Don't let the title of this blog fool you. This was an awesome pairing. Fans of the Smashing Pumpkins and bold Italian wines will want to go right out and buy this combo. We ventured to the punk section and chose the CD "Left and Leaving" by The Weakerthans. The music was about as punk as the band Yellowcard, but the change in music style was almost as refreshing as the vino. We paired the music with a bottle of 2003 Il Ducale Toscana. We had both recently watched "The Godfather" and were craving a little Sangiovese. The vino was interesting and was a great learning experience for both of us. It had some interesting flavors that we didn't really know how to unwrap previously, and was a great wine for helping to learn how to discern Sangiovese from other wines.
After decanting, pouring, and pressing 'play', we mentally prepared ourselves for what we thought would be a loud, hardcore, and unfamiliar listening experience. However, when we ventured into the "punk" section at Deaf Ear, we hadn't realized we had really ventured into the "punk 2002" section. The first track of the album, "Everything Must Go!" was quite mellow, and the combination of mellow instrumentals and timid vocals gave us a musical picture of Neil Young singing along to Buckcherry's "I'm Sorry." After that, however, the album was mostly upbeat light-rock punk music, similar to Yellowcard or any other "punk" band from 2002-2005.
As for the wine, it definitely took us a little longer than usual to jump to any conclusions. The nose was salty-semisweet, like figs and nuts. (Ladies--ever tried Bath and Body Works "Brown Sugar and Fig? This was that lotion in a wine bottle!) As we sipped, the wine continued the notion of salty-semisweet, and we tasted some mellow-dark fruits, like gentle dried berries and figs. Then, we unlocked a great new flavor for our palates: olives! The semisweet and salty taste was wonderfully characterized by olives, and we were so pleased with ourselves for putting our fingers on this that we had to put a frozen pizza in the oven! (AUTHORS' EDIT: By the way, the pizza . . . best, decision, ever.)
Nick's Review:
Audio
The vocals were one of the most interesting points of this band. Similar to Neil Young with that shaky uncertain voice that was even a bit flat at times. I got into this album early--I could relate to track 2 "Aside" which had that pop-punk style that reminded me of the early 2000s (Junior High for me!).
The vocalist also reminded me of Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, especially in track 4, "Pamphleteer".
This album was ever evolving and had a nice mix of driving songs with a few slow songs (good chance to enjoy the vino). Track 6 "Without Mythologies" made me think that I should have brought a Greek wine to this AudioVino. This track was simple with tribal style rhythms and was definitely written so that the lyrics could be pondered over. Nice album, I will keep my eyes open for more music by The Weakerthans.
8/10
Vino
This was a fun wine for me for a couple of reasons. Most of all was that I had a chance to unlock some flavors that I had been struggling to put my finger on, and that I was able to discover these with Maggie! The nose had hints of fig and raisin. There were other fruits that I could bore you with, but it was really the fig that stood out--I mean we are talking fig newtons here (which I usually hate, but are fun in a wine!)
The front of the pallet had dark fruits that transformed into sweet vanilla and cigar box . . . or for you more distinguished gentleman, think Miami Suites Irish Cream Cigarrellos.
Nick went as a liquor salesman for Halloween - or was he just getting ready for work? |
The most interesting part of the wine was the finish. The finish was...OLIVES. At first, we were drinking this wine and couldn't quite grasp what it was. It was salty and rubbery and reminded me of something I dislike. I personally hate olives, but not as much as fig newtons, and was geeking out when I realized that the mystery Italian flavor that I could never pinpoint was olives! I will say this though, the flavor is the part of olives that I actually like. You know, the nice beginning taste before olive-y aftertaste! I am very excited to have found this flavor and even more excited that Maggie picked it out as well.
The age on this wine deffinately helped as well. We chose the 2003 over a bottle of 2006 that was right behind it and it was a good choice, the tannins were smooth with nice mellow fruits. Great pizza wine. This wine should almost never be consumed with out a little slice of pizza to compliment it.
91 pts. (Look for this vintage, Brunello vintage, not that that means anything)
Maggie's Reviews
Audio
Nick pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said "junior high." Maybe it's just me, but I haven't been musically satisfied with the past few albums. This one began on a high note (no pun intended) because the timid, shaky vocal tone was quite pleasant and unique in a mellow song. However, inject that exact same vocal into teenage lyrics and lay it smoothly over an easy guitar riff, and all you have is Simple Plan.
Okay, I take it back. It wasn't as bad as Simple Plan. The song "Without Mythologies" was pretty cool, mainly because the percussion sounded exactly like the background music in Goron City (I'll have to check the credits to see if Link wrote this tune.) In all seriousness, though, the band had some creative edge, but they took their creativity and laid it under a safety net.
7.5/10
Vino
Nick and I joked that this wine was "my essence," because fig is my absolute favorite scent in all my perfumes and lotions. The wine itself was relatively smooth and quite Mediterranean, but what made our experience so delightful was how much we learned from this wine. This wine divulged a very classic palate into our repertoire: the olive-y, figgy, sweet-but-salty taste of great Italian wine.
Tasting the berries, the figs, and the sweet, olive-y goodness, I felt like I could have been sitting on a beach in Sicily eating a Neapolitan pizza. Instead, of course, I was sitting on a too-small couch in a drafty apartment in Wisconsin eating frozen DiGiorno. But really, what is wine for, if not to transport us to a different place and time? This wine did just that. While I wouldn't call it the most impressive wine I've ever had, and while I wasn't blown away by any particular flavor or smell, this wine was tasty, grounded, and classic, and through its Mediterranean flavors and distinguishable olive and fig scents, it taught us about the irresistible combination of Italian wine and pizza.
89 pts.
The age on this wine deffinately helped as well. We chose the 2003 over a bottle of 2006 that was right behind it and it was a good choice, the tannins were smooth with nice mellow fruits. Great pizza wine. This wine should almost never be consumed with out a little slice of pizza to compliment it.
91 pts. (Look for this vintage, Brunello vintage, not that that means anything)
Maggie's Reviews
Audio
Nick pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said "junior high." Maybe it's just me, but I haven't been musically satisfied with the past few albums. This one began on a high note (no pun intended) because the timid, shaky vocal tone was quite pleasant and unique in a mellow song. However, inject that exact same vocal into teenage lyrics and lay it smoothly over an easy guitar riff, and all you have is Simple Plan.
Okay, I take it back. It wasn't as bad as Simple Plan. The song "Without Mythologies" was pretty cool, mainly because the percussion sounded exactly like the background music in Goron City (I'll have to check the credits to see if Link wrote this tune.) In all seriousness, though, the band had some creative edge, but they took their creativity and laid it under a safety net.
7.5/10
Vino
Nick and I joked that this wine was "my essence," because fig is my absolute favorite scent in all my perfumes and lotions. The wine itself was relatively smooth and quite Mediterranean, but what made our experience so delightful was how much we learned from this wine. This wine divulged a very classic palate into our repertoire: the olive-y, figgy, sweet-but-salty taste of great Italian wine.
Tasting the berries, the figs, and the sweet, olive-y goodness, I felt like I could have been sitting on a beach in Sicily eating a Neapolitan pizza. Instead, of course, I was sitting on a too-small couch in a drafty apartment in Wisconsin eating frozen DiGiorno. But really, what is wine for, if not to transport us to a different place and time? This wine did just that. While I wouldn't call it the most impressive wine I've ever had, and while I wasn't blown away by any particular flavor or smell, this wine was tasty, grounded, and classic, and through its Mediterranean flavors and distinguishable olive and fig scents, it taught us about the irresistible combination of Italian wine and pizza.
89 pts.
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