Mostly on wine. Also: IRM/InfoSec/I-Advisory and -Audit services. Positive contrarian, inspirator, loosen-upper.
Oh yes yet another sign that eBooks are in the end phase of destroying all mom-and-pop Brick paper-book stores, in e.g., this.
Which tells you that finally, the world is integrating some of the ‘disruptions’ into its culture and by doing so, at last making them a success — not in any other way, before …
Well, I’m off again for now, leaving you with:
[ [ Concrete | jungle ]; Paris La Defense ]
When you can have serfdom? The first, merely meaning physical-legal possession, burdensome. The second one, utter dependence by the subservient of the Master. So, ‘we’ (ahum speak for yourselves) aren’t slaves of SocMed, we’re ‘merely’ not merrily their serfs. Which correlates with the Hobson’s anti-choice to walk away and suffer the withdrawal consequences… Freedom to starve, in the sense of the withdrawal and the great may intertwined and softer linked spheres of being.
Let’s not get depressed. Let’s get detached. And this.
Or what?
Oh, this:
[Once, ruling large portions of the ‘known’ world from here. Now, not so much. Aachen]
After reading Graeber’s exposé on the confluence of ‘human economy’ and communism (Yes. Though those that foulmouth ‘commies’ are probably too low on the IQ scale to be able to grasp the actual ideas…), I wondered: Where in this spectrum is the original-Greek or -Celtic or -whatwasit idea on Golden Man, Silver Man and even Bronze Man (or was that current aeon man) having disappeared after their utter success vis à vis the gods, and where is the (return of the) Age of Aquarius ..?
Especially where the latter might have built the original Sphinx, and bored out the sarcophagus with some tool too advanced for almost today’s science even and the tabernacle having been some nuclear device at today’s cutting edge ..? Yes I’m all in on (Von) Däniken now … Is Global Warming causing a similar Destruction of latter day Neverhavebeensolowonaverage-societyculture ..?
But let that not deter you. Still think about an escape. Into space, or here on earth by means of social reform. Problem is; the percentage of nutters seems constant or growing, whereas societies have been built to sustain (tolerate) inversely proportional percentages of a.holes. We may be doomed after all, with so many (still putting their children into this world but meanwhile vehemently) believing in After us, the Deluge; literally. [Yeah I know, that literally as figuratively was left in the dust of 2015 but this here use is the original, very much valid in 20-16 ..!] And also, since the Mayas seem to have been right about, well maybe not the Aquarius part but the Singularity very certainly.
Which leads to:
[Archeological artifact; Edinburg. Had one, too, in the ’70s ..! In those times antediluvian, immemorial, when even I was cool (..?) — I remember mine was flashier — of course.]
Maybe @DARPA can elucidate … Why would anyone need four-legged soldier-helpers ..? First there was robodog, then LS3 that failed so may end up in your next indeterminableoriginmeat-burger. Next, maybe, a fully armoured full exoskeleton.
Which might do away with the humanoid innards in the near future (after that), losing some great many pounds of ballast (similarly, are drone pilots as physically fit as the bunch out there in the air on their weapons platforms ..?) and also losing a great deal in time- and otherwise (situational-closeness hence -fine-granularity) challenged ethical perspective. I.e., no weak knees anymore just shoot whatever moves.
But, back to the Helper idea: Why ..!? Why four legs, or even two ..? Instability assured… And Nature has donned animals with legs to get over tree trunks and boulders and the like yes, but maybe only because natural evolution only happens from the happenstantial last known good configuration not the clean slate ‘we’ now have when designing <anything that may silently carry some possibly superhuman load over rough terrain>.
