Weekly wine update and more
Today's topic was wines of the Iberian Penninsula (Spain and Portugal, for those of you who aren't so good with geography). The focus was on fortified wines, which are basically wines with brandy added to make them stronger (15-23% alcohol by volume). Best of all, we got to try red wines for a change! Woo!
We started with a tasty white from Spain called Albarino that was tart, crisp, and refreshing with hints of citrus and some white fruits. Then we had Borsao, a red from Campo de Borja ($6) that was quite fruity (black fruits) and tasty. Next came a Rioja Reserva, which was decent, and a Prazo de Roriz, which hailed from the region in Portugal specializing in Port and which I found a bit too tannic. Maybe it'd be good with meat.
Next we tried sherry--amontillado, to be exact. That's right, now I have a Poe story to look up! I was a little afraid, having read "The Cask of Amontillado" at a young, impressionable age, but I got over it. It was a rich golden-amber and smelled really weird (nutty and sweet). It tasted like almonds. We were actually given an almond to try with it, but I didn't think the almond tasted better or anything as a result.
Port capped off the day. Port is a really strong, sweet fortified wine (with a whopping 9% residual sugar). We tried it with a Hershey's kiss because chocolate and Port go well together. As a good chocolate snob, I had really been hoping for something darker. Anyhow, the port was interesting but too sweet and too firey for me. If I want that kind of burn, I'll stick with Scotch, Cognac, or Armagnac. Jud really liked it, as did almost everyone else.
In other news, I finally got my leg checked out after having taken a hard fall about ten days ago. The motivation for this was that I can't bear to put it down on a mattress. The x-rays showed a strange little chipped spot, which my doctor felt was a small fracture but which might have been attributed to a childhood growth syndrome I never had. So he said we'd wait for the radiologist. It came back negative, so now I think I have to check into a second opinion. I've had x-rays of that leg since I reached my adult height, and the bone was always smooth. I even remember a number of doctors commenting about how nice the bones are.
I also called about reserving the chapel for my wedding, but the policy is correct online, so I have to wait for the first business day in August and then call really early. They only have four wedding times a day, so I want to be sure to get in first. At least they said the times are somewhat flexible.
Prospective students are coming to visit this weekend, so I have to hang around campus on Saturday to answer questions if they check out our lab. I'm hoping to get more information about that later.
And that's about all I know for now.
We started with a tasty white from Spain called Albarino that was tart, crisp, and refreshing with hints of citrus and some white fruits. Then we had Borsao, a red from Campo de Borja ($6) that was quite fruity (black fruits) and tasty. Next came a Rioja Reserva, which was decent, and a Prazo de Roriz, which hailed from the region in Portugal specializing in Port and which I found a bit too tannic. Maybe it'd be good with meat.
Next we tried sherry--amontillado, to be exact. That's right, now I have a Poe story to look up! I was a little afraid, having read "The Cask of Amontillado" at a young, impressionable age, but I got over it. It was a rich golden-amber and smelled really weird (nutty and sweet). It tasted like almonds. We were actually given an almond to try with it, but I didn't think the almond tasted better or anything as a result.
Port capped off the day. Port is a really strong, sweet fortified wine (with a whopping 9% residual sugar). We tried it with a Hershey's kiss because chocolate and Port go well together. As a good chocolate snob, I had really been hoping for something darker. Anyhow, the port was interesting but too sweet and too firey for me. If I want that kind of burn, I'll stick with Scotch, Cognac, or Armagnac. Jud really liked it, as did almost everyone else.
In other news, I finally got my leg checked out after having taken a hard fall about ten days ago. The motivation for this was that I can't bear to put it down on a mattress. The x-rays showed a strange little chipped spot, which my doctor felt was a small fracture but which might have been attributed to a childhood growth syndrome I never had. So he said we'd wait for the radiologist. It came back negative, so now I think I have to check into a second opinion. I've had x-rays of that leg since I reached my adult height, and the bone was always smooth. I even remember a number of doctors commenting about how nice the bones are.
I also called about reserving the chapel for my wedding, but the policy is correct online, so I have to wait for the first business day in August and then call really early. They only have four wedding times a day, so I want to be sure to get in first. At least they said the times are somewhat flexible.
Prospective students are coming to visit this weekend, so I have to hang around campus on Saturday to answer questions if they check out our lab. I'm hoping to get more information about that later.
And that's about all I know for now.
posted by megan at
10:05 PM
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