You know, writing and maintaining a blog is a lot like going to the gym.  Once you lose momentum, it can be real hard to motivate to get going again.  Speaking of which, I have got to get my growing ass back into a gym.  Sure my surgically repaired wrist has been a convenient excuse, but it is not like I can’t exercise other muscles.  Heck, I forget what the inside of a gym even looks like.  Come on…motivate Wine Tasting Guy!!!!

My writing focus is all out of whack.  Nothing overly compelling to write about, so I suppose I might as well talk about the compelling wine I drank the other night.  It was an old vine carignan and it was quite spectacular.  From Carmel vineyards in Israel, this wine comes from 35-40 year old vines – some of the oldest in Israel’s modern day winemaking world.

No official tasting note taken, but this rich extracted wine, with its notes of berries, herbs & bittersweet chocolate is a great alternative to a Cab or Merlot.  I think that among the special things one is rewarded with from an old vine wine is complexity.  And these complexities generally show themselves as the bottle is open for a little while.  This bottle was enjoyed by MANY (and I do mean enjoyed) at a large meal, so it did not have a chance to fully open and show its complexities, but I am sure to revisit it.

Finally I want to start talking a bit about the pending arrival of one of my favorite holidays – TURKEY DAY.  Thanksgiving is a short 10 days away and I am psyched.  The thanksgiving wine articles are starting to appear and I’ve begun to think about what wines to suggest to friends and what wines to open up at my meal.

But before I divulge what wines I DO suggest and which wines I might pop the cork on I figure lets start with what wines NOT I will likely shy away from.   Though some of my favorite wines are the BIG, ROBUST, FRUITY tannic reds, these are wines I will probably steer clear of.  These wines (and their big fruit flavors) will tend to overpower most meals,  let alone a nuanced meal centered on turkey.  These wines do real well with stinky cheeses and fatty cuts of beef.  An aged red will be softer than its younger counterpart and could be a better match, but you might want to reserve those young Napa Cabs for your weekend roast or Sunday BBQ rib-eye.

More on the wines I think do compliment a Thanksgiving meal soon…

Happy old vine sippin’!

WTG