Which is to say: Aren’t hugely more simple (contradictio semantics intended) machines possible with … even yesterday’s technology, that can do the same with no legs or completely different configurations of them? E.g., have ‘spurious’ legs on the back to be able to roll over (on purpose!) and still walk on? Tracks ..? Number Five is Alive! Silent ops can be achieved easily, just ‘invite’ some Rolls-Royce experts…
One only needs to add a gun of whatever size, and some Autonomous in the ops, and hey presto! A possibly much lighter than average soldier (easily stacked even more uncomfortably (possible?) in some freight plane for transport to the theatre) carrying possibly more, and a bigger gun a piece. No weak knees, or remotely operated — wouldn’t limited-autonomy ‘soldiers’ be able to be steered in platoons at a time from far away (and far away from anything officer-like or mayhem may ensue [disclaimer: once briefly was one]) and have an easy development of ‘grounded-drone’ armies.
After which, the Singularity takes over these all. Or just a bunch of the most capable.
Or, nearer future, some party being more than average removed from the artificial intelligence of the S i.e., some rogue general. How to stop such a guy (F/M) ..?
OK, you know where to drop the Challenge prize money, thanks. … … Or, the whole thing’s just a hoax to throw researchers of the too democratic inclination, off path since the research into the above is already progressing impressively… And:
[Hung from not hang over though that might (??) still apply to the operator; DC of course]
Euhm, er is nog steeds de grote waterscheiding tussen enerzijds ‘vaste’ dienstverbanden en anderzijds per-uur inhuurbare/dumpbare ZP’ers, lijkt het wel. Ja, er zijn wat moeizame tussenvormen gevonden; het tijdelijk contract (vast tot het niet vast meer is), de urenopdracht (ingeschatte inzet — waar de opdrachtgever met een …smoes wel onderuitkruipt), etc., maar echt zoden aan de dijk zet het niet. Problemen te over; pensioen’verplicht’ingen, sociale zekerheid(sopbouw, -rechten en –solidariteit), inkomenszekerheid (waar een ‘vast’ dienstverband, hoewel absoluut even snel op de tocht staand als een vaste opdracht, wél een hypotheekzekerheid is en een grotere financiële reserve niet), enzovoorts enzoverder.
Vraag is nu of er al eens is bestudeerd hoe het idee van kort-verbandvrijwilliger uit defensiekringen zou kunnen worden vertaald buiten de sector. Want het lijkt alsof ondanks het trage imago juist defensiekringen organisatiekundig alwéér mijlenver voorlopen op de rest, de oh zo veel flitsender verklaarde kwijlebabbelzelfverdedigingshulpelozen.
Arme KMKTDOs (KanslozenMetKuddesTeDrijvenOndergeschikten) … en:
[Uitkijkend over, zonder grip; Noto]
Yawn. Or not. The following will get real serious in 2016. Like,
People will replace newspaper time with time online, wrote Bill Gates in “The World in 1998” https://t.co/8bCPCUg1Ph pic.twitter.com/bvnMCpJJUB
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) December 11, 2015
Well, for the list with everything and their dog:
After which there’s only:
[Purposefully unsharp. Berlin, some years ago.]
Just started re-reading the 1991 (..!) Gelernter classic Mirror Worlds. Nomen est omen, author-itywise.
Then it struck me: Mobiles weren’t invented back then; can you imagine ..?? And Home Improvement was the hit of the year. Some Tim Berners-Lee guy first proposed HTML. Even PCs version 1.0 were still not ubiquitous.
And then this Gelernter published this masterpiece about virtual worlds. Not some random tech prediction, but insightful, visionary stuff.
But the reason I give you this, is: In 2009, Layar started. Where has that gone ..!?
When you know what I’m talking about, you see the link with the above. And might wonder as well. Yeah, one can DuckDuckGo them, but that’s not the point, which is: Where’s the exponential unicorn disruptor daily jubilant news about them, whilst they have grown in prominence ever since ’90 ..? Why not ..?
Oh well, I’ll leave you with:
[Once, friggin’ SotA at Noto]
Lately, we have been reading a lot about Software Defined Everything (haven’t you …?), in particular sw-def networking. As the flexible way to the future.
Now, it turns out that humans may have had an edge over monkeys (and apes) by, for quite some time already, having had just that bit more software-defined Brain work than the competition. Though research is out also (since about half a year+) that apes using tools, have entered the Stone Age with that, for some 4300 years at least already. Now I will not refer here to the mix-up that your boss is, in this all.
