Expanding my Descriptors

Dear Friends and Readers,

Although I try to give some meaningful details, when I write about a wine I try to focus more on context than on descriptions of flavor or aroma. That said, many of you have contacted me in the past few months asking me to me more specific about aromas and flavors, to use more and better descriptors.

Although at first I felt kind of sad about this, I tried it out on my own last night and it was a lot of fun. So thanks for your comments and requests, and here is the first example of a whole new type of wine writing here at Brooklynguy's site:


2007 Cupcake Vineyards Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon, $11, full disclosure - this wine was sent to me as a sample. Oxblood purple with ruby rims and a sparkly garnet core. Aromas of black licorice (the Swedish kind that comes in little nuggets), cloves, coriander, cardamom, cumin, other spices that begin with the letter "c," pipe tobacco, cigar box, cigar, humidor, cedar, spruce, birch, oak, and brown licorice. Layers of sweet fruit, including black cherry, Washington State white cherry, red cherry, sour cherry, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, Pinkberry, marionberry, lingonberry, blackberry, mulberry, cranberry, gooseberry, and huckleberry, with subtle undercurrents of black plum, red plum, yellow plum, and prune. The finish is a gentle kiss of caramel, salted caramel, espresso, macchiato, regular drip coffee, hazlenut, almond, Brazil nut, woodsmoke, and sandalwood.

A great value at $11, particularly if you cannot afford to or do not wish to purchase all of those products individually.