Tag: Semillon

Tasting

Swiping left and right on flavour profiles, 2017 edition

Posted on by Josh

Fourth year at the Wine Bloggers Conference and I still haven’t tapped out of the speed blogging portion, you guys! The chaos was unbeknownst to me during my first year in 2014 and I was confused why people chose to skip the session and eat fries at the neighbouring restaurant instead.

The rules to this WBC mainstay are simple: the wine representative has five minutes to pour you wine and talk about it. At the same time – and if you’re playing the game to its fullest – one takes notes, snaps photos, and maybe thinks of something witty about the wine to tweet in that moment. There are ten rounds in total. Speed dating! If this is Tinder for wines, is there a Grindr for wines?… read more

Tasting

Napa’s 2017

Posted on by Josh

Napa. Its seemingly daunting wine is made up of relatively simply shaped sub-regions. The clean-cut sixteen seem well-fit into a geographical puzzle compared to the overlapping Russian nesting doll appellations of every other region in California, and I am 100% here for that.

I finally ended last week’s mental tug-of-war on whether or not to attend the Wine Bloggers Conference in neighbouring Santa Rosa, and I’ve decided to go but with as much cost-cutting as possible. Though it was super fun, one of the most interesting sessions was the discussion on the recent wine country fires: the panel included George Rose, photographer; Patsy McGaughy, of Napa Valley Vintners; and Pierre Bierbent, winemaker of Signorello Estates.

The descriptions and statistics of the damage were heartbreaking, including 75,000 total acres burned and 652 homes lost. … read more

Life · Quaffing · Tasting

24 wines for turning 24

Posted on by Josh

This post serves two purposes: a sincere smile-and-nod to the 23rd year of my life, and a spring cleaning wine dump of, coincidentally, a number of bottles that equals the number of anniversaries since I was pushed out of my mother. Alas. The past prime number of a year has been good to me, and I’m stoked for the next. Beyond this whole becoming-an-adult thing, I’ve done many things including completing the WSET Diploma (i hate to keep mentioning about it – but perhaps the youngest in BC to do so!), changing jobs, travelling to New York, travelling to France, travelling to Spain, and other things that would probably be best not to put on the internet. Heh.

And home. Oh God – connecting to your roots and family – sometimes I dig myself way too deep into wine culture and its countries that I forget where I come from.… read more

Tasting

A bored ho tastes Bordeaux (2013)

Posted on by Josh

bordeaux2013

Bordeaux is in a bit of a tough spot at the moment – which isn’t saying much – but it’s far from being an underdog: Eric Asimov discusses this in a New York Times article in May 2010. The region in question once simultaneously exuded both normalcy and the unattainable; a seemingly conventional gateway wine to all other wines, yet having this aura of hubris and higher social status. But now that so many more wines are available, and with a new generation seeking wines that are anything but normal, it seems that less people are raising their hands for the classic French region. But I mean hey: people still whore out special bottles of Bordeaux for likes on Instagram, and a blog post on the mass-produced Mouton Cadet 2012, for some reason, is quite statistically popular.… read more

Life · Quaffing · Tasting

2015 ends and 2016 trends

Posted on by Josh

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

Tasting

Josh tastes 118 wines at Top Drop

Posted on by Josh

If there was one unforgettable takeaway uttered by a wine god during this year’s Wine Bloggers Conference, it was the keynote speaker Karen MacNeil (author of the Wine Bible) who opined – and I’m paraphrasing, here – that people should pay more attention to tasting the wines during such events. Of course, I was thrilled, because that gave me even more validation to ignore people. Ha! Key advice when the militant goal is to taste every wine during a well-curated tasting, but it’s harder than it sounds because I guess I like to wave and flail at people.

A regretful ode to the few tables I did not get to visit: Anthonij Rupert, Badia a Coltibuono, Elio Altare, Giusti, Latta, Montenidoli, Orofino, Scribe, Spottswoode Estate, and that miscellaneous Australia Table.… read more

Life · Tasting

Vancouver International Wine Festival 2015: “Decades Apart”

Posted on by Josh

I’m feeling inconveniently gross because I was supposed to study the rest of Australia last night, so it seemed like a good idea when my best friend posed the idea of doing some late night work together at a café. We drove around, and the few places we could think of were all full at 9PM on a Tuesday, so we thought we could grab a small bite at the Union before heading back out to scout a place to get some shit done.

It was not a small bite. We did not do work afterwards.

Long story short: it’s the day after. I’m tired and gross and for some reason I decided to wear this really thick button-up because I’ve been saving it for semi-relevant moments like these, and I’m thanking God that there isn’t a saccharine Chardonnay in the flight that raises my body temperature by a few degrees.… read more

WSET Diploma

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

Posted on by Josh

Château Coutet Sauternes-Barsac 2000[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

Butterscotch, pineapple, and toasted coconut: Château Carbonnieux Blanc Pessac-Léognan 2010

Posted on by Josh

Château Carbonnieux Blanc Pessac-Léognan 2010[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 3: Bordeaux]

White bordeaux lives in the shadow of its red parallels as well as its sweet counterparts: some consumers are unaware that Bordeaux even makes whites, which makes sense given the whole lucrative hubbub of the region for its reds. That being said, what’s in the market for whites can roughly be split into two camps: there are the more honeyed and oaked white Bordeaux where Sauvignon Blanc lays integrated within the tropical butterscotch, and then there are the modern blends dominated with Sauvignon Blanc which seem like responses to the popular gaudy styles from the new world. This wine lays deliciously in the former checkbox.

The wine is most definitely oaked, but without the buttery texture of a white Burgundy – it has upfront butterscotch and toasted coconut notes, but fruit is much more tropical and honeyed, and acidity is still on the high end.… read more

Quaffing

Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers: 2010 Kettle Valley Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med lemon, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, herbal, grassy, floral, ripe grapefruit, citrus rind, hint honey, hint butterscotch, nectarine, lemon
Mouth: dry, full body, med+ acid, med+ alcohol, long length, med+ to pronounced intensity, ripe grapefruit, nectarine, mineral, citrus, lemon, citrus rind, honey, savoury
All in all: Good (to very good) quality: the wine gains points for intensity in flavour and texture, while length is also a plus. The wine lacks a bit of alcoholic balance. Drink now, but has potential for short-term ageing.

2010 Kettle Valley Semillon Sauvignon BlancAn interesting day deserves interesting wine. Or does it, because it’s 10PM on a Saturday and all I want to do is be boring and sleep. I’m an exciting 22-year-old.

I had tried this exact wine for the first time just two days beforehand, and I remember it being fantastic.… read more