Vino Bambino

Just look at all these North Korean girl Sailors, they look like they've seen Madam Mao's "Red Detachment of Women" a little too often. Maybe Kim Jong-Il's current paramour and personal secretary, Kim Ok can come up with a model opera along the lines of Girls Goose Step on the Mizzen or HMS Kim Sailor Squad of Women.

Anyway their lock step motion would be a little amiss if they had access to the lovely and crisp NV 1+1=3 Cava that I tasted in my latest wine class. At 12.99 it's a great sparkler made in the methode champenoise way from Spain. Crisp, clean nice bubbles.

We also tasted a Gruner Veitliner (dear me, my spell check is going crazy, I don't know how the wine press stands it) a 2005 Nigle that was pale pale straw color, barely any color at all and with a spicy nose and nice acidity. It screamed out to be a food wine so I nibbled a little cheese, which had been sitting out for a gazillion years.

Speaking of faux pas, one of the students in the class brought an ice cold coke cola in with her and proceeded to sip from it, through out the class. Um, I may be a philistine but even I know that that is just bad form and even worse on the palate.

Our teacher's mantra is teroir teroir good - oak is bad. We had a landmark overlook chardonnay that was, as advertised by it's aroma, oaky and totally not worth the 23.00 you can get it for. Paired with that was a 2004 Hexamer Sobernheimer Marback Auslese, -7C. Which was a blonde ice wine with a bit of honey and minerals that was intensely sweet. But if you wanted to drink this with a bit of desert there you go. And of course, those sailor girls above would be tickled to drink it.

The 2006 Mas de Gorugonnier Rose looked like rose petals and had a tart cranberry and hibiscus flavor. After getting over the shock of it - I found it pleasant but didn't like it as well as the beloved C. did.

That followed with a 2005 Francesco Boschish Grignolino (From Italy) that was bitter and thin and that I did not like, but which the teacher thought was a far better example than the 2005 Ben Glaetzer Godolphin cabernet/shiraz blend from a famous Aussie wine maker that was inky inky opaque crimson in color with oak and berries in the nose. The taste has berries, grapes, pepper and oak (oak bad why drink wood?) with a tingly tannin finish. I rather liked it, even if it was a teeth stainer.

We finished the evening with NV Sandeman Royal Corregidor sherry that was dark topaz and smelled of leather and alcohol. It tasted like an old tweed study as well, with Morocco leather bound books and figs and sugar and tannin.