THE OPPOSITE OF EXPERT WINE REVIEW
Jonas Holmes
August 08, 2006
ARTESA 2001 ELEMENTS RED WINE - JUST PLAIN GOOD!
I don’t know the official name for the visual process but, when I swirled this wine it moved like sticky liquid silk gripping walls of glass. I think they call it legs or something. Be patient with me; after all, this is the opposite of expert wine review. The visuals actually caught me by surprise. I mean who doesn’t like to look at the delicious and intoxicating. Yet, for the first time, I found myself enchanted by the swirling process. Round and round, I was hypnotized. This wine was alive as a living, breathing, deep, earthy, purple-ruby entity. Its’ sole job was to adhere to the inside of my glass and crawl downward to a slow reunion with the rest of its liquid family. Fun, fun, fun, I thought but, sooner or later, the rest of the tasting process had to continue and to be frank with you; I was scared.
What if, after blessing me with such extraordinary fireworks, the smell and taste were disappointing? After all, I didn’t even know what I was drinking yet, but I knew there weren’t any secret stashes of Bordeaux or any Bordeaux for that matter. I swirled one more time and slowly, hesitantly, reluctantly extended my proboscis into the glass. Aaah, it emanated a rich aroma, similar to a bouquet of roses, flowery, pleasant and very nice. Things were progressing nicely. It was time for the moment of truth. At this point, I had been caught off guard by every aspect of this wine, overwhelmed by its appearance and pleased with its bouquet. What the heck was it going to taste like? I still didn’t know what I was drinking. Here goes everything.
I sipped deeply like a wary gazelle at the jungle watering hole. The first thing I noticed was its complexity. I absolutely could not process it all immediately. This is a complex varietal; I thought. Then the wine defied gravity and sank into the roof of my mouth. The wine was doing the same thing to my mouth that it was doing in my glass, it was crawling. The silky liquid then seeped and expanded into my upper gums. Fascinated as I already was, I wondered, how was this thing going to finish? I waited. The finish was a short chalky berry flavor.
Drinking this wine was like flirting with a beautiful and spicy woman. You see her and are overwhelmed. Her essence is pure femininity. She grabs you and consumes you in the quick, wonderfully vigorous and surprisingly passionate act. Before you can even begin to figure out what happened to you, one understanding is crystal clear. You want more. The complexity is part of the package, part of the mystery and the short but deep finish keeps you on the comeback. The most significant quality of these two vixens, the wine and the woman, is…you want more!
The only unfortunate thing about my tasting was I couldn’t disguise my fascination with the wine. My friends have learned my facial expressions and watch me closely like the grape vultures we are. Soon my fascinating lady was gone. Since my last review I have not been able to get another bottle of vintage 2003 Avalon, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon and at this time the 2004 does not compare. If you can dig up some 2001 Artesa Elements gobble it up while you can. ARTESA’S 2001 ELEMENTS RED WINE, 79% Sonoma, 21% Napa County, is yummy! It is a table wine gone professional and surely the five years of experience have done no harm.
I don’t know the official name for the visual process but, when I swirled this wine it moved like sticky liquid silk gripping walls of glass. I think they call it legs or something. Be patient with me; after all, this is the opposite of expert wine review. The visuals actually caught me by surprise. I mean who doesn’t like to look at the delicious and intoxicating. Yet, for the first time, I found myself enchanted by the swirling process. Round and round, I was hypnotized. This wine was alive as a living, breathing, deep, earthy, purple-ruby entity. Its’ sole job was to adhere to the inside of my glass and crawl downward to a slow reunion with the rest of its liquid family. Fun, fun, fun, I thought but, sooner or later, the rest of the tasting process had to continue and to be frank with you; I was scared.
What if, after blessing me with such extraordinary fireworks, the smell and taste were disappointing? After all, I didn’t even know what I was drinking yet, but I knew there weren’t any secret stashes of Bordeaux or any Bordeaux for that matter. I swirled one more time and slowly, hesitantly, reluctantly extended my proboscis into the glass. Aaah, it emanated a rich aroma, similar to a bouquet of roses, flowery, pleasant and very nice. Things were progressing nicely. It was time for the moment of truth. At this point, I had been caught off guard by every aspect of this wine, overwhelmed by its appearance and pleased with its bouquet. What the heck was it going to taste like? I still didn’t know what I was drinking. Here goes everything.
I sipped deeply like a wary gazelle at the jungle watering hole. The first thing I noticed was its complexity. I absolutely could not process it all immediately. This is a complex varietal; I thought. Then the wine defied gravity and sank into the roof of my mouth. The wine was doing the same thing to my mouth that it was doing in my glass, it was crawling. The silky liquid then seeped and expanded into my upper gums. Fascinated as I already was, I wondered, how was this thing going to finish? I waited. The finish was a short chalky berry flavor.
Drinking this wine was like flirting with a beautiful and spicy woman. You see her and are overwhelmed. Her essence is pure femininity. She grabs you and consumes you in the quick, wonderfully vigorous and surprisingly passionate act. Before you can even begin to figure out what happened to you, one understanding is crystal clear. You want more. The complexity is part of the package, part of the mystery and the short but deep finish keeps you on the comeback. The most significant quality of these two vixens, the wine and the woman, is…you want more!
The only unfortunate thing about my tasting was I couldn’t disguise my fascination with the wine. My friends have learned my facial expressions and watch me closely like the grape vultures we are. Soon my fascinating lady was gone. Since my last review I have not been able to get another bottle of vintage 2003 Avalon, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon and at this time the 2004 does not compare. If you can dig up some 2001 Artesa Elements gobble it up while you can. ARTESA’S 2001 ELEMENTS RED WINE, 79% Sonoma, 21% Napa County, is yummy! It is a table wine gone professional and surely the five years of experience have done no harm.
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