Hangin' At The Usual Suspects #5

Into each heart, some tears must fall. Though you love and you lose, you must stand tall. So sang The Marvelettes, and the truth of the song is eternal. Which is to say, we had our first Bummer Night At The Usual.

Les, great host that he is, offered us ways out, but no, I had to taste this SB that I'd read about on Jamie Goode's blog. And when offered structured tastings of Cru Beaujolais or Loire Valley Cabernet Franc or "grab bag," I went for grab bag. I can't help it, that's the bait I rise to every time.

Maycas Limarí Sauvignon Blanc, made 3/11/08, an effort by Concha y Toro. Les said: "It's pillowy," meaning it just kinda disappeared at the end of your tongue.

Elaine: "It smells like pudding. Tapioca pudding with a hint of passionfruit."

Me: "Clean white socks."

Elaine: There's some Granny Smith apple at the finish. Not much finish."

Me: "What finish? It disappears halfway across your tongue."

Karl: "As it warms up, it loses some of that acidity. When it was really cold, it was all acid."

Elaine: "It makes me salivate, it's so acidic. I don't like that."

Me: We say "mouth-watering acidity," and it's good. That is, if it's Italian and it's red. And I'm not getting any mineral quality.

Elaine: It's chalky. Like it has tannins from stems.

Karl: If the binary decision is buy/not buy, I say "Not buy."

Me: All the way at the back of the palate, maybe some apple skin.

Elaine: "Apple skin" is generous. It's a lot of tannin.

Karl: Who is "Royal Imports, Old Brookville, NY?"

Through the magic of google, now we know.

And thus ended the Limarí Valley obsession.

But wait, there's more.

"Les états d áme du Mas Jullien" Languedoc 2006:



Fone Foto by Karl.

Karl: Is this candy or pie? I shouldn't make fun of the label, but I've been doing label design on the side, and the flaming hair is my signature.

Me: I'm getting chocolate mint cherry cordial. And rosemary and maybe even more chocolate.

Karl: The herbs are coming out, the pie fruit is going away. Meaty, too. Now it's like pork tenderloin roasted with rosemary.

Me: Well, now we know what to pair it with.

We are distracted by hearing Marilyn Manson on the jukebox, and engage on a discussion of Goth vs. Emo. Elaine mentions Depeche Mode, a band that has been around so long that I remember them. "It's all music by depressed people," I say. What was that band that sang "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," A Flock of Seagulls?"

"No," said Elaine. "That was Tears for Fears."

"Yeah, so what's the difference?" I said.

Elaine: This wine is too tight, too rough, too disjointed...too young. It needs another two years in the bottle.

Me: It really is tannic. It reminds me more of '06 Bordeaux than '06 Languedoc.


Next week, I'm plumping for the cab francs.