[Cellargal Book & Wine Club] tQsting

tQsting
Inspired by Haruki Murakami’s Novel 1Q84
June 20th 2Q12


IQ84 by Haruki Murakami
 



“Then, as if it had just occurred to him, he asked if they had Cutty Sark*…Not bad thought Aomame. She liked the fact that he had not chosen Chivas Regal or some sophisticated single malt. It was her personal view that people who are overly choosey about the drinks they order in a bar tend to be sexually bland. She had no idea why this would be so.” **



Glenrothes Select Reserve Single Malt Whisky "John Ramsay, the Malt Master for Glenrothes, has taken great care to pick out the finest casks from different years to create the "Select Reserve. From the distillery: "Appearance: Pale golden; Nose: American oak vanilla and coconut, hints of plums; Palate: Full malty flavour, medium sweet, vanilla and orange zest; Finish: Long and slightly spicy."

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“…and a glass of white wine” (Fuka Eri)

“Tengo opened the refrigerator to see if he had any chilled white wine. In the back he found a bottle of Chardonnay he had recently bought on sale. The label had a picture of a wild boar…it was a bit too chilled, and a bit too sweet, but the alcohol calmed Tengo’s nerves somewhat.”

2008 Mt. Difficulty Chardonnay Central Otago New Zealand "The 2008 vintage in Central Otago was a nearly ideal growing season, with a warm spring and less wind than usual that allowed excellent flowering conditions. The bouquet offers tropical notes, along with a nutty character, spiced apple, pear and lemon citrus highlights."

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“…the dowager had a glass of Chablis, and Aomame kept her company. The wine was just as elegant and simple as the food.”

2010 Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis "Classic nose of green fruit and oyster shells gives way to rich, intense and agreeably racy middle weight flavors that possess a fine minerality on the minerally, pure and linear finish. Like the Petit Chablis, this is worth a look as it offers very good quality at this level. (Burghound) “The 2010 Chablis is simply dazzling, and makes for a great introduction to the estate’s 2010s. It boasts gorgeous, bright fruit supported by attractive minerality. High toned floral notes add further lift on the finish. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2020.” (WA)

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“…in fact there is absolutely nothing wrong with the wine. The man is a famous politician who likes to think he’s a wine connoisseur, but he doesn’t know a damn thing about wine. He did it to show off. ‘I’m afraid this has might have a slight edge,’ he says. We had to humor him...this is a highly respected Burgundy …from a noble domain, a good year.” Ayumi: “Who could possibly object to a wine like this?” Aomame: “You can always find somebody to complain about anything”…They were both pretty drunk. The excellent Burgundy in their blood gently coursed through their bodies, giving the world a faint purplish tinge. Aomame: “the world is going to end before we know it...And the kingdom is going to come.”

2002 Domaine de la Vougeraie Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru "Les Marconnets" "Les Marconnets is a vineyard that has been planted since at least the 13th century, and it is one of the first where Dr. Guyot worked at improving vineyard management and invented the now widely-used pruning method that bears his name. It's on the border with Beaune and is just hiting its stride. This wine was burly in its youth, but is now settling down and emerging as a more elegant wine, with finer tannin structure. The vines here are a range of ages, but most all of them were planted between 1929 and 1967, so they have good maturity. Clive Coates writes: "Ripe and succulent. Fresh and stylish. Medium to medium-full body. Good length. Good Plus."

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*Cutty Sark is a range of blended Scotch whisky produced by Edrington plc of Glasgow whose main office is less than 10 miles from the birthplace of the famous clipper ship (left) of the same name. The whisky was created on March 23, 1923, with the home of the blend considered to be at The Glenrothes distillery in the Speyside region of Scotland. The name comes from the River Clyde-built clipper ship Cutty Sark, whose name came from the Scots language term cutty-sark, the short shirt prominently mentioned in the famous poem by Robert Burns - "Tam o' Shanter". The drawing of the clipper ship Cutty Sark on the label of the whisky bottles is a work of the Swedish artist Carl Georg August Wallin. He was a mariner painter, and this is probably his most famous ship painting. This drawing has been on the whisky bottles since 1955. The Tall Ships' Races for large sailing ships were originally known as The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races, under the terms of sponsorship by the whisky brand. (from Wikipedia)


**An empty Cutty Sark box serves as a plot device in Haruki Murakami's novel The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, it is a character's favourite drink in the 1978 novel The Human Factor by Graham Greene and featured prominently in Murakami's novel 1Q84. In Charles Bukowski's novel Women (novel), there is a scene where the main protagonist - Henri Chinaski fights over a bottle of Cutty Sark with his girlfriend. Eventually the bottle is broken and he takes a sip from what's left at the bottom. (from Wikipedia)

Sources: K&L Wine Merchants, Wikipedia