- 6/11/2008 8:46 PM
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quality posts: 3
You mean you guys haven't sold this out yet? Shame on you! Let me see if I can convince a few more of you to buy...
Opened the 2001 SB Zin at 7 p.m. Dark, opaque color - a chocolately purple. Smooth sheen down the glass - the legs sheet down, rather than trickle in individual legs. Nose initially was very alcoholic, giving way to a combo dark cherry/dark chocolate scent.
First sip - Nice medium body, no tannins. Very drinkable now - Aftertaste had a slight citrus peel flavor, giving way to a moderate alcohol burn.
Second tasting one hour later - the wine smoothed out a lot. A new aroma emerged - toasted pecan (very slight). Taste did not change significantly, but the alcoholic impression/aftertaste definitely subsided.
I didn't get to taste this with dinner - we'd eatenn seafood out, so to get just a slight impression with food, I tasted the wine with a few bites of pastrami and a large slice of pepperoni. Food definitely improved the experience, and the Zin stood up very well to the spiciness of the pepperoni. The pastrami brought out a bit of briar in the Zin; the pepperoni gave the Zin's aftertaste a definite change that I couldn't identify. Food also enhanced the mouthcoating from the wine.
I've vacuum sealed the rest of the bottle - I only had one glass overall. I plan to grill some NY Strips Friday night, and I'll taste this wine with the steaks then.
Verdict: A big, bold gutsy wine. I'd just had a PoiZin bottle last week - this seems more alcholic, but actually smoother to drink This is not a casual sipper, and not for the red faint-of-hearts. Pair with fine beef, spicy stews (too hot here though!), lamb tangine. If you love reds, Zins, Cabs, I think you;ll like this.
First report from a virgin brat - how did I do?
St Francis, Vampire, Penfolds, Chase, Corison, Saxon Brown, Twisted Oak, Dry Creek, Epiphany, Wellington, Polyphemus, Ty Caton, Mandolina, Armida, Three Rivers, Castoro, Stuart, Mosaic, Coppola, Souverain
- 6/11/2008 8:56 PM
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quality posts: 3
mbrengman wrote:sorry not really good at the image upload. here is the tasting pic

Oooh, scary cork - stained halfway up. I lucked out and had just 1/4 stain - was worried with the Texas heat.
St Francis, Vampire, Penfolds, Chase, Corison, Saxon Brown, Twisted Oak, Dry Creek, Epiphany, Wellington, Polyphemus, Ty Caton, Mandolina, Armida, Three Rivers, Castoro, Stuart, Mosaic, Coppola, Souverain
- 6/12/2008 12:00 AM
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quality posts: 8
paryb wrote:I'd like to weigh in on this, and impart a few things for those new to wine that I've learned too.
I am in no way a wine expert, but I'm a huge wine lover. The cork. You know why they show you the cork at a restaurant? why you smell it? see it's not to figure out anything about the wine, that's what the taste glass is for
(let me digress a second, more and more I've had bottles brought already opened to a table and poured without a taste...I hate that! I tip extra big for a server who takes the time for me to ok my wine selection)
Anyway, you look at the cork, see how high the purple goes...if there is stains on top of the cork, it may have oxidized, so you sniff the cork...you'll know if it has corked because the cork will smell like a fart in a duffle bag...sweat socks and your dukes of hazzard lunchbox, you lost for 3 months...really bad. If not, then you can move on to tasting. If something is corked, then it has been open to the air for a long time. Way too long to salvage. Most of the time, I think that a wine corks at bottling. So, if it's done, it's pretty much done.
Anyhoo, I love this place, thanks for letting me diatribe.
2 thoughts on the diatribe:
Unless you really trust the server, if he brings it to the table already opened, send it back.
IF it's as badly corked as your descriptions suggest, the server should notice, and take the bottle away for replacement without even submitting it to you, if he has any idea what he's doing.
Can’t we just get rid of wine lists? Do we really have to be reminded every time we go out to a nice restaurant that we have no idea what we are doing? Why don’t they just give us a trigonometry quiz with the menu? - Jerry Seinfeld