Wine Tasting - Oak vs. Unoaked

Oak vs. No Oak

Two weekends ago I held a tasting for friends where we compared oaked against unoaked wines. My wife wanted to get a better understanding of being able to distinguish oaked flavours in wine. I bought 4 whites, all Chardonnay; and 4 reds, 2 Pinot Noir's and 2 fuller bodied reds. We tasted them 2 at a time, one oaked and one unoaked and was able to taste back and forth to note differences. Everyone had different favorites with no true winner on the night. My aim was to stay around $20/bottle so that if someone enjoyed a certain bottle they wouldn't have to splurge when buying one.

Prices listed are before tax in BC.

Whites:

1st Pairing:

La Chablisienne, Chablis La Sereine 2012

A pure Chablis with a lemon zest crisp acidity, a slight herbal note and some wet stone minerality that you will see in Chablis. This is the purest form of cold climate Chardonnay that sees no oak. They are known as austere with varying mineral notes that speak of their individual soils. Chablis is a french AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) that lies in the most northern end of Burgundy. Some Premier or Grand Cru Chablis may see some oak, but I can't afford the nectar from those bottles.
$29.49 - BC Liquor
$28.49 - Everything Wine



Toasted Head - Barrel Aged Chardonnay 2013
Wine two in the first pairing was a heavily oaked Chardonnay from Toasted Head. Their name even implies it is going to be oaky. "Toasted Head" refers to the top and bottom of the barrel being toasted (charred). Pretty much all barrels have some level of 'toast' to them from toasting the staves of the barrel in a range from light to heavy. This wine had aromas of banana, pineapple, some peach, and butterscotch-caramelized custard flavours. Definitely lots of oak in this wine with enough acidity to almost balance it. It had a big nose juicy flavours but a pretty sort finish.
$15.79 - BC Liquor

2nd Pairing:

The next white pairing I went with are two from the same Producer, Kim Crawford from New Zealand. We started with 2012 Unoaked Chardonnay from vineyards in Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay on the East Coast of New Zealand.This is a medium to full bodied wine full of ripe tropical fruits like pineapple and melon, with some nectarine, pear and butterscotch rounding out the palate. Much riper and richer in your mouth with riper fruits then our earlier non-oaked wine, the refined crisp Chablis. You wouldn't age this wine but you might be able to get 5 years out of his oaked brother below.
$18.99 - BC Liquor

Pairing from the same producer is a treat and Kim Crawford offers a few of these single parcels series. Their oaked Chardonnay hails from the best parcels of their Hawke's Bay vineyard. This wine is wild fermented; meaning they don't add any predictable wine yeasts to the ferment and allow the natural yeast in the air to ferment the wine. It was aged in 25% new French oak to further enrich the complexity. The nose had apple pie, with peaches and nuts. The palate is rich and smooth with a roasted peach nutty minerality and a length that the unoaked version could't compete with. Both nice wines, but for different occasions or foods.
$23.99 - BC Liquor

Reds

3rd Pairing:

To start the reds we tasted two Pinots from Chile. Pinot like Chardonnay have a real affinity to oak, but can sometimes be overbearing. The first Pinot was Terrapura Pinot Noir 2014 from the Aconcagua Valley. Medium Ruby in colour and had aromas of blueberries and cherries with a hint of earthiness and spice. It was aged in stainless steel and all the grapes came from a single vineyard which is unusual at this price point. There are no distinct signs of oak, just a nice juicy fruit forward Pinot that offers a delicious easy drinking wine with nice subtle complexities. 

$17.99 - Everything Wine

The next Pinot was the Block #21 Pinot Noir Cono Sur. The is another single vineyard Pinot grown 15km from the coast. It spent 11 months in French oak, giving it a deeper, richer colour than the unoaked wine. It has aromas of ripe strawberries and dark cherries. With distinct oak aromas of leather, vanilla, and a hint of toasted cedar. This wine definitely had a bit more complexity to it and a much longer length to the finish. The crowd was split on their favourite of these 2 wines; to me both were good expressions of value Pinot from Chile with the Cono Sur coming out ahead for me due to it's complexity.
$17.49 - BC Liquor
$18.49 - Everything Wine

4th Pairing:

