Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
Last night we had dinner at the home of a colleague of my wife's. He loves wine but, well, follows a different path. Dependency on the kindness of friends can be a cross.
2008 Michel Picard Beaujolais Villages 12.5%
Bleh. Barely recognizable as Gamay or Beaujolais. Mediocrity at its finest. They dump this stuff on Brazil, since other countries must know better.
2006 Terrazas de los Andes Afincado Malbec Mendoza 14.0%
This is the top cuvee from this huge winery. My experience with large Malbec producers is that going up the ladder means more concentration, supermaturity and new oak, so one should stick to the lower cuvees (but avoid Alamos at all costs). This had massive aromas of oak, chocolate, coffee and blackberries. Disappointingly thin palate, acid in one room, sweetness in another, suggesting the usual tartrate additions. Little pleasure to be had; I can say in its favor that it wasn't too hot.
Yesterday, in a Brazilian message board, someone posted an interview with Parker from October 2009 Revue du Vin de France. There's stuff to disagree with, but the eloquence with which he critiques terroirists is impressive. But I mention it because he says something about new world chardonnay that I have found to be true of most of the reds as well, and that I found surprising, coming from him:
"The preponderant number of new world Chardonnays must be consumed within 2-3 years after the vintage. As enjoyable as they are, they often have all their components playing against one another rather than in complete harmony. Perhaps because most new world Chardonnays must be acidified, when one tastes them, the overall perception is one of separate but equal building blocks of acid, structure, fruit, and wood."
2008 Michel Picard Beaujolais Villages 12.5%
Bleh. Barely recognizable as Gamay or Beaujolais. Mediocrity at its finest. They dump this stuff on Brazil, since other countries must know better.
2006 Terrazas de los Andes Afincado Malbec Mendoza 14.0%
This is the top cuvee from this huge winery. My experience with large Malbec producers is that going up the ladder means more concentration, supermaturity and new oak, so one should stick to the lower cuvees (but avoid Alamos at all costs). This had massive aromas of oak, chocolate, coffee and blackberries. Disappointingly thin palate, acid in one room, sweetness in another, suggesting the usual tartrate additions. Little pleasure to be had; I can say in its favor that it wasn't too hot.
Yesterday, in a Brazilian message board, someone posted an interview with Parker from October 2009 Revue du Vin de France. There's stuff to disagree with, but the eloquence with which he critiques terroirists is impressive. But I mention it because he says something about new world chardonnay that I have found to be true of most of the reds as well, and that I found surprising, coming from him:
"The preponderant number of new world Chardonnays must be consumed within 2-3 years after the vintage. As enjoyable as they are, they often have all their components playing against one another rather than in complete harmony. Perhaps because most new world Chardonnays must be acidified, when one tastes them, the overall perception is one of separate but equal building blocks of acid, structure, fruit, and wood."