So I'm going to use this as a place for tasting notes, and a general discussion about wine. Most of what I know about wine I learned from Zach Mannheimer, espeacially when he was at Tempo. I started drinking wine with Thadd McQuade. Thadd's advice--which I believe is good for any novice--is to find some kind of wine you like and drink a lot of variety in it. For me, that starting point was Cote du Rhone. I haven't drunk as widely in it as I would like.
Tempo was mostly Italian and Spanish in the list and as a result many current favorites hail from here. There are so many varietals and regions and...oy. Sometimes I glory in how much there is to learn, and sometimes it's a bit much.
We all know that the the same varietals can have a range of expressions, but a turning point for me came in a trip in August of 07 to California. In the Russian River valley zinfandel had such a mind-blowing range of body and flavor that I couldn't sometimes believe we were drinking the same grape.
I mention this now because I'm having some of the same experience with this bottle of Pacifico Sur pinot noir from Chile. This is a wine that's really showing the importance of oxygen. The first sips were all right, but after a bit the wine developed a sourness that I've noticed in a couple of different bottles, almost a pickle juice flavor. If you let it get some more air the cherry starts to show, and the next day the first glass has an incredible spice. Lots of swirling can help get towards that spice again. It's an interesting sine, because I thought I didn't like it but at some points I do. I picked it up as part of the Red White and Bubbly 4-pack
It's a really interesting wine, and I didn't turn up much on the web. Let me know if you have any thoughts.
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