Louis-Antoine Luyt Legno Duro

Louis-Antoine Luyt Legno Duro
Varietal: Carginan
Region: Maule, Chile
Year: 2014
Price: $20.99
Retailer: DomaineLA

The cool thing about having a wine store you love and trust completely is that you can buy shit based on the labels with greater success. Like, I know anything I buy from Domaine is going to be up my alley so I don't have a problem throwing down $20 for dope font work. 

In this case though, the dope font work was on a bottle from Louis-Antoine Luyt, so it was going to be good no matter what. The native Burgundian's Chilean wines are organic and fermented using carbonic maceration (the same technique that makes Beaujolais so damn delicious). 

I opened this wine, and jesus christ was it acidic. Like someone got in your mouth and titty-twisted your jowls acidic. I let it breathe for a couple hours, and holy moly. It opened up into a very drinkable and fun wine. It ironed out so much, but still maintained a sense of its organic grittiness. Like gravelly guitars with clean melodies.

It's so energized, it feels light on its feet, but also grounded. Like, literally grounded, as in soil. But also just grounded, like there is something more to it. Sure it's easy-drinking and goes down like water on a Saturday afternoon, but there is a thoughtful weight behind it. It reminds me of the dance scene in Pulp Fiction. It's as playful as doing The Swim but its as serious as Uma Thurman's stare. And I want to twist with it all night long. 

Tasting Notes: Dusty and spicy with bell pepper and wet garden herbs on the nose. Earthy but tart, with a bit of salt and metalic minerality. Smooth but dirty. Juicy on the front and dry on the back. Which sounds very sexy. BECAUSE IT IS. 

Ross Test: Definitely let it open up but then you're definitely good to go. 

Also Check Out: Louis-Antoine Luyt 'Pipeno Santa Juana'

(Oops) Cabernet Franc Carmenere

(Oops) Cabernet Franc & Carmenere
Price: $12
Year: 2010
Region: Colchagua Valley, Chile
Retailer: Sip! Wines "Blends Have More Fun" Trio

This was the first week of settling back into my long-lost freelance lifestyle. I'm still addled by the anxiety of assistant life because it's weird taking care of someone for four years and then suddenly not. But, I'm also readjusting quite well. I styled a shoot, wrote twenty pages and booked my next trip to NYC. I even did a bunch of paperwork! For myself! It was great!

It was cloudy today, and rained for a minute, so obviously I couldn't leave the house. I mean, I couldn't leave the house anyway because my car battery died on Tuesday and I just decided I didn't need to go anywhere until the weekend, but also, IT WAS CLOUDY TODAY. As a native Southern Californian, it is imperative to relish cloudy days. They have always been far and few between. Californians treat rainy days like people on the East Coast treat those shoulder season days they're always bragging about: we drop everything and indulge in them. Except you guys like, wear a comfortable outfit and go for a picnic and I'm eating Weetos, reading Travel & Leisure, @replying on Twitter and wearing this:

Not to brag, but GOD DAMN AM I THE BEST AT LOUNGING. 

Anyway, I have now ate a lot of Weetos and am in very comfortable lounge gear and my boyfriend isn't fighting me for the chaise end of the couch and I've got new Bose headphones that go around my ears instead of crushing my ears AND I HAVE THIS DELICIOUS RED WINE. WHICH THANK GOD. I HAVE LIKE 900 WHITE/ROSES RIGHT NOW AND IT'S CHILLY AS FUCK. GOTTA GET COZY WITH A RED.

The (Oops) Cabernet Franc & Carmenere is perfect for May Gray (which is the precursor to June Gloom, which to those of you not from California, is the marine layer that literally chills over us for most of May and June). It's wet and lasting, but in a refreshing and light way. It reminds me of concrete after a quick but eager spring shower that is damp for hours after, creating aromatic clouds of minerality wherever you walk.

It's light and bright and really good slightly chilled. I mean, I never put it in the fridge, but my house was at like 60° all day, so "Room Temperature" is now "Slightly Chilled".

It's cool because you don't see Carmenere all that often, if ever. This native Bordeaux grape was planted in Chile a century ago, and everyone was like, "Cool, we got these cool Merlot grapes growing, very cool."  And if you looked at the Carmenere and Merlot grapes side by side, you would be like, "Cool, grapes!" because let's be real, neither of us can tell the difference between a Carmenere, Merlot or Welch grapes. In 1994, some scientists that could tell the difference between grapes got involved and were like, "Aaacccctttuuualllyyy, these Merlot grapes are aaccttuaaally Carmenere." Then everyone freaked out! Because, uh! Extremely rare Bordeaux varietals in Chile?! SO TIGHT!!!

