Since I moved up to Canada I've tasted a lot of new wines and cheeses and alas, have neglected to keep up with taking notes so I know where I've been. Also hopefully this will make Yasha join in the note taking. Feel free to post comments or questions or keep track of your own tasting notes here. (Wine, cheese, or whatever else so long as it isn't IFD only. )

11/7/2007
WINE
Cookoothama 2006 Pinot Noir, Nugan Estate - Bright clear red, light nose, you've got to get up and close to it. Tastes like dusty fruit. I think it's milder than most of the PN I've tried, which isn't much. Not bad at all, and it goes incredibly well with the Sardo cheese.
MASI Modello Delle Venezie 2005 -  Deep red, intense berry scent, slightly creamy. The flavor is again strongly berry, blackberries and cherries with a smoky finish. No wonder Yasha screams MASI some much.


Cheesu!
Pastorella - Creamy pale, moderately solid, with a few small holes. Smells very much like pecorino, and tastes rather like a creamier, softer version of it. Very nutty, almost to an extreme, too large a hunk of the cheese and it becomes bitter.
Sardo Fiore - White, fairly hard and absurdly crumbly and dry. There's a strangely flowery scent to it that comes through in the taste. Far less salty than you'd expect. Fragrant aftertaste, which is good because it was the priciest of the batch. The wine makes it bacony.
Raclette - Hard but pliable, a slightly darker cream color, like buttermilk. The smell is pungent if you get too close, but the taste is fairly mild, creamier than you'd expect from the color. Exhaling makes it taste nuttier, and letting it melt is more yogurty, a tart cream.
Bel Paese - UNF. Pale creamy, soft but holds its shape. Carefully takes your hand and leads you into the bedroom and slides its tongue over yo-...okay well maybe not but fuck. There's really no scent but it tastes like a richer, creamier mozzarella. Doesn't linger long in your mouth, not too strong, but enough flavor to handle the olive cheddar loaf. I don't even need to remember this one by writing it down.
Five Countries Saxonish Cheddar - Managed to taste before Yasha came all over it. Soft solid, more orange than Juri's pubic hair. Creamy texture and tastes flowery and strangely of berries.

Sweet Grass Dairy Green Hill (Georgia) - Texture and style of brie, with an intense nutty flavor and, this is amazing, a palatable rind, which adds to the nuttiness without even a hint of bitter moldy taste. There are ghosts of an intense, irony meatiness, but first and last you're struck with the butter texture and bright nutty, walnut and hazelnut and almond notes. Fantastic.

11/12/2007

Tsantali Nemea 1997 (Greek varietal called Agiorgitiko) - Translucent with an unusual rusty brown tinge. Stings the nose a little, sweet vinegary, almost a little like chlorine, actually. Sounds unpleasant but it's actually not, it's refreshing in the same way retsina is. The taste is distinctly herbal, with a slight taste of fresh woods, pine or cedar. A bit of tartness. It's surprisingly light given how fragrant it is.

Jackson Triggs Shiraz (ROFLCOPTER CANADIAN WINE) - Dirty scent for a shiraz, with a heavy whiff of bell peppers that intensifies over time and exposure to air. The taste is also peppery, woody, and there's a hint of smoke or wood.

11/20/2007

Hardys 2005 Shiraz - Smells like bell peppers rolled in DIRT. But the taste isn't nearly as dirty, it's spicy, with a little leather. Takes a few sips before the plum comes out, although it does. Not bad at all. Then Yasha sprayed her rose cologne everywhere. Bitch.
Harslevelu Tokaji Muscat 2003 - Pale golden color, with a sharp, almost offputtingly acidic nose. Almost like berries that have started to turn. Taste however quickly becomes rich, grapey and fresh. Very unusual. A semi-sweet, but far dryer than that description would indicate. Definitely something to experiment with on the more expensive scales.

11/27/2007

Barefoot Cab Sauv, California - Who said cheap wine has to be bad? Fresh berries, strawberries and sugar and just a slight scent of..apple? Taste is medium-bodied, a slight dustiness in place of the sugar, and the berries have a slight peppery taste. I really need to try fruit cooked with peppers some time, it seems to work well in wine...

11/30/2007

Angove's Nine Vines 2006 Grenache Shiraz Rose (!!) - Looks like liquified rubies. Smells like raspberries, sharp, with very little sweetness. Refreshing taste, you can really taste where the grenache comes in, the usually dark fruits get lightened to watermelon. Bites the back of the tongue, and it really quite far from anything like sweet. BY THE WAY, sipping this after sipping hot chocolate = strawberry smoothie.

12/3/2007
Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz 2005 - Deep red and opaque with a rich, earthy raspberry nose with hints of chocolate. Thick flavor, soil and berries and smoke, and again with the chocolate. First sip widens the jaw, like an overload, and I swear there's a hint of...curry. Very dynamic.

