Pascual Toso Limited Edition Malbec 2009

Film 'Whatever Works' by Woody Allen (same vintage)

Pascual Toso 2009 Limited Edition Malbec

Mendoza, Argentina

"My story is whatever works. You know, as long as you don't hurt anybody. Any way you can filch a little joy in this cruel, dog-eat-dog, pointless black chaos."

ADM alone. Again.

Nose & Bouquet

Ripe plums, Vanilla, Dark Ruby/Burgundy

Taste & Structure

Super soft tannins, plums and dark cherry

Finish

Long oak/smoke finish

This bottle is so fantastic that I wish it was $5 cheaper so I could drink more of it. The fates have priced it just out of my budget, keeping me honest. Luckily, films from the library are still free of charge if you return them on time. Thank you Goldhawk Park for sending this DVD to my local. This wine is nicely paired and balanced with anything starring Larry David.

Who needs food with wine like this? Anorexics take note. I'm inspired to live daily on whatever number of calories are in this bottle.

4.5 out of 5. And this film is rated the same way all Woody Allen films (especially dialogue) are rated (5 out of 5). 

Baron Philippe De Rothschild Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

MONDAY AUGUST 29th 2011

Labour Day Long Weekend & Wine Pt. 2


Album Cure 'Disintegration'
Baron Philippe De Rothschild Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Maipo Valley, Chile


Nose & Bouquet
"Juicy" "Juicy Fruit"


Taste & Structure
"Cherries" "Sour Cherries" 


Finish
"Dry on the finish" "Time to eat cheese" "Parrots"


Album Supertramp 'Even in the Quietest Moments'

Domaine de La Vieille Ferme de L'Eourne Rasteau 2010

MONDAY AUGUST 29th 2011

Labour Day Long Weekend & Wine

Album Diana Ross 'All the Great Hits' on Vinyl

Domaine de La Vieille Ferme de L'Eourne Rasteau 2010
Côtes du Rhône, France


A.D.M. & L.S. only

Nose & Bouquet
"Ruby red" "Dark fruits" "This wine smells like the kind you regret if you don't eat enough with it"

Taste & Structure
"This bitch's got legs!" "Not leggy at all" "Light-bodied"

Album Original Broadway Soundtrack 'Dreamgirls' on Vinyl

Finish
"Is it time to eat yet?"

Album U2 'Joshua Tree' on Vinyl

Masi Tupungato 2009

Film 'Mighty Aphrodite' by Woody Allen

Masi Tupungato Passo Doble 2009 Malbec

Vigneti La Arboleda Tupungato, Argentina

ADM alone.

Nose & Bouquet

Smokey, Vanilla

Taste & Structure

Tart, tannins, leggy, dark cherry & blackberry

Finish

Short, tight, sharp

Great alone. Any Woody is. The film makes the wine seem better than it is...this was a recommendation from the LCBO when the Malbec I wanted couldn't be found. At $4 more than I was looking to spend on a Malbec from Argentina this was v. disappointing.

Could have used a rich dish to make the cut worth the bite.

2.5 out of 5. I'm afraid expectations were high and the film is so fantastic (5 out of 5 for the film).

Midnight Monday E-mail to Mike about the Bottle He Bought Me.

Mike bought me a great bottle for my birthday a few years back. I've got a note out to him on the details of that bottle. I remember it was Kosher and fantastic. Here's what I e-mailed him at midnight the night I drank it. Alone. It's an oldie, but goodie.


'mike, i'm drinking your bottle alone as i said i would. i am thinking about how one actually becomes a writer with no income, no guarantees, etc. but this wine deserves a review, it's very good. so here it goes. i don't read reviews but i know a little lingo. it's smooth, at the start it's very playful. actually, it's quite the tease. man, does it have legs! it's dark berry or cherry for sure, I think, but really i taste that it's earthy. hazelnut. it's calm at the centre of the storm. spikey on the finish. i'm on glass #3 and it feels like an old friend. it's that kind of heavy feeling, the weight from the years and obligation, like it knows all your secrets and failures, but still has that surprise kick you like so much and so it makes you want to keep it around for a while.' [sic]

Giordano Collection Primitivo di Manduria 2008

TUESDAY MAY 3rd 2011 (Pt. 7 of 7)

Song 'Alpha-Forever Young' by Jay-Z

Giordano Collection Primitivo di Manduria 2008
Puglia, Italy.

Nose & Bouquet
"Black cherry" "Figs" "Tobacco" "Canoeing in the summer"

Taste & Structure
"Very bold" "No tannins" "Prunes" "Sweet bread" "Metal and tin" "Very leggy"

Finish
"Short" "After 7 bottles, they all work the same"

L.S. "I can't buy Lady Gaga on vinyl"
N.A. "Why?"
L.S. "They'll judge me"
K.A. "They work in a record shop"
L.S. "I know, they're cool man!"

Song 'The Lazy Song' by Bruno Mars & Willow Smith

L.S. (to A.D.M.) "This is the 'today I don't feel like doing anything' song I told you about.

Song 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' by Will Smith

Unknown "Your mom loves Bruno Mars"
Unknown "Your mom's name is Bruno?"

At this point, it appears everyone in the room with the exception of N.A., A.D.M. and A.V. have been twittering at or about each other and it now becomes clear in 'the real world' that people have caught on/read the tweets to others/about them. A twitter fight breaks out.