And Cab Francs are just bomb as hell...

 I can't really go into them specifically right now and for that, I am sorry. I'm just extremely Weeto'd, like yelling nonsense over my noise-canceling headphones at Ben while he plays Grand Theft Auto kind of Weeto'd. I'm just really enjoying the fuck out of this Chilean wine that tastes like it's from France. Legit, in a blind tasting, it would be hard for me not to say it was from France. Really the only thing holding me back is there is a real coffee-dirt taste I haven't experienced in French wines. Not to say that that isn't that flavor profile in French wines because lord knows it probably is.

Anyway, I'm doing some REAL SICK AIR-BASS TO TY SEGALL RIGHT NOW. 
NO OOPS ABOUT IT.
YEWWWWWWWW!!!

Phew, man, all I know is Wine & Weetos is the best pairing of all time. I am so warm and fuzzy, and NOT from my dope sweat selections from Wildfox and Mollusk. Warm and fuzzy on the inside, like unconditional love on Christmas Eve kind of warm and fuzzy. 

EVERY DAY CAN BE A HOLIDAY WITH (OOPS)! (and Weetos)

Alright I have to get off the Internet before it's too late.

LOVE U CARMENERE

Tasting Notes: Smells like freshly poured gravel and applesauce with a touch of cinnamon. Meaty, slightly salty plum with a light but unwavering pepper finish. Drink 3/4s of it while listening to Father John Misty's latest album and you will want to have so much sex. 

Ross Test: Delightfully Do-Able

Louis-Antoine Luyt 'Pipeno Santa Juana'

Louis-Antoine Luyt 'Pipeno Santa Juana'
Price: $16.99
Year: 2014
Region: Chile
Retailer: DomaineLA

I'm not one for Daylight Savings. In fact, I fucking hate it. Sure, you get an extra hour of sleep THAT ONE DAY, but then for the next six months it gets dark before you're even home from work. Yes, I know it's "for the farmers"... in like the 1800's. It's outdated bullshit and the only thing I think Arizona and me agree on.

I find I drink more when it gets dark so early, probably because it feels a lot later. It looks like it's 8:00, which is an acceptable time to be on your second bottle. But it's actually 6:02, which is not quite as acceptable.

This is when liter bottles come in especially handy, especially delicious ones like this Pipeno Santa Juana.

I've been on a HUGE Gamay kick of late. It's basically all I've been drinking. This is not a Gamay, but you wouldn't know it. It has all the qualities I love about Gamays-- bright and light bodied, fruity but with a lovely punch of bitter-- but it's not a Gamay. It's Pais, a common grape in South America that is basically just like Gamay. Apparently.

This Pipeno is pretty perfect for the California climate right now because it can be served at room temperature or you can chill it. So you can drink it when it's in the 70's, and you can put it in the fridge and drink it when it's in the 80's. So you can drink it when it's sunny, or you can drink it when IT'S DARK AT 5:10PM. :<

If we're being honest, this Pipeno is just keeping from totally jumping off a bridge because not only is it fucking dark, but they are filming something next door with seemingly just a dog named Brody and my dogs are going bananas and the animal trainer keeps yelling at Brody and now my other neighbor dogs are going bananas AND EVERYONE IS GOING FUCKING BANANAS. EVERYONE JUST DRINK SOME PIPENO AND CALM DOWN. PLEASE FOR GOD'S SAKE, PLEASE EVERYONE CALM DOWN. AND PLEASE SOMEONE DO MY LAUNDRY, WHILE I'M JUST OUT HERE BEGGING FOR SHIT THAT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.

Bless you Pipeno. You are so delicious and beautiful, you are a beacon of light in an otherwise totally dark house because I forgot to turn the lights on BECAUSE IT'S 5:11PM AND I HATE THIS. :<

But hey, at least I have half a bottle left. #liters

Tasting Notes: Crisp bouquet of berries, wet dirt and a touch of apple. Bright, tart, light bodied with a very nice finish and plush tannins. Definitely going to finish this liter and refuse to apologize for it.

Ross Test: Pretty good, although quite a bit thicker than it is drinking from a glass.