Quick Lopez de Heredia question

K

Kevin Roberts

Kevin Roberts
I opened a bottle of the LdH 1997 rosado tonight, and it's my first experience with any of these wines. How oxidative should I expect this to be? I'm getting crazy minerality and strong sherryish notes. This is certainly not unexpected, as this is 12 year old rose, but is this typical or is it "Bad Bottle" tm? I know these are famously variable, just wanted some extra opinions...

Cheers,

Kevin
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
Oxidation is part of the package in that wine.

I like to decant them, by the by.
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Decanter and drink up? or cork up and wait until tomorrow?

I don't have any laying around, but out of curiosity are the whites generally oxidized too?

Thanks for the quick reply!

Kevin
 
There is often a note of oxidation in the whites--they are in barrel for an awfully long time. Depends on the wine and the vintage.

I usually don't have a leftover rose issue to deal with, so I'm not sure how it would be the next day. Probably fine.
 
Thanks a bunch!

I'm not bothered at all by the oxidation, I was just a bit surprised at first, then not when I thought about it...

Cheers,

Kevin
 
the winemaker recommends burgundy glasses and i agree about decanting. also....some food is a real good idea. chorizo worked well with the last rosado i had, but you don't necc. need to go hot spicy.
 
Tonight, I made a Cod stew with chorizo, chickpeas, and spinach. It didn't really work that well with the stew, but its certainly rocking right now, and I'm totally digging it. A little air is definitely a good thing for this wine.

cheers,

Kevin
 
i am looking forward to trying the '97. a recent '93 i had was red-brown in color (more orange a year ago) and all i could coax out of it was a whole lot of beef bouillon and a few sherry notes, not much else.
 
originally posted by Seth Hill:
There is no more perfect wine for paella that LdH rosado.
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Maybe not. It's a complex wine in which the tertiary/oxidative aromas and flavors dominate, and paella is a simple peasant dish that demands some freshness and fruit. I'd rather drink an unoaked red or ros grenache from Aragn or Navarre with a paella.
 
originally posted by VS:
originally posted by Seth Hill:
There is no more perfect wine for paella that LdH rosado.
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Maybe not. It's a complex wine in which the tertiary/oxidative aromas and flavors dominate, and paella is a simple peasant dish that demands some freshness and fruit. I'd rather drink an unoaked red or ros grenache from Aragn or Navarre with a paella.
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I can see that, too. With paella often being a big communal meal, having something that is more boisterous and less heady than the LdH makes sense. Drink a lot, eat a lot, and laugh a lot. Your picks would be perfect for that sort of night.

But unfortunately, I don't have as many occasions to make a paella for a real crowd, and to put together the ingredients for a dinner party (much less for two) isn't a peasant proposition anymore. It's an Occasion, and part of the richness and complexity of the LdH adds to that. It is more heady, and the layers of each complement the other. Fruit and glycerol for the chorizo, umami and glycerol for the scallops/lobster, exoticism in the saffron, nuttiness for the rice, earth for the sea... It's just too damn good not to add the indulgence. It'll be what you need it to be at the beginning of the meal with its strawberry savory "what's that in the kitchen" notes, and will carry all the way through to the profundity that only happens late at night with old drunk friends.
 
OK, Seth. Not being the "perfect" match doesn't entail that it's not a pretty good match!
 
originally posted by Kevin Roberts:
Random Question for SethYou didn't work for Chambers St Wines at one point, did you?

Kevin
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Sure did. Left in June of '07 when my wife completed her MD/PhD at NYU and we moved back to Boston to start her residency at BU Medical Center.

I've landed at The Wine Bottega in the North End- came in second while trying to purchase the biz, but enjoying working with the new owner. Though I am looking forward to starting my own shop at some point down the line... Anyone need a safe investment vehicle? You know what they say, "When times are good, people drink. When times are bad, people drink more!" I'm thinking of calling it The Wine CENSORED- "Yellowtail?! No wine for you!"

Your name's familiar, Kevin, though I'm having trouble putting you into the proper context- drop me a PM to (re)introduce yourself.
 
I'll take this to email, but...

I came to CSW in February of 07, knowing very little, but very curious. I was looking for P & C Breton wine (I don't think I'd had cab franc from anywhere other than California) and anything else interesting. I'm pretty sure you spent about 90 minutes taking me around the whole store, telling a little bit about, oh, everything, which more or less led me to being here now. Well, that, and the fact that the wines I shipped home to Iowa City were utterly fantastic and fascinating.

Cheers,

Kevin
 
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