Barolo Brunello Barbaresco tasting

Before the shelter in place order took place, I attended a tasting event of beautiful Italian wines.

Ca'Rome Barolo Cerretta DOCG 2016
Barolo made with low yielding Nebbiolo grapes from a single vineyard.
Beautiful aromas of rose, red plum, raspberry, candied cherry, herbs and tobacco.
Elegant wine with high, powdery tannin.

Boscarelli Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Il Nocio DOCG 2016
100% Sangiovese.
Fresh red fruit, cherry blossoms, preserved plum and medicinal herbs.
Powdery tannin with refreshing acidity.

Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2015
Complex aromas of red fruits and savoriness of caramelized onion and smoked meat, which are backed by the firm structure.
It feels pure joy to drink this wine.

Bongiovanni
Langhe Arneis DOC 2019
Very aromatic white wine made with 100% Arneis grape, with aromas of fresh grapes, ripe grapefruit, pear and peach.
Refreshing, full-bodied wine.

Barolo Pernanno DOCG 2016
Exotic aromas of herbs and incense.
Gripping tannin was softened and became approachable when it was paired with cheese.
Good food wine.

Conterno Fantino
Barbera d'Alba Vignota DOC 2017/2018
Multi-vintage wine.
Deep sweet aromas of Amaretto and ripe red fruits.
Aroma and flavor of oak add depth to the wine.

Podei Luigi Einaudi
Barolo Cannubi DOCG 2016
Beautiful aromas of rose, chestnut and ripe red fruits
High, well-integrated tannin gives the strong backbone.
A wine with power and decency.

Barolo Bussia DOCG 2016
Complicated aromas of fresh and desiccated red fruits such as plum and cherry, quince and almond, which are balanced with lively acid and anchored by firm tannin.

Gaudio Bricco Mondalino Malvasia di Casorzo Dolce Stil Novo DOC 2018
Cute rosé wine with floral aromas, made with Malvasia Rossa.
It is sweet but not too sweet. Good to drink as an apéritif. 

They were all amazing wines.
Now I'm staying at home, remembering the wines, and thanking for the opportunity that I got to taste these wines before the corona pandemic forced all events to be cancelled.
Hope everything goes back to normal soon and we can go out and find those great wines.

 

Spending time at home

To fight against coronavirus pandemic, here in California Bay Area we are ordered to stay at home.
It is a drastic measure to close many businesses and hugely affected our life too, but if this works and we can contain this pandemic, it's worth it.

In a meanwhile, we decided to utilize this time at home and make preserved food.

First thing we made was Miso.
The timing worked for me because it is around this time I make Miso every year.

To crush soy beans, we used a food mill. It was fast and texture seemed smoother than soy beans crushed by hand or even by a food processor.
I'd like to find if it will taste different, but have to wait until autumn.

We also made jam with blackberries which I harvested (they were more like weed in the garden) and froze last year, and preserved lemon.

When the weather becomes better, we will do deep house cleaning.

It is fun to get creative and find something to do while we all have to stay home, but I really hope things will go back to normal soon.

L'Arack de Musar

Chateau Musar in Lebanon is known for producing great wines, but they also make Arak.
Arak is a grape-base distilled spirit with anise flavor from Eastern Mediterranean.

L'Arack de Musar

... Please excuse my cat.
Chateau Musar's L'Arack de Musar is distilled four times and it is distilled with anise seeds at the 4th time.

Distinct but not overwhelming aromas and flavor of anise seeds and underlaid dark chocolate.

Very smooth and clean mouthfeel.
It is not necessarily sweet, but its creamy texture gives the perception of subtle sweetness. 

It is a strong spirit and traditionally mixed with water to drink.
When water is added it becomes hazy with white color. 
This means that the Arak is made by distilling with real anise seeds, not by simply adding extracts to alcohol. 

We tried several ratio, and liked 1 : 3 ratio (Arac : water) with ice the best. 

Schioppettino di Cialla 2009

Ronchi di Chialla Schioppettino di Cialla 2009

Schioppettino is a deep-colored red grape from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy.

The variety was once on the verge of extinction.
It was a popular local grape until vineyards were hit by phylloxera louse then abandoned during the world wars. 
The grape was revived by the effort of Ronchi di Cialla winery in 1970s.


