Château de Chambert Malbec 2014 (Cahors)

All is well from the moment you remove the quality cork which mutually transfers scent with the rich, full-bodied wine. One deliberates before taking that first sip: this is going to be an experience.

Lately I’ve been trying a different wine (or 2) every time I go to the store, to see what is out there and learn. This one was so good when I tried it a couple weeks ago that I wanted more. The taste is so well-rounded; nothing is over-pronounced. Contrary to lesser reds, the bitterness is tasted first; on swallowing, the palate delights in warm fruitiness. Overall it is deliciously dry throughout. You could take one heavenly sip and be satisfied; or get drink on the whole bottle without troubling your stomach or ruining your tastebuds.

Around $23. Worth every penny. Highly recommended.

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Weihenstephaner Helles

It's been a couple years since I last posted on The Discriminating Wino. Hopefully that means I've been more discriminating and less of a wino! As you all know, Weihenstephaner is one of my favorite brews of all time! If I'm still kickin' 'em back in 2040 (and I ever get around to getting my Real ID) I hope to be in Bavaria, Germany celebrating the 1000th anniversary of the World's Oldest Brewery! You've read about their festbier in my Oktoberfest roundup from a few years back...and now in general I like a brown glass bottle, the way the Germans been makin' 'em since long before I was born, not these canned 4-packs but that's the way the industry's going and as I was on a budget I had an opportunity to revisit their Helles, which I haven't had in a while. It's much lighter than the traditional Munich lager, which is darker and nuttier; but not sweet like a Weisse, closer to a Pilsner but...

One Fine Day (OEC, Ayinger, & Raynal)

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Augustiner-Braeu München Edelstoff

Perhaps the best commercially available beer imported to the States. That fruity, bittersweet taste of Münich; the sentimental languor upon your palette, soft and luxuriant, yet crisp and masculine. Outdoes even Wihenstephan. I sit here in the warm afternoon light of late summer, nostalgic for highschool, the long nineteenth century and the Middle Ages of our Lord before all this wretched progress. At least some things are done right.

The Discriminating Wino

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