I Drink, therefore I Run

Sunday evening, a joint of beef, and what better than a cracking bottle of claret! I have just received a mixed case of classed growth 2002s, and I didn;t intend to broach any of them for a couple of years at least. However, Steven Spurrier spoke well of the GPL 2002, so I thought - ok, why not! I decanted several hours early, and it needed it. There's a lovely gentle curranty nose, but fairly simple, not deep or complex. On the palate, still a bit closed, but with some nice fruit. This wine is in its late teenage years, and still has a bit of time before it shuffles off the awkwardness of youth. My sense is that this si going to be a very nice wine in about, oh, I think, 5 years! Right now it is enjoyable but not at its best. Ah, such promise. In a way, this wine reinforces my old statement that I would rather drink a wine too early than too late. And so it proves, for this was enjoyable, albeit not at its best. However it was far better than if it had been too mature, with pa...

Friday evening. Ahh! Lovely relax after a challenging week. I ran into work today and back again. As a green travel plan it is pretty tough. But, two runs in a day is what the real professionals do - and it sets your metabolism up and running twice a day, not once, so it torches calories! So, a good wine was called for this evening. This was the second bottle of this wine, Qupe Syrah 2007 (Majestic, about £18) from a wonderful estate in California. You will first note that the wine is labelled Syrah not Shiraz - already the winemaker is guiding us that he is searching more for balance and subtle fruits, not a blockbuster. The wine has a lovely meaty nose, quite gentle. On the palate, lots of soft, subtle fruit, a bit of oakiness, very soft tannins, and a nice fragrance (violets?) that lingers in the mouth. All in all a warm and wintry wine, and one that will go very nicely with tonight's chosen supper, a tomato sauce with linguine. Lovely.