T.B. "Gimme that back!"

Song 'Look at me now' by Chris Brown

N.A. "Are you guys talking on twitter instead of in person?"

Song 'I wanna see you tonight' by Chris Brown
Song 'All of the lights' by Kanye West

N.A. "Let's take a cab, I can't walk to the streetcar"
M.S. "It's under 10 minutes"
N.A. "Ya, but once you get there you don't know how long until it comes"
L.S. "That's what she said"
L.S. or N.A. "Fur real. Can you write that? 'Fur real'"

Unknown "Fur Real Friends is an animal that acts like a real one - my friend's kid named her's Crystal"
Unknown "That's a stripper name. How does she know that name?"

Song 'Notorious' by Biggie Smalls
Song 'Drop it like it's hot' Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell Williams

Unknown "2 p's"
Unknown "I didn't actually pull my groin, actually"

1 out of 7 (A.D.M.) definitely LOVED this wine.
It is unknown how many liked this wine.

Citra Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2009

TUESDAY MAY 3rd 2011 (Pt. 5 of 7)

Album 'Interpreting the Masters, Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall & John Oates'
by The Bird and The Bee (iTunes)

Citra Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2009
Abruzzo, Italy.

Nose & Bouquet
"Sweet" "Spicy" "Juicy"

Taste & Structure
"Tart" "Sweet" "Fruity" "Pepper" "Plums"

Finish
"Long" "Medium" "Medium to Long"

T.B. "It's making my mouth water. It's tart"
N.A. "You said that on the last one"
K.A. "Maybe you have a very limited vocabulary"
N.A. (to A.D.M.) "Are you still drinking the last one?"
A.D.M. "This one isn't going to be the same"
L.S. "It's like when I told Judy about the Judy Reviews. It's not the same now"
M.S. "Who's Judy"
L.S. "My mom"
M.S. "You reviewed your mother!?"
A.V. "Thesauri 'tart' for T.B."

L.S. googles for a thesaurus online.

L.S. "Short, sharp, harsh, nasty...it's like you A.V., scathing, snippy, snappy...it's got you pegged!"
A.V. "Does someone want to start a dating page for me?"
M.S./K.A. "We vote L.S. off the island"
L.S. "Hey!"
M.S./K.A. "You can still earn your spot back"
A.V. "If you eat ALL the cheese - in 3 minutes! Go!"
N.A. "I'll do it for her!"

K.A. "Who said 'totes magotes'?"
L.S. "These two said it first. They met Jason Segel at the premiere"
A.D.M. "I was going to raise my hand and say that A.V. was recently dumped just as badly and that she's desperate and would he like to go out with her"
Unknown "That's so sad"
A.V. "I'm the oldest"
N.A. "L.S. is pretty old"
A.D.M. "Have we rated this one yet?"
A.V. "Rated? Or berated?"

T.B. "I know this bread. It's Ukranian"
A.D.M. "You said you were Canadian back there"
K.A. "You said you were German. You can't say German if they just lived there"
T.B. "They were born in the Ukraine but lived most of the time in Germany"
K.A. "You can't say you're German if you just lived there"
T.B. "They were just born in Ukraine. They didn't live there"
K.A. "You've been living a lie"

There is some discussion of the website "Baby: Hot or Not" or this is a discussion as to whether the new album by Jagged Edge 'My Baby' is Hot or Not. It is unclear.

L.S. "Tell her M.S. says 'mmm sweet'. My line is 'so sweet'"
N.A. "I can't talk, ADM is not here"
K.A. "You like controlling things"
L.S. "Honest, I'm a humanist"
(Note to reader: Unclear whether it was 'humanist' or something else with an 'h')
N.A. "Let's smell!"
A.V. "It's spicy. Is that a word?"
N.A. "That's not listed in the flavours"
T.B. "It's melon-y"
K.A. "Which one is orange?"
T.B. "Cantaloupe"
K.A. "I hate cantaloupe"
L.S. "Cantaloupe is the filler and Honeydew is the delicious one"
N.A. "They are both filler"
A.V. "In Japan it's $48 for a cantaloupe because it's the aesthetically pleasing one"
L.S. "We should be exporting them to Japan"
A.V. "Don't say import/export around A.D.M."

N.A. "I wanna wear a fake tattoo sleeves top"
A.V. "This wine is making me sneeze"
N. A. "You know what confuses me? That I don't know what your real last name is"
A.D.M. "Who likes this wine?"
A.V. "I like it"
L.S. "Oh, I forgot and started chugging it"
N.A. "I don't think it's complex enough for me"

Chaos.

K.A. "The XC60 is as fruity as this wine"
L.S. (to N.A.) "What's your name again?"
N.A. "N.A."
L.S. "N.A. wants to know why you only have one wing tattoo"

The next note is a picture - it is a pumpkin with a face with bubble cheeks and a Euro happy face nose as well as stem & leaves on top of it's head. It says A.V.'s face next to it.

T.B. "It doesn't matter if you model if you smell bad"
K.A. "I remember that guy. He was a really great dad"
T.B. "You don't know that"
N.A. "I thought you were going to say, nevermind we're not allowed to say what I was going to say"

It appeared that at least 3/7 liked this wine.

Please comment below if you have tasted this wine.