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and what wines they reminded me of!

- Burnt spinach on the top of San Remo’s pizza pie… smells like Cote Rotie, or the “Burning Slope” of Northern Rhone Syrah grapes.

- Freshly crushed tangerine seeds… smells like dry Frascati! Malvasia or Trebbiano grapes from just outside of Rome usually known as sweet dessert wine, but when “secco” (i.e., dry) is on the label it makes a challengingly bitter white wine.

- A kiss from a person drinking whiskey, smoking cigarettes, and eating cherries from the bar… tastes/smells like Castilla y Leon (northwestern Spain) wine using Tempranillo and a large helping of Calabres grapes fermented in old oak barrels. It’s been a long time (if you know me well, you should be questioning whether any of this anecdote is true!) since anyone at an even half-reputable bar has kissed me, but darned if my memory of it does’t taste just like a freshly popped bottle of Salamanca red!

Smells, Syrah, Tempranillo | No Comments

Some quick notes about what I smelled this week (other than wine) to keep my curious nose happy!

Celeriac (Celery Root) - Literally the ugly (sorry, but you are) almost dirty white alien-faced root of the celery plant. Somehow it smelled like celery-dominated beef broth. 

Yellow Plums - Hearty tropical yellow flavors… I’m not sure I’ve ever smelled this in a wine, but I’m going to be looking out for it because I didn’t really like the flat yellow aroma these gave off. 

Yellow Tea Roses - Such a small but still savory flower.

Dogwood Flowers - SO STINKY! It reminds me of spring semesters in college with just enough time before exams you had no imminent reason to freak out. Dogwood actually - in my mind - is slightly related to the “Cat Pee” you can smell in so many Sauvignon Blanc-based wines so I’ll have to start using this descriptor a bit more.

Kiwi - Whoa, real kiwi smells nothing like the fancy soaps!

Blackberries - Tart black fruit aromas. Blackberries, black cherries, and black currants… once you really get down to it… don’t taste all that much alike. There’s a big difference between the bitterness, the sourness, and the creaminess they have respectively. 

QUINCE - HOLY COW THIS IS SO MUCH LIKE THE LAST RIESLING I HAD THAT I WANT TO PUREE IT AND DRINK IT! Aromatically, it’s a cross between an apple, a pear, and a pineapple. Think of a slightly tropical, slightly stoney spiced apple.

Smells | No Comments