Elite Wine Reviews Eve’s Wine 101

Tasting with Old Friends

by Eve Bushman

One of my wine groups, of which there are many, hadn’t been able to swing a tasting (drat a nine month pregnancy) for nearly a year.  When we finally got together I wasn’t the only hormonal woman on a mission.  One bottle per person is not unheard of, and not every bottle has to be finished to get a tasting accomplished, but we tried very hard to do the proper amount of justice to:
Single vineyard 2005 Moulin a Vent Trenel, Beaujolais: My pal Timmy had opened this up the night before and swore by it.  I hadn’t had a Beaujolais single vineyard before.  (I also had my fair share of the light and fruity Nouveau Beaujolais that is a common red wine served chilled for Thanksgiving, as it pairs well with game.)  The fact that it had be opened for 24 hours made me doubtful, but this one proved to have quite a bit of fruit, and a good start for an evening of stellar wines. 89 Eve points.
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Talenti 1997: This one we decanted, had a bit of a dusty nose, somewhat tannic, opened up to lots of balanced fruit, and was something to linger over. 98 Eve points.
Joseph Phelps Backus 2001: Decanted, soft tannins, fruit right off.  I was put off at once when I realized I had started to sip from someone else’s glass!  A true wine 101er’s nightmare.  After the initial faux pas I recovered my composure, and my own glass, proving it can happen to anyone and still get 99 Eve points.
Tasting with Staff
I recently had a “staff lunch” with the two gentlemen that write on my wine 101 blog, Michael Perlis and Rusty Sly, at All Corked Up.  Both keep wine stored there so even though I treated them on the lunch, the first bottle (as well as the second that I didn’t have time to stay for) came from their lockers.  I got off cheap.
I used the wine log program on my iPhone to record our tasting notes for a 2006 Schubert Goose Yard Block Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, Australia.   Mike kept calling it Shee ROZ (rhymes with pizzazz) as it was the correct Aussie pronunciation.  While Rusty, who normally would have told us all we ever needed to know about the varietal, was busy swirling and sniffing.  
Our combined notes included lighter than expected blueberry, subdued, moderate spice that didn’t last on the palate.  Mike had had the wine a few months ago and noted that it didn’t taste the same.  The wine was so smooth, instead of the usual spiciness of a Shiraz, that Mike questioned whether it was “bottle variation.”  Rusty and I were satisfied with it and I had to give it 87 Eve points.

Yours, in wine and out,
Eve

You may contact Eve at ebushman@earthlink.net for questions and comments. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, evewine101.blogspot.com and westranchbeacon.com.