Live Blogging Wine Blogging Wednesday

The Date: 10 June 2008

The Victims: Louise, Stacey, Feathers, Jen, Julie, Gerry

Exciting times…We’re live blogging Wine Blogging Wednesday #46 from my living room (even though it’s a Tuesday)…six wines (no, seven!) of the style of the Rhône…here we go…

E. Guigal. Côtes du Rhône. 2005. 13% alcohol. Our first wine is mine, bought at Waitrose for about a tenner. Chateau d’Ampuis. I’m probably getting the order of all the French names wrong, and for that you have my sincere apologies. Everyone is saying "Ew." Gerry says it has a bad aftertaste. Jen says it taste like pure alcohol. Julie says "Like Mad Dog 20/20" but she’s not drinking so she doesn’t count. Maybe a little oxidation.

Lou doesn’t mind this one–she got here late so the wine has had a chance to breathe. (Then again, she also admits that maybe she just really needed a glass of wine.) Stacey just got here and says of her first sip "It’s a bit alcohol-y." Her second sip "isn’t AS bad." At the end of the night, this is the 2nd most full bottle, and I think that says something.

Le Versaut Viognier 2006. Vin de Pays D’Oc. 12.5% alcohol. I say it smells nice. Jen says it smells like nothing.  Light. Lou wonders if it has a bit of a fizz. Definitely crisp. A little citrusy. Bought for £5.95 from the guy next to Cay Tre on Old Street. (Who knew!) Old man at shop comes running outta nowhere when he hears their request for a white Rhône and is super-enthusiastic about helping them. (This proves to be a common theme in most shops.) He says that this one is very nice. Alas, this is the 3rd fullest bottle sitting in my refridgerator at the moment.

M. Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône Belleruche 2005. 13.5% alcohol. The label is in braille! Smooth and vanilla-y. But Jen says it’s "grape-y." And "alcohol-y." (She also just said she doesn’t want to be the "dumb friend" on the blog so I’m going to work on that.) Stacey "digs the aroma of the third one." Which is fascinating because Louise says it smells lke a boy’s bedroom. We all seemed to lke this one though as it’s the 3rd emptiest at the end of the night…

Gerry purchased the Belleruche for £9.49 at London’s The Sampler on Upper Street, a great little wine shop with enomatic wine machines. This was after not being able to prove her age at Waitrose (she’s 33!) and not realzing that Majestic only sells by the case. With a little sneering at the poor choices at Odd Bins in between. Like Feathers, Gerry may just not be a great fan of Rhône whites

Cuvee Pere Berard. Vin de Table de France. No year. 13% alcohol. Very dark. Tastes like sherry…Jen asks for some more so she can truly comment beyond "grape-y and alcohol-y." She thinks it has a little "apple note" at the end. (By the way in the middle of this, I’ve just won a trip to Disney World. They ‘vejust called!) We’re not drinking a lot of number four…it’s still just sitting here in front of us. Last place.

Viognier de Jean-Michel Gerin 2005. 12.5% alcohol. Despite a less-than-glowing recommendation for the whites of the Rhône from Louise’s local off-license, we love this one. "It’s apricot-y," says Jen. (The shopkeeper tried to talk her into a Rhône red, but what he really wanted was for her to come to his wine tasting on the 26th of June.) Gerry says, "Yes, yes, all the books say Viognier is supposed to taste like peaches," at which point Jen announces, "Peaches, peaches! Yes it’s peaches." Which is it, Jen? First place in that it’s the only empty bottle sitting on my counter at the moment.

Les Portes du Castelas 2006 Côtes du Rhône 14% alcohol. Louise says her first whiff is of cannibis, but I think it might just be my neighbors. The wines are starting to all taste the same, according to Feathers and Gerry. Gerry is adding, "It tastes like a Brut champagne that’s gone flat." 2nd place. We very nearly emptied this one and I’m finishing it up as I polish up this very random post that isn’t turnng out to be anywhere as sophisticated as I thought it would be.

Sylla Viognier Vin de Pays de Vaucluse 2006. 13%. This is lovely. Stacey’s salesperson from Bedales in Spitalfields said it was "sexy." Gerry says "it goes down easy" and Feathers says "maybe that’s what sexy means." "Maybe it’s just because it’s the last one we’ve drank," says Jen. 4th place. But don’t worry. We’ll bring sexy back at some point. God knows I’ve got enough whites of the Rhone in my fridge to make it happen.

I will add pictures and maybe some other supporting detail soon…and I promise if I do this again, it will be co-ed.