Miscellaneous: Fountain restored

The fountain in our garden was designed by me and made from a basalt column into which I had a bowl carved and a bore hole drilled to allow a hose to pass through to a pump that sits in a depressed reservoir below the pump. We set it up in 2001 or so with the help of my wife's father, who has years of experience handling stone in Japan. The drilled column was delivered to our driveway. We had to transport it about 70 yards to the back of the house, a move we accomplished with a skid and rollers, likening ourselves to ancient pyramid builders. Using levers, we then raised it into its upright position and secured it to its base. It functioned without problems until last autumn when the pump finally failed. I have no complaints, the pump lasted a good 22 years, but I missed the fountain immediately. 

The problem of reviving it has been on my mind many months. The thought of exposing the reservoir (hidden by a wire mesh covered with rocks), cleaning out the reservoir (which had an eight-inch layer of muck in the bottom from 20+ years of decaying plant debris falling into it), replacing the pump (which required disconnecting the old pump and hard-wiring in its replacement), and then putting the whole thing back together again was enough to keep me procrastinating.

I'm happy to say that, with a great deal of help from by friend David (always willing to lend a hand), it's up and running again. Sitting on the back deck is much more pleasant with the burbling fountain there. Also, in very hot weather the bees from our beehive like to collect water from the side of the stone pillar to cool the hive with. As a heat wave is supposed to descend on us from tomorrow for a week or ten days, the repair was completed just in time.
 

Comparative tasting: Wines from Clos d'Argentine

Yesterday I compared three inexpensive wines from Clos d'Argentine purchased at Grocery Outlet. I had had all three before and liked them but thought one better than the other two. I was going to stock up but, by the time I thought about it again, I'd forgotten which of the three I had preferred. So, I bought one of each and determined to compare them. I tasted them not quite blind. I knew what the wines were, but I covered the labels and tasted them in random order. Tasting notes and some conclusions follow.

Wine 1: 

Color: Medium ruby, tending toward magenta. Looks young. Color quite thin at the edges. Nose: Hints of raspberries but also something darker. Not smoky. A suggestion of cocoa perhaps. Later leather. Palate: Fruity. Light tannins. Distinct vanilla flavor, but not oaky. Moderate length. Seems fairly high in alcohol, but not excessive. Easy, appealing, everyday wine. Not especially complex, but seems well made and, although I would rank this third among these three wines, this is nevertheless tasty.  

Wine 2:

Color: Medium ruby, but deeper in color than Wine 1 and without the magenta tint. Nose: Immediately fruitier than Wine 1. Appealing red fruit scents, but also something suggestive of peaches, which is a bit of a surprise in a red wine. Vaguely floral as well. Nose most open and appealing of the three wines, at least at first. With a little time, began to suggest dark cherries.  Palate: Less overtly fruity than Wine 1. Seems light at first, but has more tannin than Wine 1. Seems younger. Has good body, and the finish is considerably longer than that of Wine 1. Surprisingly closed on the palate at first considering how expressive it is on the nose. Suggests it will develop nicely with time, and, during the tasting the wine opened up to reveal riper, slightly jammy fruit flavors, again with hints of vanilla and leather. It reminded me (in a good way) of those old-fashioned cookies with a disc of jam in the middle. Later began to vaguely suggest cassis and cocoa. My favorite of the three wines. 

Wine 3:

Color: Deep ruby. Almost opaque. Nose: Seems fairly closed at first. Less fruity on the nose than the first two wines. Attractive but hard to pin down. As it opens up, hints of dark cherries. Later vanilla, but not oaky. Palate: Rich and round. More concentrated fruit than either of the other two wines. Seems more mature, but also has good (soft, milky) acidity, suggesting it will continue to improve with time. Nicely fruity, ripe, round, and immediately appealing with delicate tannins coming to the forefront on the mid-palate before fading on a long finish. My second-favorite of the three wines.

Wine 1: 2020 Clos D’Argentine "Winemaker's Selection" Malbec Gran Reserva (Mendoza, Argentina, 13.5% alcohol, $9.99)

Wine 2: 2021 Clos D’Argentine “Winemaker’s Selection” Malbec Reserva (Mendoza, Argentina, 13% alcohol, $6.99*)

Wine 3: 2017 Clos D’Argentine “Winemaker’s Selection” Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva (Mendoza, Argentina, 13% alcohol, $6.99)

Some thoughts after the reveal: I thought it interesting that Wine 3, a Cabernet Sauvignon, didn’t seem typical of that variety. The three wines gave the impression of all being made from the same grape. In this case, the producer and the land seem to have had a greater impact on the result than the grape variety, which is unusual; grape variety usually is the single most important factor determining the general taste of a wine. The Cabernet is seven years old. That's not especially old, but, as wines age, their flavor profiles tend to converge to some extent – perhaps a minor factor here as well? 

The terms “reserva” and “gran reserva” are most familiar from Spanish wines. In Spain, a wine designated “reserva” has spent at least three years aging with a minimum of one year in barrel. A “gran reserva” has been aged at least five years with at least two years in oak. The rules are less restrictive in Argentina where a red “reserva” need spend only 12 months or more in barrel and a red “gran reserva” need spend only 24 months or more in barrel (six months and 12 months for white wines). In theory, a gran reserva should be superior to a reserva, but, in this case, the reverse was true (at least in my opinion). That said, all three wines are tasty and a good value at my local (Santa Rosa, California) Grocery Outlet, ranging in price from $6.99 to $9.99. I can recommend all three.