Finally, something new: Ethiopian-style honey wine. It combines the complexity and kick of a “normal” wine with most of the sweetness of a dessert wine.

This wine was very Good.

Wine at an Indian restaurant. This was probably the least-divey Indian restaurant I’ve been to. The food was just as good as all the divey places, but our clothes didn’t smell like Indian food afterwards.

The label came right off after soaking in hot water.

The Zaca Mesa was OK.

Purchased on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard, the chilled Chenin Blanc is pleasantly unusually-tasting — less tannic than a more normally-tasting white wine, but less sweet than a full-blown dessert wine. It is light enough to be enjoyed on its own, but flavorful enough to complement a meal.

A breakthrough in label-removing technique was also realized, thanks to some hospital techniques brought home by Patrika. As usual, I soaked the bottle in hot/warm water over an episode of CSI: NY, then removed most of the outside edges of the label with a box cutter, leaving the more-securely-adhered center of the label still attached to the bottle. Patrika then used a cotton ball to apply rubbing alcohol to the remaining underneath of the label, dissolving the rest of the adhesive, allowing the remainder of the label to be easily removed with the box cutter. Patrika says this rubbing-alcohol technique is employed in the hospital to remove leftover adhesive from things like bandages, IV tubes, etc.

The dual-layered label itself is also quite interesting. The top layer is a transparent plasticy substance (similar to clear contact paper) that doesn’t absorb water, doesn’t tear, and doesn’t easily puncture. It is stuck to a more-traditional paper-like bottom layer, which has the artwork and is glued to the bottle.

Trying to remove the label intact also made me wonder about why many vineyards don’t provide sample labels. I had requested some labels from Thomas Fogarty winery, and they refused, saying that the labels had been used illegally in the past (counterfeit wine?). However, wineries are now subject to people like me presenting botched labels on websites, which might hurt their brand. Auto companies often refuse to allow video game developers to depict damage to their branded vehicles for this very reason.

The Chenin Blanc was Good.

Wikipedia describes “gewurztraminer” as a white wine variety that smells of lychees. Yum.

Very sweet — sweet enough to be a dessert wine — this wine was very Good.

This has been a good week for Northern California wine, but a bad week for my label collection.

Dr. Thomas Fogarty is a professor of surgery at Stanford University, and also runs a winery. This Merlot had a very bright taste (perfect for the sunny daytime wedding reception at which this was served) without the acidity I usually associate with Merlots; subsequent research on their website describes this as “bright acidity”. The taste is very mealy, much more than I would have expected.

This wine was Good.

The Rosemount was followed not long after with a tasting of Ridge Vineyards’ Cabernet in my host’s new townhouse. The Ridge was courtesy of my friend’s participation in the Advanced Tasting Program. I left his residence sans hangover and sans label.

The wine was very Good.

I succumbed to peer vino-pressure from the foodie I was with and ordered a glass of Rosemount Cabernet Sauvignon with my Vietnamese dinner (not the fusion stuff one might expect in Northern California). Just as I expected from my Cabs, it had a nice, smooth, not-overpowering taste. Unlike what I expected, it was very very aromatic, all the way out of the glass and down the gullet.

This wine was Good.

We’ve been carrying this ½-bottle for almost 4½ years. Purchased at the St. Supéry Winery in Napa Valley, it has survived a 6-hour plane ride to Atlanta and a 2-day car ride to Boston. It tastes much like any other Chardonnay or Zinfandel, although perhaps a hint sweeter.

This wine was OK.

From Australia, this Shiraz was quite tannic at first, but after the first few sips, quickly developed into something very richly flavorful, with no more hint of the initial acidity.

The wine came from Mistral, a high-end restaurant where upon request the waiter expertly de-bottled the label and put it in a nice card for me to take home. The card reads:

This wine was Good.