Thank you very, very much to the Corkdork for hosting this Wine Blogging Wednesday, on the theme of "The Spark - the wine that got you hooked". In writing this post, it turns out I've managed to make a fair go of summing up everything about me and wine and blogging.

To start with the meta:

• late  - that's me. Congenitally late in more or less everything (starting with having to be forcibly removed from the womb a fortnight past time, and continuing thus ever since)
• a list - that's me. Confronted with any situation where I need to get the finger out (say for example an overdue blog post) my first instinct is to make a list (practical, but also a delaying tactic)
• Um. Is it even a list with only two items on it (obviously this doesn't count because it's about the list (note, please, the meta meta)?

To the wine. Le Roc Folle Noire d'Ambat, a big soft red from Fronton in South-West France. Good Lord but it ticks every box. It's French; from an obscure appellation; made with an even more obscure grape variety; with a comedy label; and closed with a cork.

It's a dark red, wild feral stinky wine. Delicously refreshing on the palate thanks to a nicely judged acidity and grainy but ripe tannins. And it smells of horse (dear reader, this is a good thing, trust me).

Crucially, for a person with a massive caffeine habit, a short little attention span, and severe neophilia, it keeps changing. It's a wine which has been evolving nicely over the past few months, and also offers an interesting series of flavours and aromas in the forty-eight hours after you open it. I think the equine note is gradually going away, however, and taken with the level of tannins, I don't think this is a wine for long keeping.

The only box left unticked by Le Roc is that of price. It is neither ultra cheap, a bargain to be hoarded and gleefully shared with good friends, nor yet is it hideously expensive (which is always allowed if the wine can justify it in terms of quality. See these past examples). I bought it in Oddbins for £9.50, which seems about right to me.

So to Wine Blogging Wednesday. This institution (is it an institution? It has been going for quite a while) played a part in motivating my early Sentir le Bouchon postings, and the theme for this post, Spark, has been very interesting to address.

In truth I might have picked any number of wines to write about. What really truly sparks my interest - and continues to do so after ten years in the wine trade - is the endless infinite diverse variety of wine. I love that Burgundy has 500 (or is it 700?) appellations. I love Carignan when it's made old style and reeks of garrigue herbs and blood. It delights me to know that until 1994 Chilean winemakers thought their wonderful Carmenere was just plain old Merlot. I even love (well maybe not love. Like. I admit I can't bring myself to love it). I even like Bastardo, that vile Portugese grape which reeks of silage, because unless you taste the bad stuff you can never know just how good the gems are, and anything is better than awful bland homogenous supermarket tripe.

So thank you to Wine Blogging Wednesday, and thank you for proposing Spark. I really enjoyed writing this.

Whoops, nearly forgot. Le Roc La Folle Noire d'Ambat 2009: delicious, savoury, floral and complex, 4.

Wine Bloggin' W*****day #11 - "Off Dry"

"Off Dry". Hmmn... tricky, that. In these days of mass-produced wine juice, the boundaries of dry have rather spread sugar-wards. Aha!, here's something which certainly isn't dry, but wouldn't (I reckon), make a good dessert wine. Is that a good definition for off-dry, do you think?

Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett 02004, under cork, comes in a lovely old fashioned blue flute. It's a light wine from the banks of the Saar, a (very!) cool-climate region tucked into the corner of Germany next to Luxembourg and France.

At only 8.5% alcohol, and palest green, this would make a fine mid-afternoon refresher. It's ever so slightly pétillant, with a fresh mixed salad leaves nose. On the palate it has fairly high apparent acidity, and a moderate degree of sweetness. It is very lime-y, and very-very-very refreshing. The finish is clean but not long. A solid 15/20.

NB 1: I say apparent acidity because I suspect that this is one of those clever German wines which skilfully balances very high acidity against very high residual sugar.

NB 2: Reichsgraf von Kesselstat is the producer (website: www.kesselstatt.de), Ockfener Bockstein is the vineyard, Riesling is the grape variety, and Kabinett is the quality level.

NB 3: I daren't mention W*****days in case it sparks off another fine wine débacle.

NB 4: I bought this in the Co-op. As far as they could tell it didn't exist, so they sold it to me (after much conferring) for £3.99. I reckon it's more like six quid, so if you like the sound of it get in there quick.

NB 5: Thanks to Beau of Basic Juice for hosting Wine Blogging Wed***day no 11.

Ha! Recherché is my middle name.

Or perhaps I mean Ricercare. Hmmmn. Anyway, thanks to my very good friend SF, I have found Wine Blogging Wednesdays just in time for number 7, Obscure Red Grape Varieties.

Salivating briefly at the prospect of tasting the blessed Observatory carignan/syrah again (previous tasting) , skipping lightly past dornfelder, chambourcin, and marzemino, I lingered over lacrima di morro d'alba and blaufränkisch, before settling on a blend of aragonez, trincadeira, and perequita, in the very fine form of Cortes de Cima 1999, under cork. It's a dark purple - five years old and no signs of ageing - with a big, big nose; figs to coffee to something green and woody (which I'll come back to) to ?saute potatoes? to faint hints of pepper. The palate feels silky, but also full bodied, with loads of berries and maybe cherries, and the finish is long. Also metallic, but, somehow, in a good way. A solid 16/20, and... oh blarst, aragonez is tempranillo. Curse these wayward Iberians with their eccentric grape taxonomies! Gosh, now I'll have to go and drink more wine...

In particular, Co-op big Baga 02001, under cork, to be precise. The nose is not atall strong - and there's that green woody note again. The palate is dry and very tannic, a bit thin, but refreshingly sour on the finish. Not much fruit mind you, but it would make a fantastic pizza wine. Still, only 12-13/20, and it is definitely an obscure grape variety.

I've tasted four Portugese reds over the last week, all different blends. They all showed the green/woody/privet hedge note on the nose. I wonder if this is the Portugese signature, in a similar way to the sun-baked clay I find in so many Spanish reds?