This wine has complex aromas of red rose, cedar, dried and fresh plum, cherry and cranberry.
Well integrated powdery tannin is balanced with dried fruit.
Finish is long and pleasant. 

The wine is good with food with strong saltiness or sourness.
We had this with grilled fish Japanese style. Good pairing.

Wrong about Bordeaux ?

When I started to drink wine more seriously, I didn't know where to start so followed the trend in the wine magazines.
The trend back then was big, rich, spicy red wine and Bordeaux wine was the most highly regarded wine at that time.

With these images paired with my lack of opportunity to taste Bordeaux wine, I had had the perception that red Bordeaux wine was big and masculine for long time.

Thankfully I have had opportunities to taste Bordeaux wine little by little, and found them not being something I had imagined. They were more elegant and feminine than big and masculine.

Maybe I had been wrong.

Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Tasting is the tasting event of Bordeaux 2017 vintage.
It was another opportunity for me to find what really Bordeaux wine would be like.

Chateau Citran Haut-Medoc 2017
Ripe red fruits balanced with freshness of tart fruit skin.
Coffee and incense give depth and exotic feel.
Tannin is high but easy to drink.
Haut-Medoc is the region which is lesser regarded comparing with other bigger names such as Pomerol or Margaux, but this wine was really good!

Château Gazin Pomerol 2017
Concentrated fresh rose, cherry and apricot are embraced by fine-grained tannin.
Beautiful aromas and texture.

Château Rouget Pomerol 2017
Lively aromas of fresh and ripe strawberry and red plum are supported by firm tannin. 

Bittersweet spice adds twist and dried flower gives elegant feel.

Château Gruaud Larose Saint-Julien 2017
Aromas of red fruits, dried orange peel, mint and spice. 

Tannin is beautifully integrated. Decent wine.

Château Léoville Barton Saint-Julien 2017
Concentrated red fruits, spice, coffee and meatiness which are balanced with fine-grained tannin. 

It is rich but so well balanced that it’s easy to drink.

Château Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes 2017
Fresh citrus, citrus peel and apricot. 

It is a sweet wine but not too sweet. 

This wine can be good as an aperitif.



Most of wines we tasted this day were more elegant than powerful.
JC said that they were classic examples of Bordeaux. 

I guess I had been wrong indeed. 

First tasting of the year

I wonder why things seem different at the beginning of the year. 

I know it's just number ... 2019 became 2020 ... but, somehow, it always feels special to attend the first tasting of the new year: everything, wine, glasses, even the faces I usually see at these events, is ... luminous.

This year, it was Burgundy and Rhone wine tasting. 

These are the wines which are especially luminous to me at this event.

Domaine Marc Roy Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes 2018

Liveliness of cranberry, raspberry, rose and black pepper is balanced with firm structure.
The liveliness is like a pleasant explosion in my mouth!
Great wine and great with Camembert cheese.

Domaine Marc Roy Gevrey-Chambertin La Justice 2018
Flavors of high quality cranberry, red plums and raspberry which are embraced by subtle oak and fine grained tannin.
Its creamy texture is like velvet.

Laurent Fayolle Hermitage Les Diognieres 2017

Abundance of aromas and flavors of flower, red fruits, potpourri and black pepper are supported by fine-grained tannin.
Elegant wine.

Joseph Colin Chevalier Montrachet Grand Cru 2018

Old vine Chardonnay grown on very steep slopes.
Complex aromas of almond, almond flower, marzipan, apple and orange zest.

Just enough amount of acidity, not overwhelming. 

Good food wine.

Joseph Colin Puligny Montrachet Le Trezin 2018
The vineyard is at the highest altitude in Puligny.
White flower, orange zest and lemon with high acidity.
There is tenderness which reminds me of natural wine. 

Charlene et Laurent Pinson Chablis 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre 2018
Freshness and bitterness of grapefruit is balanced with acidity.
Minerality of flint and stone adds depth.
Interesting wine with long finish.


When I think back all the wines after these tastings and choose the memorable ones, Chablis is usually not one of them.
I of course love Chablis but trying crisp Chablis with other wines, richer, more complex white wine is easier to pick. However, this day, this Chablis wine stood out.

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!