65 replies to this topic

[Sneakeater]

Home from work, late, just wanting to gulp something.

We are now in the age of Aging Wines You Never Used To Think Could Age.

It started, I guess, with Beaujolais. When you think of it, though, there's no reason why the heavier Beaujolaises -- Morgons and Moulin a Vents -- wouldn't age. So fine.

Then, Muscadets. This was a leap of faith. It makes no sense whatsoever. But when you drank a few aged Muscadets -- the good ones -- it turned out this new idea was right. They do gain complexity, while retaining that sharp clean cut.

Now, aged roses.

My own individual problem is this. The roses that theoretically could age best are the deep, rich, complex ones. (Sperina's Piedmontese rose, say.) But those are the ones I gravitate toward, and drink up when they're young. The ones I age are the ones that inadvertantly get left somewhere in my storage units.

Like, for example, this 2009 Cal Demoura Qu'es Aquo. From somewhere in the Languedoc, featuring the typical South-of-France grapes. I'll bet this was great the year before last. Now, it was a little tired. And puckery.

Too bad I drank all the 2009 Sperina two summers ago.

[Sneakeater]

2008 Red Hook Rose

Red Hook Winery is a project that uses grapes grown on the eastern end of Long Island, New York, which are then vinified at one of Long Island's western extremities: Red Hook, Brooklyn. The wines are made (not jointly) by either Abe Schoener or Bob Foley, and their respective wines tend to display the respective winemakers' considerable good points and occasional bad points.

This wine is one of Schoener's.

It's good. Creamy, hinting at sweet but not really, not really what you'd call fruity -- more like a fruitcake.

The wine doesn't list the grapes on the label. I'm proud to say that I thought "Merlot" upon sipping -- and research has dislosed that it's a Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend. (The best red grapes on Long Island, so not any kind of surprise.)

I find Abe Schoener's wines benefit from aging. Their rough edges and occasional unintegrated elements mellow and merge. I don't remember sampling any of this 2008 Rose when it was new -- but it's drinking beautifully now. If it's dulled down at all, I'd suppose it's in a good way: any weirdness giving way to interesting drinkability.

What does it taste like? Not like a traditional Provencal rose. More to the point, not really like a Bordeaux rose, either. Probably most like a Rioja rosato. Not in its flavor -- as I indicated above, it's pretty recognizably Merlot -- but in its flavor profile: not fruity, but creamy and a little bit deep.

Find a friend who has some, and drink up.

[AaronS]

the thirst people gave me a glass of some four or five year old domaine tempier rose once. I loved it.

[Sneakeater]

2009 Clos Roche Blanche Pineau d'Aunis Touraine Rose

Oh yum.

First it tastes kind of sour. But then, it tastes like . . . roses (no accent mark). Definitely not expecting that.

It's very light. Not much depth. But what flavor there is, is interesting and delicious. Almost certainly better just drank alone (as I'm doing now) than with food.

This doesn't taste anything like a classic berry-tinged Provencal rose. Although it doesn't taste much like them, the experience is closer to a Basque rose.

Very good late-afternoon quaff.

[Sneakeater]

did you try the Clos Roche Blanche stuff? also mildly oxidative - I think you have to vinify it that way unless you want it off dry.

Reading through this thread, I see it only took me two years to answer this question.

[Sneakeater]

Haven't opened the CRB yet. (And BTW, thanks for the tip-off.)

Holy fuck. I really took my time.