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That is a direct quote from our lovely winestress this evening. Please prepare yourselves, AudioVinoids. We are about to take you on a journey to a world of great wine, extra terrestrial beats, and skyscrapers made of graham crackers and honey.
To put it in a nutshell, this music made us feel drunk before the wine even kicked in. The wine's 15.6% concentration only aided the music in our gradual dysfunctionality.
Let's start at the beginning. Our Vino for tonight was Solus Sto 2007 Zin from Haraszthy. Our Audio entertainment was provided by deadmau5's album "4x4=12." Sounds kind of weird, right?
As we took a few sniffs of the vino, we had some conflicting ideas: Maggie smelled a bit of bitter (in a good way, of course) coffee and tea, with maybe a bit of chocolate or dark fruit. Nick picked up on some soy sauce, and maybe a bit of honey or graham. By the second pour, our snouts exploded in a world of teddy grahams and savory meats. It sounds like a weird combination, but the interesting olfactory notes translated into a fantastic tasting. To the tounge the wine was sensual and unique with that same stingy, edgy, off-beat character that made it all the more sexy. We got a relatively dry, fantastically balanced wine in the end - and the results were off the charts.
As for our Audio, we pulled a complete 180 (no, that's not some funky dance move, even though that would be totally appropriate for this album.) We started off with the mentality that, as our good friends know, we aren't club kids! Trippy techno and rave music is usually better left for kids much more hip that Nick and Maggie Klug. However, as we heard the crazy syncopation, layered rhythms, and ridiculously effervescent treble paired with epic bass, we changed our minds. The first track, "Some Chords" ended with a stunning multi-leveled syncopation of seemingly unrelated rhythms, layered to make your heart freak. "Sofi Needs a Ladder" threw in some cool female vocals, and "Animal Rights" left us desiring our own animal rights. "Raise Your Weapon" cooly deviated from the album's norm, giving a nice, rounded feel to the album as a whole. Read on to see how we interpreted these extraterrestrial happenings . . .
Nick's Review:
Audio -
We picked this CD from BestBuy at 6:58 tonight, (please keep in mind they close at 7:00). The cover is what grabbed my attention. Imagine Mickey Mouse was injected with glow-stick juice, and than his face got smashed with a disco globe. Don't fear - Mickey survives and manages to create some stellar beats!
The album is your stereotypical techno-style beat mix, and is more like one giant track than 11 different tracks. Deadmau5 uses lots of chromatic integration and almost every track seems to feature this chromatic run, resulting in a seamless transition to the next track.
This album is a 3D audio experience that is spectral and profoundly integrating at the leves of both sound and body. You feel the beat and submit to it. Needless to say, this is dance music - most likely found at a club somewhere.
Luckily there are some more complex tracks, like number five "Animal Rights" and number seven "Cthulhu Sleeps" to keep your interest and to create a level of replay-ability not seen in many similar techno/dance albums.
It's always great to grab a new type of music for AudioVino, and I think this was a great choice even if made in haste.
8/10
Vino -
Where do I Begin with Haraszthy's Solu Sto 2007 Amador County Zinfandel? This wine has been released in two states so far, California and Wisconsin. Why Wisconsin, you ask? Because that was the state in which the original Count Haraszthy created his first "New World" vineyard, now affectionately known as Wollersheim.
That's right, you Wisco fans - Prarie de Sacs one and only Wollersheim. You see, after founding Wollersheim Haraszthy decided to settle in California. Long story short, his great grandson (or maybe great-great grandson) now makes wine for Fred Franzia in California. Three of this patriarch's Grandson's original Wisconsin wines are an Amador, Sonoma, and Napa Zinfandel, my favorite being the Amador.
This delicious wine comes packed in a bottle featuring a beautiful sketch of a ferocious yet gentle bear holding a grape between the claws of it's forefinger and thumb. The nose is like tucking your nose in a box of honey grahams. Think of the graham cracker dust that shoots up into your nose with flavors of graham and deliciously smooth honey! The nose finishes with a savage smell of raw meats that are savory and fresh.
The initial sip hits the front of your pallet like a laser. It's sharp yet elegant, full yet light. The mid-pallet evolves into liquid pink starbursts (yes the candy). Even still the flavor is not extracted and overly fruity. The profile is simple yet complex with no oak to cover up the true essence of the grape. 2007 was an awesome vintage and this was an awesome wine.
The finish is long and grips the tounge and teeth. It leaves you with that nice, tannic, bitter sensation that one might notice when eating raw green beans or snow peas.
I don't know if you can find this wine . . . as a matter of fact, I don't even know if I'll ever be able to find this wine. But look for a 2007 Amador County Zinfandel and I'd be willing to bet you are in for a treat!
91 pts (Probably the second best Zinfandel I've ever had!)
Maggies Review:
Audio -
As I write my review for AudioVino entry tonight, I am still intoxicated by deadmau5's beats. Literally, this album was on a whole new level. I'm not exactly a club music aficionado, but I'd be willing to bet that this is one of the best dance albums out there.
I loved the album from the first track, "Some Chords." The layered, seemingly irrelevant beats at the end of the track flowed effortlessly into one another, resulting in a layered effect that couldn't have been more right-on. "Sofi Needs A Ladder" was exactly what Kesha would sound like - if she was a bit more creative. "Animal Rights" was the highlight in terms of originality. Really, there were a couple of tracks that sounded like run-of-the-mill club beats, but the intensity and creativity of the album overshadowed the misses. For a random album picked up at Best Buy, I'd say it was a great choice (and even made me want to go clubbing!)
8.9/10
Vino -
Hell. Yes. This wine was fabulous. This wine defied expectation, in a number of ways.
1. As I walked by the decanter, while cleaning up dishes and wiping down counters, I took a sniff, as I usually do. I smelled jammy, lovely, zin-tastic scents, and was excited to start AudioVino.
WRONG!
The fruity, jammy, gorgeous scents and tastes that I have come to expect from Zin's were twisted in a way that was unorthodox and genius. The few fruity notes I picked up on simply served to balance the tannins, heat, and beautiful savory texture of the wine.
2. As I took the first sip, I appreciated the wine but read it as a fairly tannic, quite bitter, and a generally "old-world" tasting wine.
WRONG!
Not only did the wine evolve by the second pour, it rounded out in a way few wines even dream of. The beautiful edginess of the tannin and savoriness on the tongue were balanced by the subtle fruits, very slight chocolate and coffee, and wonderful texture. Without any oak, this wine managed to be remarkably smooth.
All in all, this was a great combination. Sensual, unexpected, and ridiculously edgy, deadmau5 and Haraszthy was a combination that made us feel like we were two other people. For a night, we got to be that unpredictable, fabulously tenacious couple that drinks $30 bottles of wine with dinner every night, and goes dancing at the clubs until dawn.
92 pts.
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