Thursday, April 23, 2009

Book Club


I’m off to “book club #1” (I’m lucky to be in two clubs so I conveniently call them BC1 and BC2). We read The White Elephant by Aravind Adiga and I’m bringing a bottle of Chablis as a gift. No, not a jug of white wine that you might recall seeing gathering dust on the shelves of your local liquor store, but a bottle of the good stuff, that is just as good (if not better if you know what to look for) as Chardonnay.

It’s going to be 80 degrees today, so bringing a bottle of chilled Chablis will be delightful.

Today’s wine selection is J. Moreau & Fils. The wine is a vintage 2006 made from 100% Chardonnay grapes (also called Beaunois – I looked this up) and under $20. What I have found fascinating with Chablis is that true Chablis is the purest representation of Chardonnay. Chablis is the name of a medieval city and the wine region (between Paris and Beaune). I did not know. The bottle we had a while ago was fresh and light with a compelling citrus blend and I’m certain this will be one of the bottles that we will drink tonight. I’ll report back tomorrow.

WineyJanet is all about finding good wines for a fair price that those of us “ordinary” people who love a glass a wine for the purpose of drinking wine can enjoy. Please don’t drink and drive.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

"I Smell Dirt"

I was eavesdropping on a conversation the other day while having a glass of wine with my husband. I was intent listening to Darin (husband) talk about his recent travels to Antigo, Wisconsin, but the guy sitting next to Darin was sticking his nose far into his glass of red wine and telling his friend that he “smells dirt”. I lost my concentration.

Smelling dirt is not something I seek to identify when having a nice glass of red wine, but it intrigued me to listen in on their conversation to find out more (yes, my husband will tell you that I’m a total “Gladys Kravitz”).

He proceeded to stir his wine, smell it, and discuss elements of his adult beverage.

The guy was obviously a connoisseur of wines (or at least he had a great public show that captured everyone’s attention around him…especially mine) but it’s this type of chatter that I find fascinating and more prevalent when people drink wine in a social setting. Why can’t knowledgeable wine drinkers simply drink a glass of wine like how other people drink beer or a sip a cocktail? Why do you have to smell anything? And, better yet, why do you have to tell people what you smell as if we are not capable of smelling anything? I understand, based on my basic and limited, knowledge of the components of wines, that the “dirt” smell is referring back to the aroma the smell of the terroir (territory conditions where the grapes were grown) but still, do you really need to talk about dirt or anything else you might smell in your glass? I don’t think so!

WineyJanet is all about finding good wines for a fair price that those of us “ordinary” people who love a glass a wine for the purpose of drinking wine can enjoy. Today’s wine selection is Layer Cake. The wine is a vintage 2006 Primitivo (a.k.a. Zinfandel). It is made from 100% Primitivo from Puglia, Italy. You can find it for under $20. The wine is purple in color and if you don’t have allergies you should be able to smell black fruit and cherries. If you can’t smell them…who cares, enjoy anyhow.