in pursuit of the juiciest wine: day forty-five

Duck Exceptions

I’m officially no longer a vegetarian. I just didn’t have the cooking imagination for it, but I did stumble upon a few good meals.

I am now a pescetarian with duck exceptions. Tonight, I will be finishing off the last of the shrimp with garlic sauce and egg roll that I ordered last night.

While I eat that I will have Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 made with organic grapes. This wine also continues the Californian Cabernet Sauvignon mini tour as this wine is from Mendocino, California.

Organic foods tend to have more flavor than non-organic foods and whole lot less chemicals. Here’s hoping the same is true of organic grapes.

This wine has a tall meniscus above its dark ruby color. There’s pepper on the nose, caramel plums, and smoke.

It has a tart finish that gives me goose bumps. Or was it all of the alcohol?

The texture is kinda leathery. It tastes okay, but nothing stands out.

It’s normally $15, which is overpriced. I got it on sale for $9, which is okay, but it should probably be $8.

Still, I’ll give it 87 points. I have had 86 point wines, and this is better than 86.

It needs food to help the finish.

Will I get this again? No.//

in pursuit of the juiciest wine: day forty-four

I’m taking a break from designing the cover for Redactions: Poetry & Poetics issue 13 with the wonderful guest editor Sarah Freligh, author of Sort of Gone. She wrote baseball poems!

Tonight’s wine on the Californian Cabernet Sauvignon mini tour is Justin Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Paso Robles. I’ve had previous vintages of this vineyard, and it’s typically very good. Actually, what I usually have, and I just realized this while looking for images of the wine, is the Isosceles. Now, that is some good wine.

I just looked at this wine and wished I had a decanter. Sigh. I don’t have one, so I did something bizarre and hopefully smart. I poured the glass of wine into another glass and then back again. And I did that like 10 or 12 times to get some air in there quick so it would open. I seem to remember this wine needing some air. So I hope this worked.

Plus, by now, it’s been open for about 40 minutes.

It’s a very dark purple color. The meniscus is short. And it has legs that keep appearing from nowhere. So, yeah, it’s a cab with some alcohol. Yay.

That’s a big, earthy, dark nose. A nose of blackberries, vanilla, nutmeg, leather, and maybe some cherries.

My girlfriend gets Freesia on its nose. I don’t know what that smells like or looks like. Below are pictures of purple and white freesia, so try to imagine what that smells like.

Purple and white freesia

Oh, I smell it now?!

I like the juicy body. It seems a a hair too thin for a cab, but I’m cool with it.

On the palate, I definitely get plums. A bit juicy. There are some bing cherries and black berries  in the background. I think I pick up the freesia, too. And it comes with a peppery finish.

You know what? This would go good with brie cheese. For sure.

This a good Cabernet Sauvignon. I say approaching 89 points, and it’s getting better the longer it’s open, which is now one hour. So let’s say 89 points.

However, it’s over priced at the sale price of $20. It shouldn’t be over $15.//

in pursuit of the juiciest wine: day forty-three

So the other day I told you about the idea for an epic poem about the needle. Well, I wrote a three-page poem about the early days of the needle with a Cro-Magnon narrator, though it’s not a narrative poem. Here’s the first line:

Once I saw a spider weave a star

It's not a star. It's the Red Spider Planetary Nebula.

It seems like that line should have been written before. Anyway.

It’s an energetic poem. This poem truly is, as Philip Whalen says, a graph of the mind moving. It has leaps. Haiku leaps. It is jumping with sensation. Despite how much I like it, there is still more to write. But I think I’ll have to write number of poems. Each one will be a about the needle in a certain place in history or its use or whatever comes to me. Hopefully, it will be a surprise.

I still have a few minor revisions to do, and then I’ll it send off. In the meanwhile . . .

To the Californian Cabernet Sauvignon mini tour.

Hmm. It seems I’ve had this before on thirty-four. Let’s see if I get the same notes.

Today’s Californian Cabernet Sauvignon is the Rutherford Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Napa Valley. I’m assured this will be good. Just looking at the darkness of this wine, I can tell it will have a big body and will taste fine.

What a good nose. Big, deep, plummy earthy with a hint of vanilla. I’m getting psyched.

It’s got a good body that’s just about the right size for a Cabernet Sauvignon. It has slightly leathery texture, as well. You know what, I get pomegranates. Lovely pomegranates. And there might be some cinnamon, too.

Cherries and plums are on the finish.

Today, I really like this. Last time I was okay with it, though last time I got salty bacon on the nose.

I’ll give this at least 89 points. Is it 90? Ninety is special. You know what. It’s getting juicy, and I love juicy. So 90 points it is.

This is a fun wine. Yeah, I like this Rutherford Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2007.//

in pursuit of the juiciest wine: day forty-two

I’ve been distracted a bit because I was preparing for a fantasy football draft, which happened Sunday. I can’t really tell how I did, but because of the way the other teams drafted I found myself with a slew of running backs who are not in committees: Frank Gore, Cedric Benson, Pierre Thomas, LeSean McCoy, and Jerome Harrison. That’s a pretty good running back crew.

I could more into my draft, but I’m distracted again.

Bone Sewing Needle

I’ve been thinking about the invention of the sewing needle, or thread puller, as the most important invention in the history of humanity. I’m thinking an epic poem could be written about this and the events that followed, like clothes, rope, baskets, and a surgeons stitching of a wound, and probably a bunch more.

But now I need another distraction. The Californian Cabernet Sauvignon mini tour.

The other day I had McManis Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 from Ripon, CA. I liked it. I liked it much more because it was $9. I hope the same happens with this $9 bottle of Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Rapel Valley.

This one is 75% opaque, and already I’m getting bad vibes from it. It has a thin meniscus which is odd for such a young wine. The legs linger because of the 14.1% alcohol. The nose is kinda ordinary. It’s not exciting me. I get caramel, plums, cinnamon, and figs. My girlfriend gets a vegetable, like a cooked parsnip. I don’t know what that smells like, so I’ll trust her.

Hey that’s not bad. It’s a bit thin, as was expected. But it was pleasant in the mouth with it’s earthiness and hints of plums and cherries. Not much else going on.

There’s a slight tart finish, but it’s more warm like alcohol.

A little bit after the finish I can taste those parsnips.

This wine isn’t great, but it’s ok. I’ll give it 87 points I suppose. It gets better with more air, too.//