But I will note that the Software Defined Everything, in similar vein is where the Singularity starts to take over, as the System evolves away from the human brain limitation to adapt to its environment. Yes, that’s a bit of thought stretch but you’ll manage. Still…
[At least the apes among you might figure out the Three-Body Problem at the table …; Nicolaci, Noto]
Today, just a simple link to an article you’ll find interesting — or find yourself not that.
As in: this here piece.
After which:
Uhhh okai then: The point of the matter is that here, we still have that idealistic vision in which AI would augment us, improve us, near-eugenetically though with prostheses, leaving so-hard-they-become-easy-by-not-being-recognized choices of the Hobson kind for the ones with least ethical scrupules, the early adoptors to collateral on the others. Early adoptors through the need for compensation of already lacking (basic…) capabilities…
Before becoming too negative, this:
[Think, self-rule, et al.; Dunedin again]
Just to be sure you’re not led off the Right(eous) path by all those DJs out there playing songs from or candidate for some “Top 2000”, herewith a repost of the real deal.
Which of course isn’t; it’s the Top 2266 for one thing and Definitive is slightly understating it.
And yes, it is downloadable in plain Excel, for your own tinker and play, in this file; checked and clean (no subversive content).
Next, a few little notes (repeated from last year):
Then, as a long, very long list. With a Moar tag otherwise it would be ridiculous… [i.e., for the complete list in the post, follow the link:]
Continue reading “Repeat mode: The definitive Top 2000 of 2015”
Voor sigaren bepalen we het profiel aan de hand van de criteria Smaak, Balans, Body, Sterkte, Aroma en Finish.
Voor Smaak pakken we het aromawiel erbij. Let wel I; wat u proeft of verwacht, kan gedurende de diverse fasen van het roken nog variëren... En let wel II; er zijn ook aspecten die nog niet zozeer als aroma staan aangegeven in het wiel, we denken aan termen als (ja de sigarenwereld is langzamerhand, helaashelaas US-, Engels geworden) zesty, tangy, floral, en earthy, of soms zelfs metallic. Lijkende termen die een combi zouden kunnen zijn van diverse aromas en papillaire en olfactorische/nasale sensaties en -tactiele invloeden. Hierbij komen termen als 'complex' uiteraard ook bijgepakt, om in dit geval te beschrijven dat er vele aromas herkenbaar zijn. Rustig roken, dat is niet alleen beschaafder en allerlei sigarenrokeneffecten-versterkend maar biedt ook meer kans om aromas te onderscheiden.
Balans is voor de hand liggend; of de zoete, zure, zoute en bittere tonen (OK, en 'umami'...) in balans zijn. Ja, ook bij een sigaar – al zal het meestal gaan over de balans tussen 'creamy' en 'spicy' en gaat het meestal mis door te veel bitter of te veel spiciness.
Body gaat over de volheid, in dit geval vooral te bepalen aan de volheid, dikte, dichtheid van de rook. Die ook een gevoel geeft; 'light' is als een licht bier, 'full-bodied' is als een rechttoe-rechtaan whisky of cognac.
Overigens hoort bij Body ook textuur, 'leathery', 'meaty', 'silky', 'creamy', 'soft', 'succulent', 'woody', 'chalky', 'dry', 'oily' en 'spicy'. Die dus net niet hetzelfde zijn als de aroma-indicatoren uit het wiel; soms overlappend. Niet handig maar zo is het nu eenmaal.
Sterkte is een wat eenvoudiger maat voor het nicotinegehalte van de sigaar. De topbladeren van een tabaksplant heeft meer nicotine dan de lagere bladeren – me(n) dunkt dat de topbladeren zijn waar de plant verder wil groeien en dus betere bescherming nodig heeft van de nico; lager is het wat ouder en 'expendible' dus ga je daar als plant niet je nico op concentreren ..? Waar de sigaar van gemaakt is, heeft dus invloed. Kan je meestal niet kiezen, maar wel proeven. Rustig roken is ook hier handig; om een nico-klap/duizel te voorkomen bij het opstaan.
