Drink

A several hour meander, 7 kilometres and apparently 382 calories consumed. . . I spotted two dandelion seed heads and a pod of frolicking river dolphins.Stemploitation. A neologism I came across in this weekends AFR wine column. It seems to capture the mood and new found enthusiasm for stems and whole bunches. I'm mostly in favour but lately not so sure. For Shiraz it is fast becoming the Viognier of this decade - overused.Yves Cuilleron Saint Joseph L'Amarybelle 2009. (A half bottle. 13%. Previous note) I thought when I purchased this that I had tried a different vintage, or perhaps a different vineyard. It remains delicious and worthy - a hint of leather now, but still mostly white pepper and meat. Tobacco leaf and dried oregano in the mouth. Wilted leaves but no signs of fatigue or wear. It's dry and bright, savoury with just the right amount of muscle.http://wino-sapien.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/yves-cuilleron-saint-joseph-lamarybelle.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/WinoSapien Click here for the original context

As Chile's wine industry has matured, one of the most positive developments has been the willingness of producers to plant vineyards in cooler high-altitude and ocean-influenced regions of the country. These strategically located new plantings, along with generally increasing vine age, have been the main factors driving the relatively recent uptick in wine quality in Chile—especially for sauvignon blanc, which is enjoying great success in vineyards up and down the country. READ MORE »

Mortlach 1997 matured in bourbon wood, that’s pretty much the same recipe as the expensive Manager’s Choice released a couple of years ago. Mortlach 16 yo 1997 (51%, Liquid Treasures & The Whisky Agency2013, bourbon hogshead, 176 btl.) Nose: welcoming nose, on garden fruits (pear, apple, including its blossoms), rhubarb and vanilla. Develops on mineral notes and grasses. Also mint and buttercups. Mouth: similar development. Vanilla cake, fresh fruits but this time with a thick candy sugar / honey coating. Really sweet. White grapes, gooseberries, rhubarb jam again. Finish: only now do the oak and spices (ginger) come in play, but very lightly so. Also a youngish alcohol kick the end. No meaty or dirty aromas in this one, which is good news. Just a fresh whisky, youngish and sweet. Around € 75. Score: 83/100

If you’re unfamiliar with the SkinnyGirl phenomenon, either you don’t go down the booze aisle at your grocery store or you’re a dude. SkinnyGirl is one of the fastest-growing brands in the spirits (and wine) world, and its vast array of “low-cal” alcoholic beverages have ladies’ night positively abuzz. It was only a matter of time before SkinnyGirl hit the margarita world, and this pre-mixed margie is already drawing competition. One of those competitors is called SmarteRita. It may not roll off the tongue, but really we’re more concerned about how it fares going the other way. We put the two cocktails head to head to see how they shaped up. Both were tasted blind. Notes follow. SkinnyGirl Margarita - Slightly cloudy, barely hazy. Relatively harmless. Citrus-driven nose, with a touch of agave. Tart on the tongue, with lemon juice notes and kind of a cheap tequila kick on the end before it gets all watery. This is tolerable (to be charitable), but barely. 37.5 calories per 1.5 oz. C- / $16 / skinnygirlcocktails.com SmarteRita – Considerably murkier, hard to see through. Again, lemon on the nose, plus sweetness. Quite a bit sweeter than SkinnyGirl (thanks to sucrose). Not much agave character here, if any, giving this a feeling more like a mojito where someone forgot the mint. Again, tolerable, different than SkinnyGirl, but hardly a dazzler. 37 calories per 1.5 oz. C / $11 / smarterita.com

Post by Stefan Van Eycken, Tokyo The two new Mars releases we wrote about in our TIBS/Whisky Live 2013 report have now been released. Just to refresh your memory: there’s a 22yo and a 24yo, and both are vattings of 4 casks, but they’re very different, indeed. The Mars Komagatake 22yo is a vatting of two American White Oak casks (#1042 and #1039), an ex-sherry cask (#384) and a refill (ex-Scotch) cask (#481), bottled at 43% abv (750ml) and with an outturn of 1,359 bottles. This retails for around 9,000 yen. Then, there’s the 24yo – and that’s really special. During yearly routine checks of their mature stock, the whisky makers at Mars discovered a quartet of ex-bourbon casks that they really liked. On further inspection, it became clear that the level in each of the casks was very low and that a release as single cask(s) was out of the question. So, they put the contents of the 4 casks together and bottled them at vatting strength (58%abv, also 750ml). The outturn? A mere 120 bottles. It shouldn't be too hard to find the 22yo. To secure a bottle of the 24yo however, you may have to jump through a few hoops (no pun intended). It would surprise me if the few retailers who actually managed to get hold of a few bottles have the chance to put it on their shelves/online. But you never know… Read more about Hombo Mars Distillery here.

We followed the 2003, 2004 and 2005 releases keenly but this is the first release of Dalwhinnie Southwest Rocks Shiraz we seem to have seen since. I suspect it hasn’t been made/released every year. This wine includes 3 percent viognier.

It’s fermented wild and spends 36 months in oak, 36% of which is new. Paradigm Hill has become an elite performer over the past decade in spite of some difficult seasons.

