WTN: where I fear that I am going off wine.

Do you ever go through a phase where you think that you are going off wine?

I’ve just come out of one. I returned from Rome (about which more when my son sends his pics) a couple of weeks ago with a hacking cough. This may have been the cause of this bad phase or, rather, the pills and cough syrup prescribed by my doctor to get rid of it. Alternative explanations are poor pairings or just mood.

Reds suffered more than whites with the bitter elements being brought out and the aromas seeming scalped. Château Saint-Pierre Saint-Julien grand cru classé 2003 didn’ taste like claret let alone Saint-Julien; quite full bodied and a bit jammy with dark fruit flavours and aromas infused with more timber than I like and followed by a quite dry finish; it may have been a vintage effect but I have read TNs on Cellar Tracker which sound like a different wine. Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne Cuvée Prestige 2004 Domaine de L’Oratoire Saint-Martin tasted even worse although this is a top cuvée from one of my favourite Rhône estates; jammy with a unpleasant dry streak running through it. Saint-Chinian Clos de la Simonette 2007 Mas Champart, from Mourvèdre 70% and Carignan 30% matured for 18 months in demi-muids (20% new), impressed me enough at a tasting to buy some bottles but this one, whilst showing less harshness than the two previous, seemed rather dull if full of rather inexpressive matter. Furthermore two of my QPR stand-by reds Cahors Croze de Pys 2009 and Chinon Moulin à Tan 2008 seemed totally without interest and a touch harsh; but maybe it was just familiarity breeding contempt unlike with more complex wines.

Happily by the middle of last week things improved with my mood helped by the gorgeous Indian summer (maxima in the upper 20s C/lower 80s F), which has ended this morning. A quite surprising candidate for a re-awakening was Obsession IGT Toscana 1999 Vignamaggio, made from Merlot, CabSauv and Syrah; full/medium bodied with fine savoury red and dark fruit, bright aromas with perhaps a hint of varnish and a trace of Tuscan tang and mercifully free from Merlot jamminess, good structure and length; 16.5/20. Less surprising but gratifyingly good and tasting like claret was Château La Tour Carnet Haut-Médoc grand cru classé 1996; medium bodied with fruit not unlike Obsession’s, that herbaceous edge which I love in Médoc, minerals and firm but non-harsh tannins towards the finish; 16.5/20. (I read that this estate is now owned by Bernard Magrez .)

The only white of note was Jasnières Caligramme 2004 – Domaine de la Bellivière, Éric Nicolas. I usually love the wines of this estate but this 2004, like the same estate’s and vintage’s Vieilles Vignes Éparses, disappointed slightly due largely to a streak of cigar ash characteristic of the year which bothers me somewhat; medium/light bodied with some underlying roundness and an impression of slight sweetness balanced by good acidity making it decent paring with fish in a beurre blanc sauce. Visiting the Bellivière website just before dinner, I noticed that Nicolas recommends decanting and service at as low as 9°C; there was no time to decant but I did cool the wine down as the meal progressed and found that as a result, together with more air by the last glass, the wine seemed better focussed and more mineral with the cigar ash more in the background; usually I find that too much chill diminishes Loire chenin. Still not an outstanding Bellivière; 15.5/20.

[David M. Bueker]

I had such a phase right after I came back from vacation. I really had no interest in wine for a week or 10 days.

Thankfully that has passed.

I had one for about a week right before vacation to central coast california. Actually stretched into the first few days of vacation and may have been a blessing in that it probably saved me money on wine purchases. It stopped me from buying things that were only good. By day three of the trip, it had passed.

Happily by the middle of last week things improved with my mood helped by the gorgeous Indian summer (maxima in the upper 20s C/lower 80s F), which has ended this morning..

These off-periods happen, but if that late summer warmth was accompanied by high humidity that often makes wines show poorly in my experience.

Or maybe you just need to open some great Burgundy.