Aroma dan, vervolgens. Ook hier kan het aromawiel worden ingezet. Vreemd genoeg is het moeilijk de aromas te bepalen als we zelf roken; iemand anders' rook kunnen we beter analyseren. Of we blazen de rook door de neus uit ('retrohaleren'), dan hebben we wel de volle verfijning (ga ik vanuit, lezer!) van onze neus ter beschikking. Bedenk bij het 'benoemen' overigens dat we veel meer uit ons geheugen putten, qua eten en drinken!, dan we wellicht zelf(s) denken. Dus rare smaken herkennen is niet raar.
De Finish ten slotte is kort of lang, naargelang de aromas lang op de tong (sic) blijven hangen. Milde sigaren zijn nogal eens kort – hetgeen niks zegt over de complexiteit, overigens. Hierin zit ook de reden om een zwaar (sterkte)kanon na een milde te nemen, niet andersom.
Als het gaat over de champagnes en hun profielen, pakken we er de (echte en semi-)klassieke wijn-analyses bij die we allemaal wel kennen; onderscheidend in [Hier verder. In ieder geval https://www.wijnwinewein.nl/hoe-proef-je-wijn/ en aromawiel + zuurgraad/tannines/body(viscositeit/alcohol/tannines/smaakintensiteit/mondgevoel)/afdronk + Aanzet/Zuren/Zachtheid/Tannine/Body en alcohol/Afdronk/Smaken dus de aromas bijna-los van structurele criteria. Dan de smaken matchen met die van sigaren, of niet; Klosse's overlap/contrasten erbij halen en dan verder. En toespitsen op champagnes... pak het smaak-plaatje van het CIVC erbij!]
Dear reader; bij deze dus de waarschuwing dat u vanaf hier (?, inderdaad, echt niet alleen hier) serieus te lange zinnen tegenkomt.
Ach, daar ben ik me prima van bewust, mijn hele blog is immers ook een poging tot schrijfoefening in alle facetten. Sommige posts daar blinken uit door korte zinnen en ellipsis; ook deze pagina is opgesteld als tegenwicht. En ik vertrouw erop dat u dat gewoon doorlezend aankunt.
Als voorbeeld: Oplettende lezers zullen opmerken dat onderstaande waar het uitweidingen achter links naar andere pagina's betreft wellicht beter met behulp van OnMouseOver's, alt-tekstblokken of andere tags per pop-uppable item zou kunnen zijn geïmplementeerd maar ik heb het zo gekozen en ik kan best komma's toevoegen in deze zin maar ook dat heb ik achterwege gelaten zonder de leesbaarheid of de begrijpbaarheid in het gedrang te brengen.
Inderdaad, het ontwikkelde, ik schreef, een en ander vanuit een voortdurende, voortgaande research. Na zoeken in het wilde weg algemeen, navraag bij het Comité (iv) Champagne, een aanvullend zelfzoeken met Google Satellite én Street View zowel rond de officiële als in het algemeen, kwam ik tot de Lijst Van (uiteindelijk) 84. De en passant gevonden kaarten leidden tot enige aanvulling. Toen kwam ik Weinlagen.de tegen en tsja dan ben ik niet meer te houden qua sys-te-matisch alle streken én plaatsjes af! Hoewel, ... in onderstaande tabel heb ik maar niet meer voor ieder stuks de Street View erop losgelaten of onderstaand ingevuld. Terwijl ik er vanuit ga dat dit alles nog aanvulling kan krijgen ... Les Clos Inconnus zijn uiteraard zichzelf.
