The Frugal Oenologist

Friday, February 25, 2011

Misterio Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Another entry level wine from Argentina's Finca Flichman, a famous winery now owned by a Portuguese combine. Allowed at least an hour to breathe, this is a hearty red with good plum and dark berry flavors, pronounced tannins and a somewhat acerbic finish, not quite bitter but almost. $6.99.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Martinborough Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Neither of us much liked this New Zealand white. It's completely atypical for a Sauvignon Blanc, going in the direction of a Chardonnay, with overtones of passion fruit and none of the newly mown grass zing one expects from the region. At $12.99, badly ovedrpriced.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Placido Chianti 2008

This is an uncomplicated, somewhat fruity Italian, with dark cherry predominating and some acidity at the finish. Run of the mill but drinkable. $6.99.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Jean-Luc Colombo Les Abeilles 2008

This white Cotes du Rhone is reserved, almost to the point of being austere. It's only after a period of warming in the glass that any fruit flavors manifest themselves, and the finish is curious, I was reminded of artichoke. $10.99, way overpriced, available for three dollars less in N.Y.

Codorniu Brut

As we had a reason to celebrate, we opened this Spanish non vintage cava last night. It rewarded us with a generous mousse and a nice, almost buttery apple flavor. Not exactly a brut, but eminently drinkable. $9.99, about average for the region.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Paso a Paso Tempranillo 2009

A nice Spanish red from La Mancha, which is aged in oak for six months. After due airing, it opens up nicely with dark cherry flavors along with a slightly honeyed character. A simple but good country wine which, at $9.99, is however badly overpriced. Can be bought for as much as three dollars less elsewhere.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Ombu Chardonnay 2009

This unoaked, heavily fruited Chardonnay from Argentina's Mendoza Valley resembles a California wine and accordingly will please those who like that sort of thing. It's certainly not bad, but too simplistic for our taste. $8.99.

Some Personal Notes...

I was born and grew up in Belgium. There, as in all of the francophone world, children, as soon as they were old enough to sit up at table to have their dinners (usually at midday) with the adults, were allowed a glass of wine. The thought behind this was that they should enter their turbulent teens already accustomed to alcohol and not treat it as yet another exciting discovery, to be abused with the ungovernable energy that the hormonal storms of those years produce. By and large, this premise was a sound one. The level of alcoholism in the French-speaking countries tends to be well below that of the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian ones, never mind the United States. To be sure, this datum can be challenged on a matter of definition: while there may be fewer binge drinkers who get raging drunk whenever they have access to alcohol, a goodly proportion of the working class, which habitually has a glass or two of wine with breakfast, is working on a mild buzz throughout the day. Still, the results are less deletirious: they function. At one point a Prime Minister of France, appropriately named Mendes-France, himself an anti alcohol crusader, launched an initiative to persuade the French to throw away their wine and drink milk instead. Needless to say, the project was still-born. The French consume as much wine as ever. The point I'm trying to make is that it seems to me that it is eminently possible to go through life enjoying one's wine without being seriously impaired in one's judgement or one's work level. In the old days in Europe one had the main meal of the day at noon, invariably following that up with a nap, so that when one returned to work one's mind was again clear. Nowadays dinner tends to be taken in the evenings, which means that one isn't really fit to do much serious work afterward, but I would argue, pace all you workoholics, that one's evenings should be devoted to less demanding and more congenial activities. I have enjoyed my evening wine throughout a long life, I've drunk some very good bottles and remember them fondly, and I would urge you to do the same.S