Angel's Temptation

When I drink Japanese alcoholic beverages I usually choose sake.

While I enjoy sake most of the time, shochu, the distilled spirit from the southern part of Japan, can be a hit-and-miss drink for me in terms of my personal preference.

This shochu, a gift from a friend, was a big hit!

Tenshi no Yuwaku (meaning "Angel’s Temptation") is shochu from Kagoshima. 

It's made with sweet potato and aged for 8 years in barrel.

Texture is smooth and aftertaste is clean.
Richness and subtle sweetness of dried fruit, vanilla whipped cream and honeysuckle.

The flavor and depth reminds me of whisky, which I usually don’t expect from shochu.

If it's taste like whisky, then it should taste good as a highball, so JC made it.

We were right, it was good as a highball, too.

It was easy to drink, good with food and even with sweets, and still flavorful after the dilution with the club soda.

When we realized, half of the bottle was gone.

I'd never drunk a drink with 40% abv. at this speed. 

It is delicious and dangerous spirit!

Dom Perignon to end the year

You need bubblies to end the year properly.

There are many different sparkling wines, such as Prosecco, Cava, Cremant, etc., made with different methods and from international or local grapes.
They all give the festive feel and fresh and friendly characters: perfect drink to welcome the brand new year.

I enjoy all of them, but when I had a chance to attend a small tasting of  Dom Perignon at Leo's Oyster Bar in San Francisco, I felt, once again, that Champagne is in a class of their own.
Even the wines made with the same method and grape varieties, no other wines can recreate the Champagne's delicacy.

I tried Brut and Rose, both 2006 vintage.

The bubbles are crispy and delicate, creating velvet-like soft texture.
The bubbles and flavor stay long and pleasant in the mouth.
They show freshness and complexity at the same time, which makes this wine good by itself, also great with food.

Dom Perignon is one of the most famous Champagne brand.
It is always a vintage wine and it means that it is made only in good years and not in poor vintages.
This is not an easy task since Champagne's location is at the northern edge for the wine producing region. Although the cool temperature helps to retain high acidity, ripening of grapes can be challenging in some years.

Having a great wine made under this strict condition at the end of the year was a good idea.
It gave me an opportunity to stop, think and prepare to gather myself and jump into the new year!

Left-over yarn blanket project part 2

Last year I made a blanket with left over yarn.
It was a mere effort to decrease the stash of yarn but I really liked the blanket.
I still have a mountain of left-over yarn, so I decided to make another one.

This time I only used white and brown color yarns.
In the warp I used yarns which I spun when I just started to learn spinning.
These yarns are bumpy and somehow charming, and can be made only by beginners.
It is a kind of sad that I can't recreate this charming yarn anymore, but I at least can cherish them every time I use the blanket if I use them in this project.

Double weave just like the last one.
This method enables to make a blanket double the width of the loom.

The thick white yarn is the charming bumpy yarn

The result is ... I think it really looks good! I like it!

...and warm! (my cat agrees, I think)

Saint-Emilion 2016

There was a tasting event of Saint-Emilion 2016 (and some other) vintages in San Francisco.

Saint-Emilion is in the Right Bank of Bordeaux.
Soils in the Right Bank is more clay soil than in the Left Bank, and Merlot is the dominant grape, which is suited to the cool soil.

According to the Association de Grands Crus Classes de Saint-Emilion, 2016 had cool, wet spring and hot and dry summer.
Cool night-time temperatures around the harvest time helped grapes to retain freshness as they became fully ripe.

Here are some of the wines I liked.

Chateau Ripeau 2016
Chateau Ripeau is located near Chateau Cheval Blanc and close to the border with Pomerol.
Fruits are restrained but has beautiful expression.
Aromas of fruits, exotic incense and spices are supported by good amount of acid and tannin.
A wine with a sense of decency.

Chateau Jean Faure 2016
50% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot.
Smooth texture with high, fine-grained tannin.
Aromas are complex: floral and meaty at the same time.
2014 vintage had clean perfume of flower and fruit.
I really liked both of them.

