I had a fine time yesterday afternoon at the wine tasting organized by the amaziing puppeteer, Mary Robinette Kowal's apartment. Her husband is a wine geek and was a boutique winemaker in Portland, Oregon.

So about 12 of use nibbled, chatted, and sampled three "flights" of wine: rose, Chardonnay, and Cabernet. It was fun and illuminating. One thing learned: you can't eat asparagus with wine--the chemical reaction makes the wine taste awful. So cleanse your palate with bread if you're drinking wine with your dinner and asparagus is being served. We tasted a cooked cork wine (I think that's what it's called)--when the cork starts coming out because the wine has been overheated in transit (or in your apt)...awful. Throw it out should this happen.

I've never been a fan of rose but we had one pretty good one. We had three whites (one the cooked cork one) and one was excellent. Again, I started out disliking whites a lot, probably because the ones I had tried years ago were either cheap California whites or Liebfraumilch from Germany--too sweet for a dry but not sweet enough for a dessert wine. I've come to like them since Dirk Flinthart of Tasmania took me on a winery tour a few years ago. That's where I drank lichee nut wine that was brilliant (and unfortunately, not exported from Tasmania). I still prefer deep reds. Margaux, medoc, that sort of stuff.

Last night my living room blacked out for over an hour--this happened several months ago and I had no electricity in my living room and in the overhead light in my bedroom over a holiday weekend. It wasn't the fuse. The electrician came the Tuesday after that holiday (I had to take my laptop to a cafe around the corner to use their wifi) and said it was something in the connection in the overhead light in my living room. He supposedly fixed it so it should not have happened again--and there's no reason it should have gone back on after a period of time. I left a message with my super last night and will confer with him tomorrow.


Finally, a wonderful brunch today with friends (upper west side two days in a row-shock!).

From: [identity profile] pm-again.livejournal.com


Mary has so many talents and a cool Icelander to boot! I hope that she and Rob experience much success in NYC.

Hope your lights are fixed for good. I suppose I could talk with your super and tell my joke about having his legs broken but really I wouldn't joke about that :)

But it is so annoying sometimes to be at the mercy of those who seemingly or perhaps actually do not care.

From: [identity profile] ellen-datlow.livejournal.com


My super cares--he did everything he should have when it happened the first time. Part of the problem is that we used to have a super living in the building, so in emergencies we could just knock on the door and yelp, "help!" But that super died and his widow couldn't really take care of the building on her own. She lost the apt and moved in with her sister, who lives upstairs. Since then, the super is not in the building (so the landlord could get someone new in to pay much more than the super and his family had paid).

Anyway, my super checked the circuits that are responsible for the living room lo, those many months ago and didn't know what was wrong. So an electrician came in and noodled around, checked the connection in the overhead light, did something (I don't know what) and voila the electricity came on...until last night. So it's worrisome. I don't want to become a statistic of wiring in walls catching fire.

From: [identity profile] pm-again.livejournal.com


Don't blame you for that.

Guess that would make me want to move my more valuable items into storage.

Seem to recall that you were without heat earlier in the year. Perhaps its the landlord who is uncaring?




From: [identity profile] ellen-datlow.livejournal.com


That, in NY, is a truism.

>>>>Perhaps its the landlord who is uncaring?

From: [identity profile] nballingrud.livejournal.com


That sounds like so much fun. Since working at the Biltmore Estate I've taken a few wine courses; recently one of the wine reps gave us an array of reds and whites with a small selection of different tastes -- salt, sugar, nuts, cheese, chocolate, etc. -- and had us experiment with pairings. It was revelatory. I still prefer reds myself; I love a good chianti.

From: [identity profile] ellen-datlow.livejournal.com


I had the best chianti ever in Rome a few years ago. Unfortunately, I was too shy to ask what it was and write down the info, so I'll never find it again...
Mary promises future wine tastings. Yum!
lagilman: coffee or die (Default)

From: [personal profile] lagilman


Have you tried German Rieslings? Pick up a kabinett, stay away from the spatlese. Lovely soft taste, a hint of citrus, and very little sweetness.

I'm a huge fan of a well-made rose -- sadly, the trend in the States has always been for sweeter blush wines rather than the steely, dryer taste I associate with French roses. Perfect to open on warm afternoons, and when eating spicier foods...

(hey, you mentioned wine. sure way to get me to appear!)

From: [identity profile] ellen-datlow.livejournal.com


LOL. Well, lovely to see you here :-)

Re: German Rieslings--Not lately. Is kabinett a type of wine? Yes, I don't like the sweeter blushes at all.
lagilman: coffee or die (Default)

From: [personal profile] lagilman


with a major simplification and always bowing before actual experts....

When ranking the ripeness and sweetness of German rieslings, kabinett is the lowest, or dryest ranking, with spatlese next up (a well-made spatlese isn't overly sweet either, but it is riper and more full-bodied), and then up to auslese (I may be spelling that wrong) which I normally can't drink. And then you get the really sweet wines that are best served in small glasses with blu cheeses and foie gras...

(damn. Now I'm hungry)

/wine geeking

From: [identity profile] ellen-datlow.livejournal.com


Geek away. It's fascinating ;-) I think I need to go to a lot more tastings, it really is fascinating.
lagilman: coffee or die (Default)

From: [personal profile] lagilman


if you click on the "alcohol" tag in my LJ, you should get an overdose of geekery....

From: [identity profile] ellen-datlow.livejournal.com


Oh I adore single malts and I do like Balvenie. Although I've tried different Islays, I still think Lagavulin is still my favorite. I can't describe them at all though--just know what I like...
themadblonde: (Default)

From: [personal profile] themadblonde

Lovely weekend!


& I'm w/ you on whites. Just haven't had enough to my taste to really appreciate them. I know I do NOT like Chardonnays. But then I'm very "middle of the road" in my wine taste- I don't like it too dry either (don't much care for Cabs). My favourite is probably a GOOD Pinot Noir, but I also love good Margaux (are there BAD margaux?) & bordeaux. Not enough experience w/ medoc to know how I feel about them.

From: [identity profile] ellen-datlow.livejournal.com

Re: Lovely weekend!


I've never met a margaux I didn't like --so no! Medoc and Haut medoc are yummy. I don't really know the diff between Margaux and Medoc's but I think they're "chewier" if you know what I mean ;-)
themadblonde: (Default)

From: [personal profile] themadblonde

I do!


I like a chewy wine as long as it's not so dry that it tastes like blood. I've had one or two bordeaux that were THAT dry & still chewy.

From: [identity profile] ellen-datlow.livejournal.com

Re: I do!


Don't think I've had wine that tasted like blood, but sometimes they're more sour than I think they should be...I don't know the correct descriptive words for wine so I'm flailing about here!
themadblonde: (Default)

From: [personal profile] themadblonde

Despite the fact...


that the wine afficianados are always going on about art & technique, I swear they make 1/2 of it up as they go along.
.

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