Good Morning 2006
Hey all,
Wow. I had a really great New Year's. All thanks to:
Chamdeville Blanc de Blanc N/V
This stuff is great! Made in Bordeaux, France (I think, I don't recall right now) so it's a true French bubbly, but it is not Champagne. But really, who cares? Oui? This bubbly's got some nice sparkle to the tounge and has some definite pinot noir characteristics with the usual blend of musky barnyard and delicious rotting cabbage. Ok, there's no cabbage smell there. That's a lie, but the barnyard flavour is actually really nice and refreshing as it's sipped on through the day. Although the little tinny aftertaste can put some off, it was a great reminder of my childhood drinking stuff out of tin cans. All in all, great stuff! Started the day off right!
Freixenet Carta Nevada Brut N/V
This was a refreshing Spanish bubbly was had some really nice fruit on the tounge that lended itself to make working on New Year's Eve all that much more bearable. Tiny Bubbles went straight to being a great day from a better day all in one glass flat (the time, not how the wine was...) . Anyway, I had reservations about this one since I've heard varying reviews that it tasted close to peaches with nails in it to some of best stuff on Earth. While I couldn't really agree of the latter since that was held for Ambrosia, the former sounded like the most favoured of the lot. So, imagine my suprise when it turs out to be better than I expected!
Bilyara Sparkling Brut by Wolf Blass N/V
I had this after work after a little nap that recharged my batteries for a night of mischef and mayhem. I've recently been impressed with Wolf Blass products, like their Grey Label Shiraz and Cab, although I still think that the Yellow Label Cab leaves something to be desired in it's heavily manufactured glory. Bilyara is one of Blass' value lines that actually impressed me in it's cheap price and decent quality. The bubbly was really good, with nice fruit and light oakage that finished clean and left me wanting more. Well, in the span of an hour, I finished it off and moved on to:
Centennial 10 yr Rye Whiskey
I've had this Rye Whiskey before, but decided not to do a review on it, since I was looking at Wines for reviews. However it was involded in my New Year's, so here's a review: Burning nose! Mix with coffee and cream, little bit of sugar. Sweet and delicious! Very smooth! Man I needed that coffee. Now I'll be able to stay up later and not fade away like I did last year. Should I have more? Nah, better not. Might get the caffene shakes, and mixing is really bad for you. What? Time to go to John's? Ok, let's stop off at my parents place so I can pick up my:
Penfolds Club Tawny Port N/V
This non-vintage tawny is a staple in my ever-declining budget since it's cheap, and very, very good. While it's thicker than other tawny ports, it still hold the same characteristics with the walnut, vanilla, gingerbread and cinnamon flavours that you'd almost expect from tawnys. I had this and was reminded of the cabin and roaring fires. While playing Cranium, I had a goodly amount of this and then realized that it was almost midnight. So we all piled into John's kitchen and as we counted down, I popped the top off of:
Lindeman's Sparkling Brut N/V
This is almost exactly like the Bilyara. Hints of oak and vanilla and nice fruit made this a refreshing end to 2005 and a welcome taste of 2006. It all goes blurry after that, except that I remember playing the piano for ages and then played my bass untill my thumb couldn't take it anymore (2 hours?) and walking home with my bass case on my shoulder.
Man, what a good night!
Wow. I had a really great New Year's. All thanks to:
Chamdeville Blanc de Blanc N/V
This stuff is great! Made in Bordeaux, France (I think, I don't recall right now) so it's a true French bubbly, but it is not Champagne. But really, who cares? Oui? This bubbly's got some nice sparkle to the tounge and has some definite pinot noir characteristics with the usual blend of musky barnyard and delicious rotting cabbage. Ok, there's no cabbage smell there. That's a lie, but the barnyard flavour is actually really nice and refreshing as it's sipped on through the day. Although the little tinny aftertaste can put some off, it was a great reminder of my childhood drinking stuff out of tin cans. All in all, great stuff! Started the day off right!
Freixenet Carta Nevada Brut N/V
This was a refreshing Spanish bubbly was had some really nice fruit on the tounge that lended itself to make working on New Year's Eve all that much more bearable. Tiny Bubbles went straight to being a great day from a better day all in one glass flat (the time, not how the wine was...) . Anyway, I had reservations about this one since I've heard varying reviews that it tasted close to peaches with nails in it to some of best stuff on Earth. While I couldn't really agree of the latter since that was held for Ambrosia, the former sounded like the most favoured of the lot. So, imagine my suprise when it turs out to be better than I expected!
Bilyara Sparkling Brut by Wolf Blass N/V
I had this after work after a little nap that recharged my batteries for a night of mischef and mayhem. I've recently been impressed with Wolf Blass products, like their Grey Label Shiraz and Cab, although I still think that the Yellow Label Cab leaves something to be desired in it's heavily manufactured glory. Bilyara is one of Blass' value lines that actually impressed me in it's cheap price and decent quality. The bubbly was really good, with nice fruit and light oakage that finished clean and left me wanting more. Well, in the span of an hour, I finished it off and moved on to:
Centennial 10 yr Rye Whiskey
I've had this Rye Whiskey before, but decided not to do a review on it, since I was looking at Wines for reviews. However it was involded in my New Year's, so here's a review: Burning nose! Mix with coffee and cream, little bit of sugar. Sweet and delicious! Very smooth! Man I needed that coffee. Now I'll be able to stay up later and not fade away like I did last year. Should I have more? Nah, better not. Might get the caffene shakes, and mixing is really bad for you. What? Time to go to John's? Ok, let's stop off at my parents place so I can pick up my:
Penfolds Club Tawny Port N/V
This non-vintage tawny is a staple in my ever-declining budget since it's cheap, and very, very good. While it's thicker than other tawny ports, it still hold the same characteristics with the walnut, vanilla, gingerbread and cinnamon flavours that you'd almost expect from tawnys. I had this and was reminded of the cabin and roaring fires. While playing Cranium, I had a goodly amount of this and then realized that it was almost midnight. So we all piled into John's kitchen and as we counted down, I popped the top off of:
Lindeman's Sparkling Brut N/V
This is almost exactly like the Bilyara. Hints of oak and vanilla and nice fruit made this a refreshing end to 2005 and a welcome taste of 2006. It all goes blurry after that, except that I remember playing the piano for ages and then played my bass untill my thumb couldn't take it anymore (2 hours?) and walking home with my bass case on my shoulder.
Man, what a good night!
posted by Big Roddy at Tuesday, January 03, 2006
5 Comments:
I once tried mixing port and sparkling wine, with the theory that I liked them on their own, so mixing them would be twice the fun.
Didn't work. Bad headache and a funny taste in my mouth for days. Sigh, mixing wine is a neat theory, but blending is for Slurpees and cocktails, not for wine.
Happy New Year!
I totally agree with your quick assessment of the old 'Yellow Label'; I also feel the same way about the new 'Yellow Tail'.
Although the base [yellow tail] products are a little too manufactured for my likes as well, the reserve stuff (that you can't get in Manitoba, damn you MLCC!) is really nice and well worth it. If you can find any of the reserve outside of the provence, pick up a bottle, I remember it to be much more structured and less sweet cherry flavour.
Thanks,
Will look on my next trip!
For inexpensive & drinkable I stumbled onto Wally's Hut Shiraz. Pretty drinkable for the price.
Hey Roddy,
Glad to hear you rang in 2006 with good cheer. I haven't been having much Aussie wine lately...just great cheap South African wine. KWM needs to bring in more of this stuff!! Who was all at the jam on New Years and did you get any of those sounds on tape?
Jp
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