Hey, it happens periodically. Antibiotics, like the -mycins, can do that. This too shall pass.

Hey, it happens periodically. Antibiotics, like the -mycins, can do that. This too shall pass.

The pills were called Azithromycin, so I guess that you have hit the nail on the head, Hoke; the cough mixture also coated my mouth with a cloying film but I took care to take it long away from meals.

It's rather humbling to discover how inconsistent an instrument the palate can be and I guess that variations from person to person are huge. It makes me less intolerant of people who complain about acidity and harsh tannins in, say, a Bordeaux which seems delicious to me.

Hey, it happens periodically. Antibiotics, like the -mycins, can do that. This too shall pass.

The pills were called Azithromycin, so I guess that you have hit the nail on the head, Hoke; the cough mixture also coated my mouth with a cloying film but I took care to take it long away from meals.

It's rather humbling to discover how inconsistent an instrument the palate can be and I guess that variations from person to person are huge. It makes me less intolerant of people who complain about acidity and harsh tannins in, say, a Bordeaux which seems delicious to me.

Because I am blessed/cursed with a particularly vivid memory, I have witnessed over the past 45 years the gradual decline in acuity of several of my senses (smell, particularly, hearing and sight to lesser extents). While to date this presents no great problem for me, it is a harbinger of things to come. (I do lament the days when I found Monterey Jack cheese to be a rich, nutty wonder rather than the insipid, bland cheese of today with the hypothetical of what I could discern in a bottle of Dönnhoff Riesling or Dujac Clos de la Roche had I that sensitivity today). If anything, it's a goad to me to not wait too long before opening some of those cherished bottles.

"Eat and drink today, for tomorrow you may have no sense of smell"

Mark Lipton

Hey, it happens periodically. Antibiotics, like the -mycins, can do that. This too shall pass.

The pills were called Azithromycin, so I guess that you have hit the nail on the head, Hoke; the cough mixture also coated my mouth with a cloying film but I took care to take it long away from meals.

It's rather humbling to discover how inconsistent an instrument the palate can be and I guess that variations from person to person are huge. It makes me less intolerant of people who complain about acidity and harsh tannins in, say, a Bordeaux which seems delicious to me.

Because I am blessed/cursed with a particularly vivid memory, I have witnessed over the past 45 years the gradual decline in acuity of several of my senses (smell, particularly, hearing and sight to lesser extents). While to date this presents no great problem for me, it is a harbinger of things to come. (I do lament the days when I found Monterey Jack cheese to be a rich, nutty wonder rather than the insipid, bland cheese of today with the hypothetical of what I could discern in a bottle of Dönnhoff Riesling or Dujac Clos de la Roche had I that sensitivity today). If anything, it's a goad to me to not wait too long before opening some of those cherished bottles.

"Eat and drink today, for tomorrow you may have no sense of smell"

Mark Lipton

Hmm. Looks like Limburger and rotundifolia in your future.

[
Because I am blessed/cursed with a particularly vivid memory, I have witnessed over the past 45 years the gradual decline in acuity of several of my senses (smell, particularly, hearing and sight to lesser extents). While to date this presents no great problem for me, it is a harbinger of things to come. (I do lament the days when I found Monterey Jack cheese to be a rich, nutty wonder rather than the insipid, bland cheese of today with the hypothetical of what I could discern in a bottle of Dönnhoff Riesling or Dujac Clos de la Roche had I that sensitivity today). If anything, it's a goad to me to not wait too long before opening some of those cherished bottles.

Fair enough. But isn't Monterey Jack normally an insipid bland cheese? Perhaps they made it differently in the past.

The pills were called Azithromycin...

Tim,

I am on Azithromycin right now for a bacterial souvenir that I picked up on my recent trip to China. The side effects leave me with no interest in tasting, or smelling a wine at all. When I did taste a red wine (Cal Cab) with my wife the other night it was decidedly salty! I couldn't stand it. I'm off wine until I get over my ailment and off the meds.