The next set of reds we tasted were full bodied to compliment the light to medium bodied Pinots. The unoaked wine came from the Alentejo region of Portugal, Atlantico - Alentejano, and was a blend made with traditional Portuguese grapes Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Trincadeira. These grapes are also used to make the famous fortified wine Port; so to get these as a big unoaked dry wine is a nice treat. It has aromas of wild cherry and bramble fruit, with a little bit of dried herbs and spice. Try it chilled to refresh yourself when you get home; because it's Monday and it's already been one of those weeks.
$17.99 - Everything Wine

Next up was The Crusher Cabernet Sauvignon 2013. This is from the Clarksberg AVA, California, and has 12% Merlot it to balance the wine and give it a smoother finish. It was aged 14 months in 80% French Oak and 20% American Oak barrels. 60% of the barrels were new and the rest were seasoned. Giving this wine lot's of oak on the forefront with it's smoke and savory toasted cedar. Followed by strawberry jam, juicy maraschino cherries, toffee and a nice nook of nuttiness on the palate. Nice nuances for a ripe Cali Cab Sauv, but it definitely had that distinct smokey nature to it I was looking for to show the oak influence.
$21.99 - Everything Wine



We had a lot of fun tasting and comparing these wines. If anybody wants more info about these wines or oak vs. unoaked fell free to send me an email, or leave a comment.

The Flavours of Oak:

French Oak                   = Toast, Vanilla, Nutty
American Oak              = Sweet Vanilla, Coconut
Other Oak flavour        = Smoke, Cigar box, Charred wood, Resinous


Thanks for reading, and happy sipping!

Wine Ageing and Storage

I wanted to do a quick refresher on wine storage and ageing wines. A lot of people believe that all wines will better with age. Most people are wrong; wines are like people, some age gracefully but most whither away like old fruit pinning for their youthful days.


AGEING WINE:

90% of wine in the world is made to be consumed in the first few years after it is released. Only the finest wine, some fortified wine or wine from vines with certain DNA, will benefit from ageing. A wine needs to have a strong backbone to be able to age and by that I mean  good acidity, tannin, and fruit complexity. If a wine isn't that complex at 1-3 years old it isn't going to get more complex with age. If the wine is mainly fruity, with little acidity or tannin it most certainly won't age. Whites tend to not age as well as reds, but there are still great examples of whites that will age for decades. Wines like German Rieslings, and oaked Chardonnay's like a nice Premier or Grand Cru Burgundy.

As a wine ages the taste will change from the fresh fruity flavours, to oxidative flavours like toffee, coffee, caramel, toast, vanilla; or to more savory aromas like mushrooms, earth, and in those German Rieslings their characteristic petrol aromas. Yes, petrol/gas will be present in high end and aged German Rieslings, or other Rieslings made in that style.

All wines have a time where there past their prime, maybe dull and a bit lifeless. Lost are all the pleasant aromas you would be hoping for, so don't wait too long to drink your wine. Most premium wines have a 'drinking window' meaning when they may be mature, most complex, and the true expression of the winemakers efforts.


STORAGE:

The key to good wine storage is consistency in temperature and humidity. This means the kitchen counter or the fancy wine bottle holder in the window are bad places to put wine you plan on aging. If you plan to store wine longer than a few months you should take some precautions to ensure your investment. This could even be the back of your closet. You don't need a dedicated wine fridge until the wine you're storing far exceeds the cost of the fridge. I currently have the one seen below that holds 28-36 bottles depending on bottle size. If you want to store long term your wine needs to be away from daylight because UV can damage the wine. It also needs to be at a constant temperature with constant humidity to avoid the chance of spoilage. If your collection grows bigger then your space you can find professional wine storage services. These range from private liquor store storage for preferred customers right up to self-serve U-store style temp controlled garage units.


Temperature has a large impact. The warmer the temperature the faster it will mature, but the slower it matures the more complex it may turn out to be. Ideally somewhere between 10-15C if you have a dedicated fridge or cellar. If the wine has a cork then you will want to lay the bottles on their sides so the cork remains moist.

The other issue with wine storage is a mental one, .....can you forget about this amazing wine for a week, month, 1 year, 5 years, a decade?

Some Bordeaux and Ports can age 80-100 years and still be quite pleasant to consume, but it's not in my plans to buy wine for my future kids to consume. I will buy a bottle for their birth vintage for them to enjoy at some point after drinking age, and with their Dad I hope :)

(no rights to pictures; not for commercial purposes)

Cabernet Franc

Grape of the Week

Cabernet Franc

This week I want to talk about the other Cab; the father of Cabernet Sauvignon. As much as Cab Sauv may claim when drunk that "It's not my father!" DNA and Sauvignon Blanc will both confirm that her and the dapper Frenchman Cab Franc consummated their marriage many years ago giving us the wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Franc is a French grape that originally hails from Bordeaux, but it is also found as a single variety throughout France's Loire Valley, in northern Italy, and North America.

