If Your Cat Pissed In The Glass...

The title of this post is probably not the most appealing to the reader. For those of you who have never owned cats...it's a pretty horrible thing, cat piss. It might be the most pungent and unappealing smell in the domestic world of animals....but I digress.

This evening it was raining cats and dogs (reference was certainly intended) and so what is one car-less wine student to do?! Drink a lot of wine (duh). And so my California V. France comparative was born.

France and California pretty much represent the essence of Old World and New World rifts. Strict regulation versus encouraged vinicultural experimentation, earth versus fruit, medium versus high alcohol, the emphasis of terroir versus winemaker's personal style....I could go on, but why bore?

California is the PREMIER New World producer, as a state (alone) producing the fourth most amount of wine after France, Italy and Spain. The 1976 Paris Tasting put Napa on the map, and the rest is history. The California Northcoast AVA is center and leading force in New World wine, with nearby UC Davis acting as the leading researcher in vini/viticulture outside of Europe.

As much as I could go on about how far California has come, France remains the example for quality wine, regardless of style. With thousands of years of wine production behind them, tradition suits them well. The terroir is arguably the best on the planet, with many (if not the majority) of New World varieties originating from France. If California is the prodigal child, France is still Big Papa.

So back to the liquid stuff, I compared two sauvignon blancs. From France, I opened the Domaine de la Pauline Sancerre 2013, from the Central Vineyards in the Loire Valley. From California, I opened the Round Pond Estate Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc 2013. From both wines I got the varietally common factors of white grapefruit, cat piss (absolutely UNMISTAKABLE), grassy notes, and minerality. My tasting notes were as follows...

Domaine de la Pauline Sancerre 2013 
Aromas of white grapefruit with subtle kiwi, papaya and passionfruit. Reminiscent of catpiss, fresh green grass, white blossoms, chive and blanched asparagus. On the palate, candied grapefruit with hints of pineapple, apple pith, kiwi skin, freshly cleaned cantelope and dehydrated mango. Earthy, bitter grass with floral daisy, jalapeno, chive and floral stems, followed by a chalky minerality on the finish. The wine is bone dry and unoaked with solid acidity. I would love to pair with proscuitto wrapped cantelope, tropical fish dishes, or creamy cheese. Higher in acid and more delicate in flavor than its Californian cousin, I would try and match the more delicate flavors in the wine to aspects of a dish.

Round Pond Estate Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc 2013
Cat piss is evident on the nose, as well as waxy aromas of starfruit, oxidized apple, dried pineapple and overripe pear. Aromas are also reminiscent of a dusty chalkboard (when you get in trouble in school and are supposed to clean it...), leading me to call a dusty, chalky minerality. On the palate, a bitter honeydew melon, especially the rind, is on the front, followed by waxy, yellow grapefruit rind, grapefruit pith, underripe guava, and "pear sauce" (is that what you call apple sauce but with pears?). Dry grass, if not hay, is certainly present with (again) a floral stem flavor, with sandy, fertile earth and preserved, salty Morroccan lemon on the finish. This is a dry wine with solid acidity, but certainly more bitter in flavor than its French counterpart. I would pair this with a dish including honeydew melon, or a morroccan dish with preserved lemons as an ingredient. Alcohol was significantly higher than the French example, so I would consider full bodied and pair it with slightly heavier dishes.

Passed my French test this last Wednesday, thank goodness! One of the hardest blinds I have ever done, but the learning experience was well worth it. Halfway through the New World unit, and cannot wait to get to Australia and New Zealand at the end of next week.

Stay tuned for a lot more wine stuff...I can't afford to cook fancy food with these wine bills!!!! Please don't mistake that as complaining....life is good!

Made friends with the pastry chefs this weekend and got invited into the chocolate lab to taste all of their new confections. Definitely one of the most delectable cocoa experiences I have ever had...my favorite being the corn flake truffles!

Three cheers to all the amazing chefs and pastry chefs who keep my belly happy :)

Until next time, here's to natural irrigation (we sure needed it out here)!

This is....Somm School!

So I haven't decided yet whether the west coast thing is driving me crazy crazy or crazy in love but I'm sure trying to figure it out. If one this is in it's favor, it's the weather. Holy mackerel....this is the third day this week that I've sat on my back porch drinking chardonnay in a bikini. Not even joking my neighbours think I'm insane but it's broaching 85 degrees there is no way anyone can make me wear pants on my own property. ***I have thick cold weather proof Dublin skin*** How the hell this can ever be considered January...it alludes me........

So I've been in wine school for 2 weeks now, and my first exam is on Tuesday. Even though I've only had eight class days...I already feel like I've been here for months!!!! **crazy eyes*

Definitely the most fun part of wine school is the blind tasting. There's something super exciting, and almost liberating, about a "mystery" glass of grape juice. The idea that, if you're not overly concerned with enjoying the wine, you can address it from a neutral stand and often notice things that might have been fleeting before. I actually find I taste better blind than if I know what it is, because, to my detriment, I tend to search for things that should be present rather than what is actually shouting at me from the bowl of my glass.

We did a blind for two to study for the test this weekend, and it really displayed exactly that. I got together with "The Nose" (her nickname for sheer skill of what that thing can pick up!) and tasted four wines blind, did a comparison of two wines from two different areas, and then just drank a few....all in the spirit of research (of course!). Whether it was luck or we're getting better, we got all of the blinds right.....but I'm pretty sure she may have been rubbing her genius off on me. They ended up being a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (medium/medium plus acid, bone dry, good tropical notes, grassy undertones), a Napa Valley Chardonnay (butter, medium acid, mild use of oak, fruit reminiscent of apple and pineapple), Barossa Shiraz (big blackberry, blueberry jamminess, mild pepper, subtle bay leaf), and a Right Bank Bordeaux (bright red fruits, new leather, chocolate flavors, medium plus tannin). They were all yummy, but the shiraz I probably won't end up drinking just because it is a little too much like blueberry syrup.

We finished off by tasting a Hungarian and Austrian Gruner Veltliner back to back, followed by a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon from Conn Creek, finishing on what we actually wanted to dig into, which was a Slovakian Riesling. This Riesling was interesting because it was made by a famous German wine maker whose wife is Slovakian. He decided to make dry Slovakian Rieslings in the German style-and man is it delicioussss! This would be the equivalent of a Kabinett level sweetness (dryyyy) and would have paired excellently with some smoked salmon. If you haven't tried smoked salmon with dry reisling yet, get on it.

I've sat out on my porch for the last few nights now....I can deal with the whole shorts and a t-shirt in the middle of January!

Until next time, stay warm!