De gangen kwamen al zeer onregelmatig door, en met andere tafels die uitliepen en/of (weer) bijtrokken, tot zeer ver inhalen zelfs, tot gang 6 van de 7 tachtig (schrijve: 80) minuten op zich liet wachten, ondanks diverse malen navraag. Waarna het nauwelijks-opgewarmde pompoen met koude polenta bleek te zijn; "dat hoort zo" ammehoela. Nee, het niet-koude nagerecht erna hebben we niet gehaald; we zijn opgestaan en weggegaan. Die zien ons nooit meer, zeker omdat de bediening ook Zwak was (gangen aan verkeerde tafeltjes serveren want die waren al twee gangen verder), etc. En balsimaco-saus dus, 'et al.'...
Huh, da's écht voor de Insiders..? Inmiddels wel toegestaan als aanplant, maar nog zo'n drie tot tien jaar onderweg voor er de eerste re-de-lijke wijnen van kunnen worden gemaakt en dan is het nog maar afwachten. Je weet het niet van tevoren hè, met zo'n <em>non-Vinifera</em> druivensoort..! En dan had je Floreal, Artaban en Vidoc nog niet gezien. Die mogen (in de toekomst) ook... En dan is het Comité Champagne ook nog bezig met kruisingen van de Top 3, Arbane, Meslier, en Gouais. #feest
Laherte Petit Meslier in the tasting round
Yes @laherteaurelien makes a monocépage of this one. Great Meslier it is:
The golden colour would suggest something dosée, but look closer and you notice a hue which points to slight bitter influences. And indeed, on the nose we get a whiff of smoke, certainly straight after the pour; quite an opportunity to use the word ‘empyreumatic’... Did I mention Meslier already? One to one it is. But nothing referring to your cooking qualities; it’s more like a distant secondhand puff of Belinda – I’d not suggest you buy that for comparison; trust me as smoker it’s trash but as Meslier aroma it’s excellent full stop. Crispy dry cigar smoke fits better.
Certainly, since this all is followed up, much more persistently, with quite some mature lemon and a whole slew of herbs and spices notes. It smells like a merry-go-round of eucalyptus, dill, thyme, spearmint, soft mint, basil, anison, verveine... wormwood even; those that know génépi, find it here, too.
The first sip jumps in with a most delicate mousse, a sensible but not too fatty mouthfeel, nicely balanced with lemon dominant in combo, and ginger/pineapple/mirabelle and dry lemon rind flipping back and forth. In the remarkably long finish, the rind does a gentle cleanse.
But I couldn’t find any cardamom that some mention, nor cocoa or coffee. All in all, in cocktail terms it would fit in the range of the French 75 and a Fleurette.
I’ve tried a little bite of camembert, but you shouldn’t. The bitter of the wine is lost but notches up in the cheese, which tastes odd. The fit with lightly aged Comté or same-Gouda is perfect, however. Sushi should work, too, if with a suitably subtle pinch of wasabi, no more – harsh coriander, algae, chervil, wasabi as such weren’t in the nose.
In summary: All of you should have a taste of this one, or one couldn’t be trusted on champagne connoisseurship.
[Degorge 12-2021, hence the progressed maturity]
Links:
https://maverisk.nl/de-forgotten-four/ for Petit Meslier
https://maverisk.nl/champ-sigaar/ on the cigar smoke angle
https://maverisk.nl/geneprima-spul-hoor/ on génépi
https://maverisk.nl/mirabelle-wil-iedereen-welle/ on mirabelle
@champagnepascalmazet make quite an interesting range of wines, fully certified bio since 1980. We tasted the Cuvée Originel bottling of 2014, for its 35% Pinot Blanc of course; interested to learn how such a Forgotten Four lead, with the three Usual Suspects trailing, would work out.
‘Splendidly’ is the answer.
The gold is striking, the nose is suitably complex. One gets mint, cucumber, cornichon tartness (I mean, the true kind of https://www.kesbeke.nl/) and some olive.
On the palate, it switches to agrumes-allsorts. Yuzu, lightly pre-ripened apricot (yes there’s acidity in there), sparkling grape (ah.) and a hint of almond already. This slowly develops into lemon-grapefruit on the one hand, and yellow curry / pineapple on the other, with a tangerine almost orange'y element integrating both sides. I’d say, there’s a marbling of mirabelle (in Dutch: https://maverisk.nl/mirabelle-wil-iedereen-welle/) running through it as well.