Cab Franc is a versatile grape in Canada; it makes Ice wine in Ontario as well as nice table reds and roses in BC. It is a key blending partner in the big reds from Bordeaux; with the right bank region Saint Emilion using the most in their blends, but still usually under 50%.  It is an earlier ripening grape the Cab Sauv so it is used more in cooler vintages. Further north in the Loire Valley you usually won't see the grape on the label so you will have to look for the appellations of Chinon, Bourgueil, and Saumur. These wines range in style and prices. The cheaper ones tend to be light in body and tannin, fruity, easy drinking, and sometimes served chilled. The higher quality ones will have been aged in oak, are medium to fuller body with rich complex flavours of riper fruit with floral and savory notes. These wines have good structure and can last a couple of decades. In general Cab Franc wines will have less body, tannin, and finesse then it's offspring Cab Sauv, but it does retain it's acidity to keep them very much mouth watering and worth exploring.

I did a small Cab Franc tasting on the weekend with friends; three from BC and a light Chinon to compare to. The Chinon was definitely the lightest of the flight with juicy cherry notes, soft tannin, and no signs of oak. Where as the BC wines were all oaked more medium(+) body, with riper more pronounced fruits and some savory aromas.



Chinon - JEAN MAURICE RAFFAULT - 2013 - France - $20

Light bodied with soft unobtrusive tannins, and a crisp acidity. Slightly chilled this will go down too easy with it's light notes of cherry, floral and a hint minerality. No detectable oak, drink now or give it to me.



Cabernet Franc - TINHORN CREEK - 2012 - BC - $23

This was medium bodied with ripe cherries, plum, blackcurrant, some smokey cedar, and a hint of vanilla and tobacco, nice nuances. 12 months in 2-3 year old American and French oak. Drink now or in the next 3-5 years






Cabernet Franc - BLACK SAGE - 2013 - BC - $21

This one had dark cherry, blueberry, with a hint of cedar, forest floor, sweet spices, and I was getting some tomato as well. It had 12 months in American and French oak. Drink now or in next 2-3 years







Cabernet Franc Block 3 Reserve - HESTER CREEK - 2012 - BC - $29

Ripe plum, cherry, raspberry, with toasty vanilla, and a distinct green pepper note. A bit smokey with dark chocolaty bramble fruits and a bit of black pepper spice on the palate. With 12-16 months in American and French oak. Drink now, or sit on for 3-7 years.

Wine of the Week - Campo Viejo - Rioja Tempranillo - 2013

Wine of the Week

Rioja Tempranillo - CAMPO VIEJO - 2013 - Rioja, Spain

Today I'm bringing you a nice value buy from Spain that can even be found in PEI. I promised my mother-in-law to do a wine she could find there so we could compare notes! This wine is made with 100% Tempranillo grapes from Spain's most famous wine region Rioja; which is centered around the town of Logrono.

Rioja lies in the northern part of Spain along the Ebro river. Red dominates the region with 75% of the production; with some nice roses and whites making up the rest. The wines are usually dominated by Tempranillo with Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano also being allowed to be blended in. The wines can be light and fresh as well as big and complex that may have been matured for years before it's released, and can continue to age for decades.

There are 4 categories of aging for Rioja wines; the ages for red wines are:

Joven -                 Bottled the year following the vintage and released.
Crianza -               Total ageing = 2 years; with min 1 year in oak cask
Reserva -              Total ageing = 3 years; with min 1 year in oak cask
Gran Reserva * -  Total ageing = 5 years; with min 2 years in oak cask
                              *These wines are only made in exceptional years.

This Rioja Tempranillo is Campo Viejo's entry level Rioja wine and this one spent only 4 months in American oak. This makes it lighter and fruitier than it's bigger oakier brother, their Reserva. That one will still have some nice ripe fruit and well balanced oak. Their Gran Reserva will give you complex notes of ripe dark fruits like blue and blackberries with smokey charred wood and a spicy nutty tobacco flavour with dark mocha goodness...., (smack), (smack), (smack), oh jeez drooling on the keyboard again.

