Red Bordeaux a no-no

Posted by Us on February 12, 2010

Red Bordeaux (or shall We be fancy Français about it and say Bordeaux Rouge) is the topic of our upcoming Swirl Smell Slurp Sunday Salon. This time around We’re asking our guests to bring a bottle of the Frenchy stuff, keeping the cost at $20 or under. (We provide everything else: meet-and-greet bubbly to start the afternoon off right, glassware, informative notes, a tasting notebook, and light snacks.)

It occurred to Us that We should try and find and drink a few Bordeaux before next weekend’s Salon, to whet our palate… and also to make sure that finding one under twenty bucks that doesn’t suck is possible. Turns out We had found one already. The blog is becoming a great reference for Us to keep track of what We tasted when and what We thought about it. (Beats all those misc. notebooks, cocktail napkins, and back of receipt reviews We used to try to keep track of.). Clicking the Bordeaux Reds category under Tasted brings up a very favorable review of an $8.99 Bordeaux We bought at our local corner liquor store. Oh, how we love Big Mac’s.

While we encourage our guests to go to their local, independent wine shop to buy wine, We found that a few of our guests at the last Salon were intimidated by wine shops. “No, no,” We told them, but the snobby reputation of wine, is just that, a reputation. But it is tough for some people to brush aside this perception. We’re doing our part to persuade such folks that this is simply not so. And if they encounter such a place, hell yeah, never go back and tell all your friends to do the same.

If there is not a local wine shop in our fellow Salon-er’s neighborhood or they simple decide to buy their wine the last minute, We recommend these shops that are on the way to SSS headquarters (depending on what direction they’re coming from) to purchase the day’s theme wine: DomaineLA, Silverlake Wine, City Sip, Palate, and Rosso Wine Shop. And if wine shops are really just not their thing, well, there is always Big Mac’s.

The place We do not reccommend our friends stop at before the upcoming Salon to pick-up a red Bordeaux is our neighborhood Gelson’s. Here’s why: they only have one Bordeaux under $20 and it is very meh. Our review:

Montagne Saint-Emilion, Château Forlouis, 2006 (François Janouerx, $15.99)

She said: Deep garnet in color, cloudy/muddy/opaque. In the nose are barnyard and dirt aromas with a background of plums and misc. red fruit. Very sharp in the mouth. Tannins are ripe and very vocal: there is very little fruit or any other flavors to distinguish. Finish is sour. The wine may benefit from some oxidation. Tasted it immediately after popping the cork and an hour later, but there was little change. Perhaps leaving it open overnight (tomorrow’s breakfast wine?) will help dissipate the harshness. Would not consider the wine a bargain, even priced at $15.99, because it lacks fruit and balance.

He said: Well, actually He took a quick sip and said: “Gross.” And then He went back to His architecting. He’s too busy to write a real review, but the drawings He’s working on sure look good. She guesses His rating would be the same as Her’s (if He knows what’s good for Him).

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Big Mac’s Mondays: Bordeaux a go-go

Posted by Us on January 12, 2010

Alright, it’s Tuesday. We bought a bottle from Big Mac’s yesterday with the intention of popping it open and taking some notes. But then the neighbor came down with a bottle of Hendricks gin. We’re not just wine lovers, we like spirits too and couldn’t resist a couple of g&t’s. So we pulled the cork tonight on an inexpensive Bordeaux.

By way of background, four or five times a week we find ourselves at Big Mac’s, our neighborhood liquor store on Sunset Blvd. We’re not always shopping for wine ($14.99 for a big bottle of Skyy, oh my), but on Monday’s we make a point of it. The store fits the bill for our quest to learn about and taste accessible wine. (We’ve said this before, but it’s worth restating: we’re also regulars at the many local wine shops in our neighborhood–and you should be too.)

We always keep price in mind when we pick out a bottle and this week we also decided to choose a Bordeaux, the area we are reading about in Zraly’s excellent book for beginners like Him: Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 2009 Edition.

As usual, we follow a basic tasting method: swirl, smell, slurp…and savor.

Chateau Les Rosiers (Patrick Jolivet), 2005 ($8.99)

She said: It’s dark outside, where we’re tasting, so the color is a bit hard to distinguish. It’s dark and reddish and a bit translucent. On the nose I get currants and subtle wood, with a little bit of pepper and a chemically smell. Tannins are initially soft but linger long on the palate. Way more structure than I would expect from a Bordeaux of this class and price. And it’s the kind that I like: a bit taught with long lasting, tannic finish. Pepper again in the mouth. No real fruit characteristics, per se, but nothing flabby or soft about it. Really good value for the price. I’m impressed, I may buy a case of this. Can imagine all kinds of grilled meats and hearty flavored dishes with the wine as well as stinky cheeses. Makes me hungry.

He said: Like She said, it’s dark outside (and, I repeat, I’m colorblind) so I guess that this wine looks very red and probably opaque. On the nose I am getting very light strawberry, that chemical-balloon-y thing I still can’t pinpoint, sharpie/magic marker–it stings a little bit. In the mouth I get strawberry again and a little blackberry. The flavors are very light, I don’t find this to be a bold wine at all. Nothing is jumping out at me, soft tannins, easy to drink, not much aftertaste. Earlier this week I proclaimed that the cheap Bordeaux I was drinking paired well with Peanut Butter. I don’t know why, and my education in reds is just beginning. Whites are much easier for me to understand, but I really enjoy learning about (and drinking) reds. I initially thought this wine was very coy, and didn’t much care for it. But, it is opening up and I am liking it more and more.

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