‘But’ overall it certainly is far from flubby (the 3g dosage having turned into the above, no sirup) or acidic. The quality of it all, and the light oak touch, twist all the richness back towards the freshness of citrus zest. And did I mention the mousse is still there, slowly releasing?
Towards the lingering finish, this all persists in a extremely well-balanced acidity and a hint of minerality and sophisticated bitterness.
Am I happy to have another one of these standing ready
Marie Courtin Présence
I bought the @ch_mariecourtin for the 1/3 Pinot Blanc (of course: https://tinyurl.com/ForgotFour !). High expectations, exceeded.
First off, the yellow-golden almost amber colour would promise some sweet almost creamy elements. But with a delightfully tingle from a fresh mousse, and a light bitter-tartness in the nose, the picture turns around completely. There’s Mirabelle ..! [As per: https://tinyurl.com/Mirabellepg]
The palate is perfect; not too much mousse so the real ‘wine’ taste is clear, and the Mirabelle keeps on coming. The mouth feel overall is well-balanced, and includes a soft minty/dill side with the lemon (plus some bittersweet orange even), moving into the grapefruit area and then the mirabelle’s back again. The very long finish has the mint/dill combo again, and an inkling of sugar. But with zero dosage, that’ll be the Chard and almost certainly the Pinot Blanc waving goodbye. Throughout, there’s a slight undertow of pickled cornichon (Amsterdam style; what else?)
All in all, it’s a wonderful demo of what Pinot Blanc can bring; lifting the Chard from its average whilst pulling itself up into high performance. Merging the best of both into Something Else of a great wine. This being a zero dosage, zero sulphur added, zero intervention wine, it also proves that ‘natural’ wines need not be f(l)unky. But on the contrary, one would hardly be able to tell.
The Présence is course material in so many ways. Am I happy? Well, not with six other dwarfs but yes, very much so.
The @champagne_gruet Cuvée Arbane …
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘭𝘴𝘦 entirely!
100% Arbane yes. Which brings a freshness too long lost. Reminds me of the bone dry styles of yesteryear, in a good, rather great way. Chalky without dust, minerality without flint. A wonderful conversation starter, on the good things of life.
With a fresh and quite light, lemon-white colour through which a very fine and persistent mousse promises delight. Then, on the nose, one gets a first whiff of floral notes; jasmine, elderberry, rose – followed by zingy but ripe lemon. When allowed to mellow in the glass (or a day in the bottle), the lemon slowly brings along some grapefruit, pineapple and (dry white) melon. All within measure, refined, nowhere too in-your-face’y.
The mouthfeel is brilliant with the mousse playing its role to keep the very well balanced aspects all quite light. The dosage is hardly noticeable – from the taste of it, one would estimate 2g. max, and notes of soft white peach, light albedo, with a very long finish on the thyme/mint/dill spectrum with the albedo bitters lingering on.
Would work miraculously with e.g., flounder with serious sauce and herbs, swordfish with almond crusting, maybe tuna or mackerel, or white meat.
Saw a score somewhere of 91/100, but that's too low.
Buxeuil doesn’t have any Arbane of its own (in production), but with this Gruet wine, it has a flagship.
Arbane being at only 0,018% (yes, percent) of Champagne’s acreage, this cuvée highlights the 'need' (want!) for quite an extension of that.
Tasting the Pinot Blanc champagne of Gruet of Buxeuil (@champagne_gruet). That’s right, a pure-bred PB champagne. (Be sure to pick the right one, at https://www.champagne-gruet.com/)
And it is a treat, indeed.
In the glass, we have a very fine mousse, well-integrated - it continues very, very long and doesn’t just give a one-off foam layer – through a pale gold, slightly varietal-typical PB wine.
