07 December 2006

TN: Let the fennel in

[vineyards]Soard “Domaine de Fenouillet” 2005 Vin de Pays de Vaucluse (Rhône) – It sounds both unkind and unhealthy to say, but this is rustic old red wine made through grape-stained socks. The thing is, this footwear quality comes off as a good – though particular – thing, with the rough-hewn red and purple berries lent an actively organic aroma. There’s some vague nods in the direction of structure, but mostly this is a pleasurable representation of the kind of regional wine one doesn’t actually get to taste outside of the region of production; there’s freshly-ironed clothes and a comb taken to the hair, but the peasant within remains. (12/06)

3 comments:

Jamie Goode said...

Nice note. Really says something useful about the wine.

Anonymous said...

I think I get a sense of the wine from Thor's notes. Overall, maybe not terribly good, but good enough for its pedigree and origin, consumed in the right context. Dirty socks, at least, have more character than clean ones.

thor iverson said...

Thanks to both of you. Normally, I prefer my notes to be opaque even to the author, so clearly I'm slipping and must work harder.

Though honestly, I think I liked the wine a bit more than the note would indicate. But just a bit. I would cheefully gulp this down during a roadside picnic in the Vaucluse. I don't think I'd order it at Bocuse. In other words, Ken's got it right.