...it's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there...
i'm no wine expert, but i'll give it a try. i emailed Pursuit, who is the unofficial sommelier of annika's journal, and asked him if it was time to drink that $12 bottle of '95 St. Supery Cabernet i'd been holding onto. He responded thusly:
I'd suggest that you drink it pretty soon.i had.I hope you've kept it on its side
and in a reasonably cool place.No place is cooler than wherever i am.
While some reds can be great beyond ten years, my guess is the St Supery is probably in its sweet spot now.So i tried it with beef this weekend and, while it's not Silver Oak, it was good.
(If you're ever in Napa, i recommend the St. Supery winery tour. Very informative.)
As for the '95, i liked it. Almost rust in color, plum and berry predominates, and there was no trace of tannin. A hint of oak [i have no idea what i'm talking about, btw] and big but not overly complex. All in all, a good $12 investment.
Tasted good tooo.
Update: Although i have no idea what a tannin is, this pro seemed to agree with me that the '95 didn't have any.
You must be the only college student in history outside of the Royal Family that has a wine collection.
Or you were going through your sock drawer and found this bottle of wine.
Which is it?
Posted by: Jake on Aug. 22, 2005heh, if you're trying, you'll figure it out. There is nothing like a soft red with some good beef, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I have a largish collection.
Posted by: Casca on Aug. 22, 2005WTFO, try the entire fucking valley if you're doing the tour thing. I am particular to Maryvale.
Posted by: Casca on Aug. 22, 2005I think Pursuit gave you some decent advice. But I'm not a sommelier, and nothing stays on my wine rack longer than a month. Call it a desire for immediate gratification, or whatever.
Posted by: d-rod on Aug. 22, 2005Every wine which has ever been recommended to me was a bitter undrinkable shoe polish. I find I can only drink rhine wines, and zinfindels. And occassionaly a red table wine. It's not that I need sweet wine, it's just that I despise wines which are too dry.
Posted by: Kyle on Aug. 23, 2005Tannin is that factor of a wine that makes your mouth pucker and dry up a bit. Reds tend to have more tannin than whites, which is not surprising, as the tannins in the wine come from the peel, stems, and leaves of the grape vine.
It's useful as a preservative, which is why reds age better than whites. It's also believed tannins give the wine an anti-oxident property, which is why a group of scientists started including a glass of red wine each day as part of their diet. They were the ones who did the study!
Posted by: Victor on Aug. 23, 2005Well mark this day in the books of web history as a big one for the intrepid Pursuit. I have been named the unofficial sommelier to one of my favorite bloggers. This is big, really big and I believe I need to do something to make this special. So I've begun working on pairings with Sig 226's. Preliminary results are sketchy, but seem to suggest that the wine should be enjoyed after the shooting, NOT with. More later, I think I hear the siren....
Posted by: Pursuit on Aug. 23, 2005