After an unconscionably long hiatus (I blame finals and other end-of-the-year miseries) I am back! “Back” applies in two ways: first, I am back to posting this blog, where I intend to write posts weekly over these 14 weeks of summer, and second, I am back in California.
I will be in California for five more weeks, after which I will be headed back to DC for a few days, and then eight weeks in beautiful Wilmington, Delaware, known in legal circles as one of the locations of the Court of Chancery (where I’ll be interning) and known in pop culture circles as the nameless setting of Fight Club. Hopefully during this time there will be wine, wine, and more wine. If this past week has been any indication, there will be plenty of that this summer!
I have to write a few posts, one of Deep Sea Wines (which was gracious enough to send me two bottles to review), another for a great product known as the Wine Diaper (it’s probably not what you think it is), and yet another for a book by Matthew Frank entitled Barolo. And, I’ll have to write about a very wonderful evening at Founding Farmers in DC at which a bottle of Riesling figured prominently–that’ll be coming soon. All of these will take place in good time, but before I do I wanted to “clear the palate,” so to speak, by writing about a few of the wines I’ve had at home.
One of my habits while at home is to buy a few bottles with which to tide over my mom until my next visit. I had purchased a few bottles during Spring Break, and to my surprise (and pleasure) I found that one of the bottles had not yet been opened.
This bottle was the Candidus from Malm Cellars. Malm Cellars is a one-person show, helmed by Brendan Malm. He doesn’t have a winery or vineyard, but he sources fruit from select growers to make his wines. One such wine, his 2007 Sonoma County Pinot Noir, garnered a great review from the LA Times. The Candidus, which is made from a bunch of undisclosed white Rhône varietals (but also apparently includes Chardonnay concentrate according to Dave from Mission Wines), is about $16. It’s intensely aromatic–I’m thinking Viognier or Muscat (though I’m not sure if Muscat is a Rhône varietal)–with an assertive nose of quince and honey. It’s pear-colored and appears on the viscous side. Excellent: full of dried apricot and citrus, full bodied yet light, good acidity, very pleasant.
Vinicultured: A Wine Blog 