’s theme of Italy for the Vancouver International Wine Festival. It’s expected that the colossal tasting room is skewed towards the stars of Tuscany, Piedmont, and Veneto, so this leaves the underdogs few and far between. There is not one Dolcetto (yeah I know: who cares) nor one pearl-clutching Franciacorta being poured during the whole festival, nor are there enough Montepulciano for me to make a terrible d’Ab(ruzzo) joke, so last year’s boner for Australian Touriga Nacional would have to be partially satiated by a seminar on all things white and distinctively not Pinot Grigio. I often find the whites of Italy frustratingly subtle – which probably says more about my taste above anything else – but this’ll be a nice opportunity to break things down past this pigeonhole.… read more

Quaffing

NV Finca del Rey Malvasia Moscato

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Notes:

Eyes: clear, med- lemon, pale rim
Nose: med intensity, youthful, canned stone fruit, hint of mango, floral
Mouth: dry, light to med- body, low acid, med- length, low to med- intensity, med- alcohol
All in all: Good quality; drink now.

Bought this after the 2013 Vancouver International Wine Festival on March 1st because I was getting a little tired of spitting things. I’ve seen this bottle for a while and its look has changed from a faux-classic cream-coloured label (with an indication of Malvasia Muscat, now to Malvasia Moscato. Hmm?) to something a little more plain and bold in a weird way. There’s something about the bottles that tell me what they’re like on the front side – that turn me off, but it’s not a bad marketing technique for the lower-priced bottles.… read more