12/9/2007
Queen of Hearts Cab Sauv, California 2002 - A deep red, tinted with rusty brown. Heady, peppery nose, jalepeno and bell peppers and black pepper with a strange creaminess. Taste comes through on the nose to a T, rich and dominating. Second whiff uh...seafood? Sediment heavy, though, and tooth staining. One of those I should watch out for.

12/15/2007
Osborne Solaz 2004 Shiraz Tempranillo - Peppery and slightly floral nose, with a hint of cream that comes through in the taste. There's something mealy about it though it's not the usual excessively big red either.

12/22/07
Jacob's Creek 2006 Shiraz Rose - Smells of strawberries, pale pink. The flavor is thankfully unsweet, with the strawberry overtones and a hint of lychee and maybe a tiny bit of apple.

1/6/08
Cantina di Negrar Bardolino Classico 2005
Bright red, clear. Heavy nose, thick and earthy and somewhat deceptive. The taste has a bit of that earth to it, but it's fairly bright and fruity, and it feels wet. Also on second whiff I smelled....rice krispies. This may be a craving.

1/29/08
Penfolds Rawson's Retreat Shiraz Cabernet vintage 2005
Creamy and spicy nose, follows through on the taste, cream and...saffron. I keep thinking of Middle-eastern food in the taste. There's a hint of pomegranate but overall it's not a fruity wine.

2/2/08
The 7 Deadly Zins, 2005, Cali
Holy fucking smoke. Seriously, smells like mesquite beef jerky, absolutely incredible. Slight scent of deep deep plum, but really the BBQ smoke reigns here, even in the taste. This is a serious meat wine. I should get more while it's on sale. A+++ would masturbate to again

2/6/08
Los Vascos Cab Sauv 2005, Colchagua (Chile)
Rusty ruby, with a dusty pepper nose with a meatiness that smells like a broiled steak. The beef especially comes through in the taste, bell peppers show as the glass sits. Always a winner.

2/8/08
Black Swan Shiraz 2006 (Aussie)
There's a heavy dust and chocolate nose with hints of berries, and a slight bitterness. (It is cheapo) The taste is gritty, rough and somewhat heavy on the tannin. Not the best bottle I've ever had but my mother said it was like six dollars, which is acceptable.

2/16/08
Tamas Estates California Barbera 2003 (80% Barbera 20% Merlot)
Fucking ace for 5bux. (On sale.) A sharper, gritty nose of dark cherries. Lots of berries on the taste but darker, almost overripe ones. Dry and I suspect heavy on the sediment. An Italian varietal grown in California is an interesting idea, the California tones down the usual brutal dust and dirt and brings out lighter fruits. I need to try more barbera.

2/17/08
Montecillo Crianza 2003 (rioja, spain)
Paler, rusty red. A rusty scent as well, with a tinge of alcohol catching the back of your nose. The scent is perfumey, flowers and berries and smoke. However it's initially light on the tongue before blooming into a subtle smoky meat and brighter citrusy notes, which make an interesting contrast to the rich soil taste. Good stuff.

2/29/08
Teusner Barossa Valley Joshua 06 (65% grenache, 25% mataro (mouvedre), 10% shiraz)
Remember mouvedre from that awesome bottle in the back angelic and ali sent? IT RETURNS! Deep garnet red, with a distinctly flowery aroma, filling the back of your nose, like you're around too many of them. Sour cherries also in the scent, and they come through hard in the taste. Fucking win.

3/2/08
Equis Vino de la Tierra de Castilla 2004 Spain (duh) (Bobal, Merlot, Garnacha, Syrah and Tempranillo)
A blend, with a heavy, even dirty nose. Deep, opaque red. Musky even, with a hint of berries but a warning of roughness. The taste is similarly rough, even texturally, on the tongue, but a richness that just...dunno. Tastes like the color. Quite good, wanting to see how it airs out.

3/7/08
Manyana Tempranillo 2005 (spain)
Spicy nose with a hint of sweet, but rolls smooth onto the tongue before becoming a fairly light, spicy but predominantly fruity wine with a hint of hard candy. It swallows rougher than it lands though. For the price, great stuff. But it was very cheap.

3/14/08
Boarding Pass Shiraz 05 (aussie duh)
Awesome label. More awesome booze. Deep purple, with a strangely soaplike nose, but the taste is of berries spiced to high heaven with cardamom and cinnamon and ginger. Rich and intense without relying on roughness. Great stuff. I wish I had blown the guy that suggested it.