Chateau Grand Pontet 2009
Chateau Grand Pontet is located in the western plateau of St-Emilion.
Rich aromas of ripe fruits, sugar-coated flowers and coffee, which are supported by well-integrated firm but tender tannin

Chateau Grand Corbin 2012
Chateau Grand Corbin is located on the northwestern part of the St-Emilion plateau.
Beautiful combination of concentrated red and black fruits and spice.
Powdery tannin and acid are well balanced.
Finish is long and pleasant.

Chateau Chauvin 2016
Chateau Chauvin has a long history in St-Emilion and had undergone restructuring of the viticultural and winemaking techniques under the new ownership since 2014.
Beautiful wine. It is strong yet delicate.

Overall impression of 2016 vintage was the wine with vibrant and charming flower and fruits with smooth tannin.
It is approachable now but with firm structure, these wines would be long-lived.

Red wines from Germany

Germany is famous for its white wine.
The cool climate of Germany is suited to the production of white wine with crisp acidity and fresh fruits characters. However, popularity of German red wine has been increasing.

There was a promotional tasting event and I got to taste two German red wines there.

Weingut Borell-Diehl Pfalz Pinot Noir 2017
Pinot Noir from Pfalz.
Pfaiz is located between the Rhine river and the Haardt mountain range. The mountains protect the area from the rain-bearing westerly winds therefore it is relatively warm and dry comparing with the other German wine regions. Red grape varieties can thrive in this climate and about one-third of wine produced in Pfalz is red.

Vibrant red cherry and cranberry stay long on the palate and finish cleanly.
Approachable, friendly wine.

Weingut Knauss La Boutanche Trollonger Wurttemberg 2018
Trollinger is a red grape variety originally from Italy, called Schiava there.
This bright ruby color wine is made with organic methods and low intervention.

The aromas and flavors of fresh flower, strawberry and thyme are balanced with sharp acid of cranberry.
The lightness of body supports the fresh characters.


Both of them are clean and fresh, and reasonably priced.
Worth a try! 

Domaine Dujac 2016

There are so many good and great wines from all over the world, not only from the old world but also from the new world.
I feel lucky every time I get to try these wines, but it is Burgundy I especially feel "this is wine".

Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanee 1er cru Les Beaux Monts 2016
Concentrated aromas and flavors of red and black cherry and plum, raspberry, cranberry, tea, red rose, dried lavender and spice characters from oak were embraced by high acidity and fine grained tannin.
First fresh red fruit gave a vibrant impression then richness of black fruits came in, after that fresh aromas of herb and exotic incense gradually appeared.

Wine like this reminds me that why I love Burgundy (even though I rarely have chance to drink them).

I saved some and tried again five days later.

It still was beautiful and oxidative characters of dried fruits added extra complexity.

Three wines of Rioja

We happened to have three red Rioja wines with different ageing requirement so did blind tasting to see if we could tell the difference.

Cune Rioja Crianza 2016
Crianza is aged for minimum 2 years with at least 1 year in oak.
Aromas of ripe strawberry, cherry, caramelized plum, fennel and coffee beans.
Tannin is high and ripe, and balanced with fruits.

Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2014
Reserva is aged for 3 years with minimum 1 year in oak.
Sour cherry, red cherry, hay. Fine-grained tannin is well integrated.
The wine was smooth and enjoyable.

Viña Real Rioja Gran Reserva 2011

Gran Reserva is aged for 5 years with minimum 2 years in oak and 2 years in bottle.
Red and black cherry, plum, salami, dark chocolate and coffee beans.
Texture is creamy.
The aromas showed complexity of fresh fruit, savoriness and oak.

It was hard ... I couldn't tell the difference. 
Judging from the length of ageing, I expected Crianza to be fresher and Gran Reserva would indicate fruit development.
However, Crianza displayed some fruit development and Gran Reserva still retained freshness. Interesting.

Then we compared these wines with seafood Paella.

Crianza was great with seafood. 
Chorizo and Reserva were good pairing. 
With Paella itself, Gran Reserva was the best.