Why am I allowed two?
I splurged on some Porto. I wanted to know what genuine Porto was like, having been drinking primarily Clocktower and Graham's Six Grape. Graham's is a real Porto, but, although it's nice, it's very simple.
The Romariz is much deeper/more complex and interesting. Very nutty at first, but with a bunch of caramel, pipe tobacco flavors, and perhaps chocolate as it develops in air. Possibly also apricot. Very yummy, anyways.
Since Moose made some remarks about Clocktower, I went and replenished my supply of Clocktower, to see if I like it. I know I've had it before, but I didn't really have any particular recollections about it.
So, several things.
One, it's not a Port, technically, because its from Australia. But, nitpicking aside ...
It's a tawny, not a ruby. This is entirely a matter of personal preference, I like ruby ports better. And it was *very* nutty, which I actually liked.
When I went to get it, by the way, I was actually going to get a Grahams, but they didn't have any, so I got the Clocktower. About $10 for a 750, which is not bad at all for a half-way decent Port. But I think that I might take it upon myself to share some finer ports with Moose and see what he thinks. :-)
Yesterday I got a crockpot. I've been wanting one for a while, and finally got around to getting it. I made standard no-frills spaghetti sauce in it, and had spaghetti for dinner, with a 1995 Tessera Old Vines Zinfandel. I came into possession of this wine through a strange set of circunstances. I expect that a 1995 is somewhat hard to come by, but I don't really know for sure what's available for this label.
When I first opened it, it was not so great. Tasted vaguely musty. But as it opened up a little, and with the food, it had classic Zin flavors - pepper and chocolate and tobacco. It was very muted. I don't expect that it was intended to be held that long. But it was good anyways.
Berry wine has the potential to be really remarkably awful. It tends to be over-sweet, cloying, and just downright unpleasant.
But, given the skill with which Chrisman Mill makes mead, another wine that can be spectacularly terrible, I figured there was nothing to be too worried about. And I was right.
The Chrisman blackberry wine is now available, and it is fantastic. I should have picked up an extra lable, so that I could scan it in and put it here. I'll try to soak one off after the bottle is empty. It features a wolf from the Wolf Run wolf sanctuary, and looks pretty cool.
The wine is, of course, sweet, but not unpleasantly sweet. Just perfect. And it is a serious wine, not just berry juice + alcohol. It has the sweetness, and pucker/tangyness/wildness of a fresh-picked blackberry. A nice balance of sweet and acidity that promises that it will develop interestingly over time. As always, I should have bought more.
Also, I got a moose, which I have been eyeing on the last several visits out to the winery. I'll post better pictures once I find some batteries for my camera.
Obviously I'm either rembembering wrong, or Bogle has seriously remade themselves. I remember the Bogle Zin as being flat, kinda sweet, perhaps a little smoky - in a bad way, not a nice way. But this is pretty good. Not wonderful, understand, but pretty darned good for a $12 zin anyways.
It's kinda fragile, and after a little air it starts to develop some bitterness. Which is kinda weird for a zin this young, I would think. But right after I opened it, there were some good tanins, and good peppery zin flavors. Perhaps I'll say more after having some with dinner.
====================
OK, more comments.
With a simple chicken barbeque, which is where Zin really shines, imho. Peppery. Tannic (just enough). Pepper. Chocolate. Tobacco. And that strange "road dust" aroma that's in a really good Zin. Geez, why is this just $12? Probably have more of this tomorrow night. Had just a tad too much of it right now.