Vouvray's Espace du Vin The tasting roomJean-Michel Pieaux, president of the Vouvray producers In early April Marie Thomas of the Syndicat des Producteurs de Vouvray kindly arranged a tasting of the 2011 Vouvrays at the appellation's Espace du Vin. The building that houses the Espace previously belonged to M. Musset, who was formerly president of the Vouvray Syndicat des Producteurs. Before we started the tasting we talked briefly about the 2012 vintage, especially the frost of April 16th/17th when Rochecorbon was more affected than further east in the appellation around Vernou and the valley of the Brenne. Catherine Dhoye-Deruet.2011 in Vouvray was a rather easier vintage than 2010 when rained arrive at the wrong time in late September/early October provoking rot and forcing the vignerons to pick very quickly. In the tasting there were 22 Vouvray secs, eight demi-sec and seven moelleux. The wines were tasted blind. Coup de Fougue, Florent Cosme in Noizay2011 secFavouritesCoup de Fougue, Florent Cosme Florent is the brother of Matthieu (Domaine de Beaumont) and has only recently set up his domaine in Noizay. Vibrantly citric, fresh style with good length. Cuvée de Silex, Domaine des Aubuisières, Bernard FouquetAttractive weight, texture and complexity with a touch of sweetness and then a typical hint of bitterness in the finish that is so characteristic of Chenin Blanc. Francis MabilleLean, austere style with very clean flavours - just a touch of sweetness mid-palate. Will be interesting to see how it ages. Also showed well:Domaine de Beaumont, Matthieu CosmeJean Michel Gautier Clos de NouysLe Peu Morier, Domaine Vincent CarêmeDenis BreussinVignoble BrisebarreDomaine de la Fontainerie, Catherine Droye-DeruetLe Clos de la Meslerie, Peter Hahn Les Jours Heureux, Alain Robert**Demi-secFavouritesLes Jours Heureux, Alain RobertClean, citric aromas, quite complex although will benefit from further time in bottle for all the elements to come together harmoniously. Cuvée Marcus, Clos de l'Epinay, Luc Dumange Cuvée Marcus, Clos de l'Epinay, Luc DumangeGood concentration and texture, quite a taut, austere style for a demi-sec but with good length and should age well. Also showed wellDomaine de la Rouletiere, Jean-Marc Gilet**Moelleux Cuvée Lubin Grand Liquoreux, La Croix des Vainqueurs, Laurent BonneauDiscreet aromas but rich, concentrated fruit on palate, complex flavours – honey and rich dried apricot, barley sugar and baked apple.Also showed wellLes Perruches, Domaine de la PoultiereCuvee Beauclair, Christian BlotSouvenirs d'Automme, Caves Cathelineau, Jean-Charles and Frédéric Cathelineau 0 0 1 372 2122 Jim's Loire 17 4 2490 14.0 544x376 Normal 0 false false false EN-GB JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";}

As it’s a Bank Holiday weekend, here is a tasty l [...]The post Saturday Snapshot – The Widow Hen from Wirra Wirra appeared first on The Wine Sleuth.

Get a Vip Tour Around the World’s Most Famous Film Festival Thanks to Chivas Regal 25’s The Legend Of Cannes Online Experience Chivas Regal 25 is giving people around the world a unique insider’s look at the Festival de Cannes with a new experiential website called The Legend of Cannes at www.chivas.com/cannes. The site takes users on a virtual VIP journey through the world’s most prestigious film festival and features an interactive panoramic photograph that spans the length of the city, capturing everything that makes the Festival de Cannes extraordinary and legendary. The Legend of Cannes is the first time people can take a first-person virtual VIP journey through the world’s most prestigious film festival – without having to travel to the South of France. The site features original panoramic photography, interactive hot-spots, HD video content, and over 100 behind the scenes images from some of the festival’s most high profile parties including The Great Gatsby film premiere party and the Variety Studio at Chivas House interview lounge. Visitors to the site will be able to scroll through the iconic panoramic photo which documents the Festival experience, finding out about the history of the legendary festival and getting a glimpse into the exclusive events happening at locations like the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez, the Palais des Festivals and Chivas House, Chivas Regal’s exclusive pop up location on the Croisette. “Chivas Regal 25 and the Festival de Cannes share a heritage of luxury and exclusivity,” said James Slack, Global Brand Director, Chivas Regal. “We wanted to capture the history of this iconic festival and the legendary Chivas Regal 25 experience that our guests have and bring it to life online.” The Legend of Cannes is both a tribute to the stories that make the Festival de Cannes one of the most enduring and iconic festivals and a chance for people around the world to experience these stories first-hand. Visit www.chivas.com/cannes to experience The Legend of Cannes with Chivas Regal 25. Notes About Chivas Regal Chivas Regal is now in its fifth year as official partner of the Festival de Cannes – the most exclusive and celebrated international film festival. Chivas Regal is a truly global brand, selling 4.8 million 9L cases annually in more than 150 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and Americas. The Chivas Regal range is the epitome of style, substance and exclusivity and includes Chivas Regal 12, 18 and 25 Year Old.