4/21/08
Trumpeter Malbec 2005 (Argentina)
The peppers I've come to expect from SA. I smell rosemary and bay leaves. Gorgeous dusty flavor, but deceptively light and spicy. A unique bottle for 10bux, but I get the feeling it won't age well after opened.

4/26/08 CHEESU! Montgomery's Cheddar, England. Pale and very crumbly. Waxlike, and not nearly as sharp as some cheddars I've had, but the nutty richness of it, well...explains the price. This stuff was stellar and I'm glad I nagged the store to cut a smaller, not 18 dollar chunk off for me. It melts beautifully, but is so good on its own that'd feel like blasphemy.

The Italian goat cheese with truffle flecks that I'll try to read the label of. White and creamy, the packaging is sopping wet and this stuff spreads like cream cheese. The smell is fairly pungent, just on the end of what I'd live with, but the flavor is of sharp milk and naturally, truffles. Rich and creamy, and the taste isn't remotely like the scent.

Reypenaer V.S.O.P. aged gouda, Netherlands. FUCKING UNF. The cheddar I expected to love, but this was a surprise. Pale gold, also fairly crumbly, it melts in your mouth and it creamy and...flowery. (The aging left little crystallized chunks of sex too) I keep thinking of dandelion greens and walnuts and I'm quite sure this stuff needs to be on a salad. Compared to the cheddar and the goat cheese, this was obscenely cheap, so it stands out as the price-yum winner.

WINE! Though the Hazy Blur Baroota shiraz I tried at the tasting last night was one of the best things I've ever had in my mouth (leather, tar, smoke...felt like I was eating Sherlock Holmes' study), the 40bux put it a little out of range after all that cheese. The other big winner was:

Trevor Jones "Jonesy" NV Old Tawny, Australia
Ports, like every other sweet wine, are by and large expensive as balls and way outside of my casual tasting budget. This stuff was thirteen dollars, and the hit of the tasting because no one could explain why it wasn't 40 dollars or more. Thick and brown (brown? a port?), it tastes like...raisins. I keep thinking of panettone. Absolutely sexy.

Penfold's St Henri Vintage 2002 shiraz holy shit fap
Brilliant blood red, on immediate opening a sour, almost rotted cherry note with deep acidic wood. The taste is dusty, meaty, with the fruits taking a backseat. This is definitely needing some air. One Starcraft campaign later! The cherries and dust have really opened up into something fresh that falls on the tongue and saves the kick for after you swallow. There's a slight, very slight sweetness compared to other shiraz I've had, but it only serves to bring out more subtle peppery, almost clovey notes. Fantastic.

5/9/08
Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin, Vintage 06
Rich garnet with a slightly ripe nose, plummy, while managing to also remind me of vinegar and garlic. The savory food theme is shared with old 'old vine zins' I've had, the flavor is dense, meaty, although this one's less focused on beef than on pork. I'm getting BBQ ribs, peppery thing. Very decent for 8bux.

6/18/08
Canaletto Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 05
Dirty, like I expect and want from my Italian reds. A surprising bite, even acidity for such a brutally thick red.

7/18/08
Masi Tupungato Passo Doble 2006 Malbec, Corvina
Smells like a stinky cheese and chocolate. Bizarre. After a few moments the stinky cheese is replaced by a slightly fishy scent with citrus blossoms. Actually reminds me of a flower from my childhood I can't recall the name of right now to same my life (gardenias, I called my mother). There's a cutting acidic taste, and a rich earthiness that stems from the cheese aroma. It's chewy, rustic, but very dynamic also, with hints of orange blossom and chocolate. Definitely one of the more unique wines I've had, it's great.

8/21/08 Bouchard Aine & Fils Beaujolais 2006
Light and refreshing, with more floral hints than fruity ones, although there are definite strawberry notes.

10/3/08 Medievo Reserva 98 Tempranillo/Grenache
Silky is the only way to describe this. It glides down the back of your throat, soft and smooth, the flavor blossoming after the fact into creamy berries, almost to where you'd describe it as sweet. A little light for my usual tastes but just the thing for me right now.

1/18/09 Barnwood Long Shadow 2004 Petite Sirah Santa Barbara County
Rusty and very dark, with an almost dusty nose backed up by a taste of dusty smooth tart berries. It hits the tongue easily before the berries mellow away into that old taste. Not a bad thing. I expect the berries to come out stronger after decanting. Not bad for a grape I haven't frequented much.

2/14/09 Portal Del Alto Reserve Cab Sauv 2005 (Chile)
A tight, almost creamy nose with hints of pepper and a note of sweetness, akin to caramelized onions. Earthy taste, with a texture to match, and the slight pepper that will likely come out with decanting. The onion definitely present on the tongue, like bottled french onion soup. Win.

Last edited by Giovanna (03-02-2008 09:14:57 PM)