On the nose, the typical character come through immediately, including a slightly fluffy air of white flowers around light tangerine / (white) peach / mirabelle, and a core of lime – keeping nicely short of being bitter.
The mouthfeel is light, but not fleeting. One gets beautiful straight near-ripe lemon, a waft of mint with white blossom, and some white pepper towards the back. Add to that lemon white skin with edges of red grapefruit.
Mind you; I had kept some for a second tasting, and four days (suitably cool storage) after opening, all this was still as fresh. No ‘dosage plays up after too much air’ or so; great.
A top recommendation, this one. If only to keep the Forgotten Four Cépages alive, as they deserve, but also for sheer tasting pleasure. Or ‘the trick one’ at a tasting experiment. Or for an apéritif or with whitish seafood (if not to lime’y or salty).
The Réminiscence 100% pinot blanc brut nature by @champagneericlegrand via @jeromeschampagne. Supposedly off 65+yr old vines, but one would be hard-pressed to tell that by the wine. What delicious freshness!
For a start: What would one expect from a pure PB champagne? Subtlety indeed.
It starts with a new capsule (for me, to further fill my https://www.deknudtframes.fr/en/catalog/product/s65sz2-/frame-in-black-for-champagne-caps which only applies to *different* capsules I tasted *at home*) – under a muselet to duly impress. After a good whiff, one can immediately pick up the something-different of this one. The first 80% is most clearly artichoke with some mint; not very strange since we just made such a dip for (neutral) crackers five minutes before.
After which, with careful nosing/tasting, we get a white-floral element with traces of almonds and yes even a hint of vanilla and the slightest of dried yellow fruit. This continues in the long developing taste, clearly adding ‘a point’+ ripe lemon (citron), with the etheric element slowly (very slowly) fizzling out. Can I say ‘retronasally’ there? As it tactilely *feels* that way for sure. Add some vanilla points in the long after.
All in all, a thing to be savoured. And, let’s promote these ‘forgotten four’ champagnes! Away with the factory work! (One suspects the 24x range by some famous grand marque points in the right away direction, too, qua hyper-mass production orientation.) The more sure we have of being able to choose to never have to taste a same champagne ever again in one’s lifetime. *If* one would want to – wines like the Réminiscence make one still would want to return often. Extend the plantation!
Another round for Gruet of Buxeuil (@champagne_gruet) – The Cuvée des 3 Blancs (as here)
With its matte gold, almost amber appearance and very fine mousse (hardly foamy but lingering in the mouth for a long, long time), we'd expect the Pinot Blanc to dominate over the Arbane and even Chard. It does. A little. But, as assemblages go, only a little; I'd rather say one can identify the PB by its gently soft but full agrumes/mirabelle character but there's a lot of exquisite light flowers – hawthorn – and herb'iness – in the sage, rosemary corner – already in the aromas. Would that be the continuum of the Arbane and Chard?
If one would want to take it analytically.
Savouring, one would enjoy the all-round calm structure, with a medium to full mouthfeel (nothing sticky). And just the image (?) of a surprisingly light white wine with lots of mature grapefruit, lemon and a slice of lime. From which the little bitter note lingers on in the back, most pleasantly refreshing, nothing astringent or harsh. Overall, certainly not chalky bone dry but a hint of mango.
Would I pair this all with food ..? That would be a. hard; a very careful cheese selection might do, b. interesting, to see where the flavours go (see below), c. not necessary, it's a wonderful treat on its own.
This, in a series of Forgotten Four tastings, as per this 'research'.
And the (aubépine and) mirabelle note, Gruet themselves also list. Nice, yet another example of that great aroma.
Plus, one of course has e.g., this and this book, or quite a few others, already..?
Of boek. Hoewel er een beperkt aantal boeken is dat ik hoog heb, zit er niet een[1] bij die nou net op het onderdeel dat mij respectievelijk interesseert, het α tot en met ω heeft. Waar-om en waardoor ik juist de verdere research wil/ 'moet' doen...
[1] Nou ja, deze komt in de buurt...