Local Crazies and Old Yellow Wine

Fun Stuff:

We have been getting to know our neighbors a bit lately. Like us, they like to sit on the porch and watch life go by while drinking a beverage.

They told us about the local "crazy" people. We use the term loosely here, as none of us have had a doctor examine the people in question. We have young crazy guy who carries a portable stereo and sings (to everyone presumably), crazy older guy who looks kinda like a mountain man or maybe he just has not seen a razor in ten years, crazy talking to herself lady who will surprise you during a run, and I am sure there are others we do not know about. That will change with time.

Gertie, by the way, tried to chase crazy older guy and one of the local villagers. Crazy older guy turned to face her, and she freaked out, while the local villager ran down the street with his young son freaking out. I pursued yelling "SHE IS NOT GROWLING, SHE IS JUST TRYING TO BREATHE!".

Wine Stuff:

Before I get into the wine I drank today, I want to introduce a wine that might not be very familiar to many. I have to talk about it because I recently learned how it is made, and the process stands out in a crowd.

There is a wine in France, from the Jura appellation, call Vin Jaune. The name translates to yellow wine, and it is typically made from the Savagnin grape. In recent years Jura has been producing Chardonnays made in similar fashion, but the Savagnin is somehow special.

In a nutshell:

• The grapes are picked when very ripe (as late as November)


• Fermentation is done in old oak casks and it take 6 YEARS and 3 MONTHS


• The wine undergoes slow fermentation wihtout topping off the cask


• Because the cask is not topped off, there is a large surface of yeast growth on the top of the wine protecting it from over-oxidation


• The process and flavor resembles sherry fino, and the wine is bottled in .62 l bottles. This is because, it is said, that for one liter of grape juice, only .62 l remain at the end of the process


• Vin Jaune, it is said, can be kept for 50 to 100 years (but not mine)


• This stuff tastes so good

So, I first learned about Jura when I was in Germany. I learned of a dessert wine that is also very interesting, but a story for another day.

I have never found Jura wines here in the U.S., though I am sure they exist. Please try to find one, and let me know what you think. Also, tell me where I can get more. I have only one bottle left from 1996 gifted to me by, obviously, a good friend in France.

On to what I drank today
I had another nice summer wine today from the finger lakes here in New York. It was a Seyval Blanc from the Glenora vineyard. I have to thank my new wine fridge for having the bottle ready for me at the right temperature. The nose is big and interesting, full of honey and a little apple. I doubt, however, that these notes would be evident if the bottle had come out of our normal refrigerator or if we had chilled it on ice. I recommend drinking at around 48 degrees F. The palette was first tart, then sour apple, then the medium length finish was granny smith apple. The advertised notes of vanilla and spice were almost undetectable to me.



happy drinking,
-PMo

Our Home and Not Wine

Fun Stuff:

In case you are wondering about our new home, here is a picture. We still consider Austin to be "home", so we are just renting for now. We are not renting this whole house though! We can barely afford to feed ourselves ;)



Claudia and I really like the place. The house is a 1920's Victorian with wood floors everywhere, a nice porch, spacious living dinning and bedrooms, a cute but tiny kitchen, small bathroom, and an extra room. Oh yeah, I should not forget the damp not-very-cool basement. No wine is going down there!

We are seven minutes walk to from the train station, and five minutes walk from main street. It's a great location.

Wine Stuff:

I do not only drink wine, though I get a lot of flack for being a beer hater. I am not actually a beer hater though... To me beer is like Modern art. I have a lot of respect for it, and can understand the statement the artist was trying to make when he painted the canvas solid white, but I am not going to buy it.

Actually I just do not like the taste of hops, and that is pretty much what beer is.

Which brings me to my point. I am currently drinking a Mike's Hard Crisp Apple, and on the bottle it reads "Flavored Beer" on the neck label, and "Malt Beverage" on the bottle label. Well, sure, beer is a malt beverage, but I am sure there is no hops in this stuff.

What is the world coming to when a label can be so misleading?!

Anyway, I drink Mike's various Hard Beverages, and so many other things it's not even funny.

Beer: a general name for alcoholic beverages made by fermenting a cereal (or mixture of cereals) flavored with hops

Malt: Malting is a process applied to cereal grains, in which the grains are made to germinate and then quickly dried before the plant develops

happy drinking,
-PMo

WOW! A Lot has Happened! The News and The First NY Wines

Fun Stuff:

Fun stuff might not be the right wording... A lot has happened since February. Of course, anyone might guess that "a lot" can happen in almost 4 months. Well I think I can trump the average story.

We were abruptly ripped from the comfortable womb of Grenoble, we moved back to Austin for a short time, long enough to get new embarassing clothing for Finn and Gertie, we bought a hybrid, we saw a beautiful midnight storm in El Paso from afar while visiting Claudia's family, we visited our nations capitol on the way to our new home, we moved into our new home in NY, and we bought something in which to keep all of our wine. In a nut shell.

BEAT THAT. (click on the picture to enlarge)



It has been a roller coaster ride until now, but we are settled into our new environment and it is growing on us. We have been into the big city a few times, and that is certainly a bonus. I think we can be happy here for a while.

Wine Stuff:

We were able to bring back a few more than ninety bottles of wine. We have wanted to get a wine fridge for a long time. So the wine import coupled with the desire to make it last urged the decision to finally get the fridge.

I will post images of our new digs soon, but suffice it to say, it is very "us". We are renting for now. We are not sure how long we will be here, and we need to determine where is the best place for us anyway. We live in Beacon now, and we like it. In fact, we grow more fond of it each day. We live within walking distance of Main street, food is good, and there are some good bars and coffee shops.

Some of our friends were the first to have a housewarming party, and on that ocassion, we were able to give some NY wine a try. The one wine I remember was actually owned by the NY winery, but produced in CA. It was a typical oaky chardonnay, that luckily had some fruit flavor behind the chunks of oak I was drinking. Actually not too bad if you are an oak lover. The same winery does a Burgundy style chard which should be much more subtle and interesting. I did not get to try this yet.

Tonight I am back to the old world. Italy to be specific. I just had a glass of 2005 Palagetto Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Vernaccia is the grape, and it is a wonderful summer wine. Light and tart with interesting undertones of nut. The finish is long with a surprise of grapfruit that shocks your tounge with its combination of tart and bitter.

San Gimignano is in the province of Siena in Tuscany. The vernaccia vines of San Gimignano are cultivated in their sandstone-based soil and the vines are likely unrelated to any other vernaccia. The wines from San Gimignano are DOCG status and there are references to vernaccia in the archives farther back than 700 years! This stuff is much more interesting than the common Trebbiano and Malvasia blends of Tuscany. Try to find some!

happy drinking,
-PMo