A Lake Placid weekend with the WAGs [1 Koku - 93]

This year's Indo-Malaysian ski outing was back to Lake Placid for a couple of days of pain and humiliation at Whiteface. You've not seen Olympic skiers from our countries, and myself and my two mates are Exhibits A-ZZ as to why. But, what we lack in snow-bound talent we make up for in enthusiasm and aprés-ski revelry. This time round, the ladies joined us, and we had the chance to share a few drinks with C. and a teammate from the U.S. Skeleton, Luge and Bobsledding team.


Night 1

Genbei san no onigoroshi by Yamamoto Honke. Onigoroshi means "demon slayer," and is a very dry style of sake. A strong nose, lots of bananas, along with nut oils and roasted malt. Simple palate, crisp, mineral, with a hint of rice sweetness. Nothing special here, but an ideal way to kick off any outing. [1 Koku - 94]

2005 Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Granite de Clisson. So elemental... mineral driven, chalk, rocks, sea spray, pretty acidity, superb.

2006 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Rotes Tor. White flowers and apples/pears on the nose. Full bodied, yet dry. The acidity was lacking though, which was rather a surprise, and rather dominates my recollection of this wine. I'm suspecting that this is shut down for now, and will give it a year or so before trying again.

2003 Azienda Agricola Stanislao Radikon Ribolla Gialla Venezia Giulia IGT. Cidery colour, oxidised nose, peaty, lots of apple skin, high toned. On the palate, very tannic, though with good acidity, mineral, sherried, nutty. For me, a thought-provoking wine. In a more formal setting, I would have liked to see how this opened, but this taste warrants a return. As it was, it was a polarising wine, with the WAGs uniformly unimpressed.


Night 2

2007 Caymus Conundrum. Blowsy and ponderous. I hesitate to say that this is ironically named.

2007 Quattro Mani Furlanski Tokaj [toh-kai] Exto Gredic. Clean, white flowers and citrus on the nose. Crisp, restrained, herbal, almonds, fresh. Not as much olive oil as when this was produced by Movia for Movia, but what a great buy.

2006 François Cazin (Le Petit Chambord) Cour-Cheverny Vendanges Manuelles. Fresh and lemony, lemon custard on the palate, good acidity, perhaps a bit masked by the custardy thing. My frame of reference is the 2002 Cuvee Renaissance, which was just much more fireworks than this, but I still rather enjoyed it.

2005 Domaine Joseph Roty Marsannay Rosé. A dark rosé, and really, this comes across as more of a light red wine than a typical rosé. Bone dry, yes, but rather hefty and tannic. I understand this is barrel aged, which no doubt contributes. Strawberry nose, and yes, nice tartness, but the body is such a presence... this is a rosé that really is neither here nor there, and for $27, not likely a repeater.

1994 Chateau Musar Rouge. Classic Musar nose, VA, roasted notes, some funk that blew off after about 4 hours, and lovely macerated strawberries, raspberries, and turbinado sugar, all around. More tannic than I expected, not as complex as other vintages, but still harmoniously balanced and very delicious, right now.

2001 Prunotto Barolo. Big tannins for the most part. No umami. Quiet in the acidity department. Ho hum.

2002 Poliziano "Le Stanze" IGT. Nose was all roasted brussel sprouts, with touches of peanut butter. Balanced, medium bodied, medium tannin, medium acidity... restrained fruit, I found this rather elegant. C. felt this wasn't showing brightly, but I enjoyed this quite a bit and much preferred it to the Prunotto


Sawanoi Junmai Daikarakuchi. Owaza Shuzo, Tokyo Prefecture. +12 SMV at 16% abv. Soft rice aromas. Dry, yet, surprisingly weighty, medium bodied, with a light sweetness. (We finished this bottle the next evening while sitting out in a snowbank as the snow fell, watching fireworks over the town, and snacking on the o's: Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos and Munchos. Followed by a raucous snow battle. Fandamntastic. This sake is excellent ice cold, with snowflakes in. Much leaner and crisper. They should add the snowflake recommendation to the label). [1 Koku - 93]

Qupe Syrah. I don't recall the vintage. Jammy/peppery but just a bit too much for me.....

2000 Abadia Retuerta Castilla y León Selección Especial. More caramel on the nose than in the past, on the palate this is quiet and restrained, with earth/minerality playing a much larger role than fruit. A pleasant wine.


Night 3

2007 Domaine d'Elise Petit Chablis. All rocks and lemons... tart, like a sour patch kid... wonderful, light aperitif wine.

2006 Stadlmann Rotgipfler Tagelsteiner. I wasn't all that thrilled with this. I think it suffered in following the laser sharp Domaine d'Elise, as this was decidedly more full-bodied and creamy. A lightly tropical nose, melony with some exoticism. On the palate, oily, bananas. There's a little bit of tartness and zest at the finish, even a bit of herbal/spice bite, but I found this a tad dull.

2000 Bodegas Uvaguilera Aguilera Ribera del Duero Palomero. Funky nose, restrained fruit, rather rounded, smooth tannins. A nice wine, but not worth 4x the Abadia Retuerta.

2007 Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block. I'll come right out and say that this is the first South African wine I've ever enjoyed. There. Cherries, blackberries, watermelon juice, a touch of herbs and lead on the nose. On the palate, medium bodied, smooth tannins, nice balance, velvety texture. Coffee, treacly, more cherry/blackberry, and a longish finish. A touch hot, a little heavier in weight than my sweet spot, but overall, I could drink this.