Wake up to this sunshine (funky but still, sunshine) in a glass

Oh shit I don’t even care too much what the grapes are (they are Mantonico, Guernaccia Bianca, Pecorelllo, Greco Bianco). Or where this is from (Calabria the arch and toe of the good ol’ boot of Italia). Or even year (2014).

What matters is you have some FUNK and GOLD dancing in your glass.

When you sip this your head should explode into the chorus from Groove is in the heart and you should start dancing. Deeeeeeee, deeelite! Anyone else?

Got this at originally at Covell.

2014 Chora Bianco IGP Calabria

It may not be for all. It is almost an orange wine. In terms of color.

Please excuse any grammar issues in this WSET style summation. I’m just gonna let it flow….

The eye: Deep clear gold. Medium slow tears.

Nose: Clean (yet oh so dirty meow), medium intensity, marmalade, meyer lemon, orange peel, developing.

Tongue: Dry, medium acid, medium alcohol ( crap it isn’t on the label?), medium body, medium plus intensity, flavors–fucking meyer lemon orange marmalade, funky (what is the tech term like soil)yeast (it is aged sur lies aka on the dead yeast), and a wee hint o lanolin

finish: medium plus it doesn’t evolve so much as you get a shadow of a taste that swells like a beautiful symphony. YAS

 

Just for eclipse fun

Okay so this came as a free sample with eclipse sunglasses that apparently I could have sold for the price of my…I don’t know…my Vitamix? Maybe.

And because because I doubted I’d be into boozing it up during the eclipse (the peak at 10:20am) so guess what?!! I opened it up the night before.

Apothic 2015 Dark

So here’s the deal: this is the dress I had in high school. I was goth. The dress was from a chain store but crushed velvet and fit my dark persona.

As it is with this wine. Apothic is a big brand. By dark.

I can’t fault the tasting notes. Pretty much all cocoa powder and blackberries and maybe cherry preserves. That’s it. Acid is low. Alcohol is way higher than it feels: 14%. Tannins…light plus and velvety.

But mostly this is that dress that suited your goth life on high school and might still if you safe a goth with a sweet tooth.

The chocolate notes are the most prominent.

Okay so fuck it let’s go wear goggles and stare at the grandeur of Madame Nature and her eclipse. 

And sip some cocoa wine. Why not?

Brouilly: the end

This is THE last! of the Beaujolais crus: Brouilly.

Before we drink just a wee reminder that the podcast is going strong. Get it on ye olde Apple Podcasts aka what podcasts on iTunes are now called. Or go on Stitcher or Youtube or just stream on the host site. Last week was some tasty aged Riesling so get into it!

Now. Let’s put Beaujolais to bed.

 I am into this producer. Pierre-Marie Chermette, to be specific. Or, well, ummmmm I was into their rosé as evidenced here. Then came this:

2014 Pierre-Marie Chermette Pierreux Brouilly

And I think I should be into this one. 
That is how it is here with this wine by Chermette. Love, love would watch/drink amillionandone times their stuff…but maybe not their Brouilly. I was just not on board. They were painstaking. The producers. Apparently they pruned and thinned to increase the ripeness. Yet to me this wine was still too green. Oof.

It needs time. Or maybe it was too old? Maybe the berries were fresher before? Everything in my soul said “this is appreciable wine” and yet I didn’t love. I’ll give you WSET stats and say IF you love a bright cab franc this may be your natural wine jam. Anyway WSET analysis:

Appearance: clear medium ruby with medium tears

Nose: clean, medium intensity. red berries, blueberries, greens. youthful.

Tongue: acid is medium plus, tannins medium minus, alcohol I’m guessing medium or minus like…12.5? Checking…13. Not close enough. I need blind tasting practice. Body is medium. Flavor intensity medium. Flavors? Raspberries, blueberries, green peppers, licorice or chervil. Finish? It goes on…for a medium amount of time. It is good quality. Balanced, lengthy enough, intense-ish, but not complex. It is good not exceptional while other examples of natural Brouilly I have had have been.

I am sorry but this is the end of the Beaujolais series. Unless I also cover Beaujois, Beaujolais-Villages and Beaujolais Nouveau. But for now I am Gamay-ed out. Well…we shall see. Because Gamay has a hold on my heart as does Pierre-Marie Chermette. Expect more from both!

Okay alllllmost there

Hey now, I know. You are still waiting for the end of the Beaujolais run but let us pause for ye olde cabernet sauvignon. Partly because I am twiddling my thumbs on editing my Brouilly entry and partly because Gallo sent me this delicious cab which I opened because A) I’m tired of gamay for two seconds and B) I made an ice cream calling for cabernet so I had to open it so here ya go:

2014 Louis M Martini Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

YAY okay metaphor: This is the older wiser friend you have supes ridic convo with but also although any other person their age would think you an idiot for saying “supes ridic convo” , this one did not and you had enough funtime that you could (half jokingly) say “supes ridic convo” and both of you are like whooaaaa we are such fun loving ironic idiots! Yet deep. Yet idiotic. But this wine is all that MINUS the idiotic part.

 

Also this wine makes amazing ice cream. Ice cream is for all ages. I’ll leave the recipe.

Okay stats, WSETs style:

Appearance: Clear (not that it was not opaque but it was not cloudy!) deep purple red, with medium slow tears.

Nose: clean, medium, youthful, with cedar, vanilla, blackberries and a whiff of tobacco smoke.

Onnnnn zee tongue!: dry, medium, acid I’d call medium if it were white but it is acidic as heck (pleasantly so) for a red, tannins are ever so slightly fresh and medium plus. Like the tannins could be better integrated or riper but they are not overly astringent. The alcohol, my guess is medium plus. My guess is 14.5…feeeeel my anxiety as I check to see if I am accurate…14.4% on the tech sheet they gave me yet 14.9% on the bottle so…I was right there!!! Score. This is a boozy bitch.

Body is medium plus. Like it feels like but the texture and strength of booze make it feel like more. Flavor intensity is medium. The medium flavors? They are blackberries, Black currant jam, red cherry, cedar, vanilla, nutmeg, yet more vanilla, and a whiff of tobacco smoke in the name of what comes from a clove cigarette winkwinkformergothlol.  The finish is…well hot. That is the high alcohol. It does not evolve but it does not fall off so I would say it lasts medium and it evolves over the lat medium minus. Which is still better than 90% of wines out there probably.

Okay if you see this wine don’t waste is on ice cream ORRRRR do! the ice cream was insanely great. Here is the recipe:

Ch0colate-Cabernet Ice Cream adapted from Vegan à la Mode by Hannah Kaminsky

• 1 3/4 almond milk
• 3/4 cup chocolate almond milk
• 1 Tbsp Arrowroot
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
• pinch salt
• 3 oz. chopped dark chocolate ( I used Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips)
• 3/4 cup cabernet sauvignon (she says “or any other fruity red wine” but I’d never say cab was generally fruity–I’d recommend a pinot noir, blaufrankisch or beaujolais instead)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine first six ingredients in medium saucepan. Whisk to combine then heat over medium, whisking frequently until it boils, then reduce heat to low, add chocolate until it dissolves. Take off heat and whisk in wine and vanilla. Cool completely before  processing in your ice cream maker per their directions.