Tag: New Zealand

Pairings

Pairing Leche Flan and Spirits: On Desserts and Libations

Posted on by Josh

I’m tempted to say I’ve never been a huge dessert person, but almost every week in high school involved at least one large bubble tea, my cravings a pendulum swinging between green tea and mango – there may have been a taro phase. Bubble tea in hand along with cheap (and good!) sushi found at what seemed like every block in that Vancouver neighbourhood, and with homework tucked in our backpacks: a past vision of our version of the Central Perk couch from Friends. That one month we became obsessed with High School Musical, which started with a bootleg CD passed among the student body, was a good one.

My dad was always the one known for making and bringing Filipino leche flan to parties, but his version was always a little too rich for me.… read more

Life · Tasting · Travel

Flash Forward Two Vintages

Posted on by Josh

I’m doing my best to imagine – in a TV drama-like scenario – how viewers would try and piece together the events that happened if my last post was the season finale and this was the premiere of the next. Writing book summaries in grade school prepared me for this moment, y’all. Insert a moment to crack my knuckles and stretch my muscles here. Because my fingers typing up all these words is the only exercise my quarantined ass is getting up here on this day.

Anyways, a conscious decision to pause writing was all intentional rather than accidental – the last 2 years have been an exercise in focussing less on wine and more on other parts of myself: a deep-dive into all things queer, Filipino, gastronomic, and cultural, with some splashes of cocktails and wine in between.… read more

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

Life · Quaffing · Tasting

2016 was questionable, so here are 20 wines to pair with 2017

Posted on by Josh

I ended a past blog post – themed: a review of 2015 – with the words “Welcome, 2016. I will cut you.” Though I feel like I did personally make some substantial dents in this crunchy titanium can of a year, the general consensus seems to be that we created a blueprint for goodness, but then said blueprint was stolen, lit on fire, and then puréed with an unwashed beige-coloured towel embroidered with the words “~fUcK yOu~”, styled in Comic Sans MS.

I won’t fill this post with hopes for 2017 so that I don’t build myself a bigger bowl of disappointment, but instead will list wines that remind me of an upwards trend of hope, a vague connection to the vapid consolation of Pantone’s Color of the Year, a fresh and flora-driven yellow-green named “Greenery“.… read more

Life · Tasting

Vancouver International Wine Festival 2015: “All About Syrah”

Posted on by Josh

Legit tried to give my ticket away or sell it just hours before like a chump, because the previous day’s Australian Shiraz tasting made me seriously question what possessed me to buy a ticket to an event where I was subject to taste eleven more Syrah wines. No ma’am. I couldn’t even give my ticket away to someone for free, as he reluctantly looked at me as if I’d just knocked on his door and asked if his life had been saved by Syrah yet.

I thought it was a bad sign when some sort of false fire alarm went off right when the beginning of the event rolled around. As soon as I was going to test if the rhythm would match up with an Iggy Azalea song, the blaring Windows 98-like noises stopped.… read more

Life · WSET Diploma

WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 9: Workshop #2

Posted on by Josh

Okay, let’s be real here: it’s the holidays, and during the entirety of the WSET diploma, there was inevitably going to be at least one class that combined horribly with a hangover, and that day was today. I’m stubborn and quasi-meticulous: I’ve never missed a class nor have I ever not written about a wine we tried, but I just don’t have the willpower to give birth to separate posts this time around. Not that anyone’s really counting on me, anyways. Insert booing crowd here.

The last workshop we had consisted of one flight of three wines and some written practice. Today consisted of two flights of wine and no written practice (thank the gods), and we promised our instructor that we would practice on our own as if we were promising our parents to not have a house party while they were gone for a week.… read more

WSET Diploma

Mud House, in the middle of our street: Mud House 2010 Pinot Noir

Posted on by Josh

Mud House 2009 Pinot Noir[Tasted during WSET Diploma – Unit 3 – Week 4: Workshop]

The third wine in our flight of three was most certainly the ripest in its fruit and probably the most intense as well (though the instructor aptly reminded us that this isn’t necessarily an indicator of quality).

The fuller-bodied and ripe red fruit along with the fair amount of acidity shouted New Zealand to me, and the guess of Martinborough was something I sort of partially pulled from thin air. Apparently Martinborough Pinots tend to be the most Burgundian, tending towards spice and plummy fruit, while Marlborough is lighter and more cheery in its red fruit. Central Otago Pinot Noir expresses itself toward that darker end of the red fruit spectrum and usually has a bit of a green note which I’ve heard manifests itself in a sage-like aroma.… read more

Quaffing

Dido – “Thank You”: 2009 Kumeu River Village Chardonnay

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med lemon, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, developing, pear, citrus, white peach, melon, cream, lees, hint butter, hint oak, mineral, flint, nuttiness
Mouth: dry, med+ body, med+ acid, med alcohol, long finish, med+ (to pronounced) intensity, cream, butter, lees, pear, white peach, mineral, savoury, lemon, nuttiness
All in all: Good (to very good) quality: the developmental secondary characteristics are showing fantastically, with intense lees-y and buttery flavours coming through on both the nose and the palate. The wine retains structure and isn’t blousy, but could use a hint more concentration and complexity. Drink now, but suitable for short-term ageing.

2009 Kumeu River Village ChardonnayIt’s currently a cloudy Vancouver day. We’ve had the rounds – a cold and grey morning, mist here and there, some heavier rain in the afternoon, and the weather gods have decided to reign back on the rain (pun intended), so we’re back to a slightly muggy greyness.… read more

WSET Diploma

2011 Hunter’s Pinot Gris

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, pale lemon, legs
Nose: clean, med+ intensity, youthful, stone fruit, peach, apricot, floral, mineral, bit of spice
Mouth: dry, med body, med acid, med alcohol, med+ flavour intensity, med+ length, stone fruit, peach, apricot, floral
All in all: Good quality: a relatively long length follows good balance. Intense flavours, but a bit simple. Drink now; not suitable for ageing.
Identity Guess: Mid-priced (Riesling/Pinot Gris/Muscat/Gewurztraminer/Chenin Blanc); 2 years old.
Is really: Mid-priced Pinot Gris from Marlborough, New Zealand; 2 years old.

2011 Hunter's Pinot Gris[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 10]

Heh. This was the wine for which I had to read out my tasting notes. I’m getting better at confirming my notes and not being a nervous wreck when reading them out loud – and much to my surprise, it turns out that my set of notes was good and mostly true to the wine.… read more

WSET Diploma

2009 Cloudy Bay Chardonnay

Posted on by Josh

Tasting Note:

Eyes: clear, med lemon, legs
Nose: clean, med intensity, developing, oak, spice, butter, apple, pear, popcorn, melon, citrus
Mouth: dry, med+ body, med+ acid, med+ alcohol, med+ flavour intensity, butter, oak, nutty kernel, savoury
All in all: Very good quality: Well-concentrated fruit persists on the finish, and the acidity balances out the fuller body. The nose is a bit simple. Drink now, but has potential for short term ageing.
Identity Guess: High-priced (Chardonnay/Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc/Sauvignon Blanc Semillon Blend) from Sonoma, California; 2 years old.
Is really: High-priced Chardonnay from Marlborough, New Zealand; 4 years old.

2009 Cloudy Bay Chardonnay[Tasted during WSET Diploma class – Section 1 – Week 10]

Where Cabernet Sauvignon is the de facto red grape, I would argue that Chardonnay is the white version – grown everywhere, famously-known, and wrongly-hated.… read more