Glasses of Expectations

R

Rahsaan

Rahsaan
Like so many wine geeks, I often prepare to turn off my wine palate when attending work or public events. But, tonight I actually found some pleasure in the offerings.

During the aperitif portion of the dinner in particular I was very pleased with the 2006 Deltetto Roero Arneis "San Michele" as it had firm flavorful fruit with a bit of depth and enough energetic and lively minerality around the finish to let me focus on what was in my mouth and not what was coming out of my companions mouths. It fell apart a bit over the salad with radishes, but such is life. And I understand this is a Direct Import of the Tabard Inn. Good for them!

The 2005 Hess Estate Cabernet Sauvignon "Allomi" started with seventeen strikes against it for Rahsaan but the way it provided bowls of ripe fruit and a decently-fine tannin structure made it a very soothing wine compared to the sticky sweet blobs of red wine that sometimes get poured at these dinners.

Im not running out to purchase either wine but they were drinkable for one or two glasses and for someone with such low expectations it was a surprising victory.
 
The 2005 Hess Estate Cabernet Sauvignon "Allomi" started with seventeen strikes against it for Rahsaan but the way it provided bowls of ripe fruit and a decently-fine tannin structure made it a very soothing wine compared to the sticky sweet blobs of red wine that sometimes get poured at these dinners.
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Yup. It's not just the over-ripeness, it's the ultra-smoothed tannins that turns them into blobs. Mountain fruit is somewhat harder to blobbify.

I had a Cycles Gladiator Syrah the other day, the glass pour at a pizza joint. The fruit was ripe-to-raisiny, yet devoid of any Syrah (or other) character. The wine was black as night, yet only a whisper of tannins remained. No acid and no structure to speak of. Talk about a blob.
 
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
Yup. It's not just the over-ripeness, it's the ultra-smoothed tannins that turns them into blobs. Mountain fruit is somewhat harder to blobbify.

I had a Cycles Gladiator Syrah the other day, the glass pour at a pizza joint. The fruit was ripe-to-raisiny, yet devoid of any Syrah (or other) character. The wine was black as night, yet only a whisper of tannins remained. No acid and no structure to speak of. Talk about a blob.
Click to expand...

How do winemakers go about making the tannins ultra-smooth?

I like "blobbified" as a descriptor.
 
originally posted by Bwood:
originally posted by Christian Miller (CMM):
Yup. It's not just the over-ripeness, it's the ultra-smoothed tannins that turns them into blobs. Mountain fruit is somewhat harder to blobbify.

I had a Cycles Gladiator Syrah the other day, the glass pour at a pizza joint. The fruit was ripe-to-raisiny, yet devoid of any Syrah (or other) character. The wine was black as night, yet only a whisper of tannins remained. No acid and no structure to speak of. Talk about a blob.
Click to expand...

How do winemakers go about making the tannins ultra-smooth?

I like "blobbified" as a descriptor.
Click to expand...

Late picking, drain and press gently before dryness, finish fermentation in the presence of wood (chips in this case I presume), rigorous fining, and probably half a dozen other things I can't remember or don't know about.
 
originally posted by Don Rice:
Kay
That is some scary shit
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And it is just the tip of the iceberg.

Look into the new oak technologies out there. There are breathable plastic barrels and oak spirals that have been convection oven toasted to focus group perfection. There are fining treatments available that make putting wine in a centrifuge seem like a gentle alternative. And of course our old favorites: yeast, yeast nutrients, enzymes and lots and lots of metabisulfite.

It's interesting to read about. I would love to participate in a blind tasting and see how scary or not scary some of this stuff really is.

In the mean time, just to be on the safe side, I will continue drinking wine from Pierre Breton.

Best,
Kay
 
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