Anyways back to this wine, it is vibrant with a medium ruby colour. On the nose  there's red fruits like cherries and cranberries; with some clove and leather in there as well. On the palate it is dry, high acidity, with medium tannin and medium body. On the palate we have red fruits again with vanilla, sweet spice, and maybe a hint of that old stale back-of-the-cupboard powdered cocoa you haven't used in years, or something like that.

If you are looking for a new red to try, or want to explore the different styles and ages of Rioja wines. Start with this one at $14.95 for good value. It is a good entry point to entice the palate, but do trust me they can get a lot more interesting. If you want to treat yourself look for a Gran Reserva wine; entry level usually starts at $35+.

                              

         

               

Wine of the Week - Greece

Wine of the Week

Take me to the Greek

Wandering around the liquor store aimlessly trying to find something you haven't tried before? Why not try a Greek wine! It has been a major part of their history for thousands of years, and now more than ever they could probably use a few sales. There are over 200 grape varieties native to Greece and most of them rarely grow anywhere else. It is also home to the infamous Retsina. I hadn't heard about it until I tried one in my wine class and my first response was, "Pine-Sol? They served us some kind of fermented funky Pine-Sol?"

Retsina is an ancient white wine from Greece where they've purposely added some pine sap to it while it's a young wine. The sap is then removed at the first racking; by then the wine has taken on the distinct pine characteristics. It is usually made from Roditis and Savatiano grapes. This tradition comes from the old practice of sealing the bung of the barrel with pine sap to keep the air and bugs out. Some of the excess sap would drip down into the wine giving it it's unique flavour. It is definitely worth a try and supposedly it is a great drink when in Greece, by the sea, eating calamari, sipping what the local's call the good stuff.


Greece also makes some nice table wines both red and white. They are usually labeled by region, but sometimes the grape appears on the label as well. There are 2 main red grapes that tend to dominate. First there is Xinomavro from Naoussa. It is most similar to Nebbiolo from Italy or maybe a Pinot Noir. It is light in colour and high in acid and tannin. They can gain some complexity with age, but can sometimes lack fresh fruit and tend to be a bit more savory, spicy and earthy in nature.

The other main red grape is Agiogitiko from Nemea. Agiogitiko translates into "St. Georges grape" and was supposedly served during the Trojan war and even drank by Hercules himself in legends!  Hence have been given the nickname "Blood of Hercules". The wines come in a wide range of styles depending on how high the vines were planted on the slopes. Planted up high, there's a crisp high acidity and most of the grapes are destined for rose's. Down low in the valley where it's hot they get jammy. In the middle of the slope is usually where the money is. The wines are dark ruby in colour with red fruit, some spice, and in the one I'm drinking right now a bit of juniper berry with some toasty oak notes. Some examples are even reminiscent of a Beaujolais.

One of the main white grapes is Assyrtiko native to the island Santorini. The wines are dry high in acid with rich perfumed notes, and could be similar to say a Riesling. They also can make a nice sweet wine called Vinsanto from grapes that have been dehydrated on the vine, and then sun-dried up to 2 weeks. At this point your are almost left with raisins and the wine made from those shriveled grapes is then further aged in oak for up to more 2 years. This produces a succulent sweet wine that can taste like warm caramelized nuts.

One of the coolest things about the Santorini vines on the island is that they are trained into a basket formation. This is to protect the vine from the high winds that rip across the islands. The other notable white grape would be Moschofilero from Mantinia; which can be aromatic like a Gewurztraminer. 


Lately the wineries have been worried about the upcoming harvest. Due to the money and import restrictions on accounts and goods they are unable to get some supplies like bottles and screw tops. So hopefully we will still be getting some of their wine over here in the next few vintages. That being said you may have to go out and look for them a little; as you may not find Greek wine in every liquor store.

I've explored a little and enjoyed a few I have found; they are worth a visit. So don't wait for your trip to the Greek islands or Mediterranean coast, pick one up for a Thursday dinner at home with the cats!

Thanks for reading, and happy sippin'

Basket Trained Assyrtiko

Oregon's Willamette Valley Trip

August Wine Trip

Willamette Valley, Oregon

After a wonderful wine trip last year through Washington and Oregon; where I visited the Yakima, Rattle Snake Hills, Walla Walla, and the Columbia River Valley AVA's. I was tempted to go back and explore some more of their wonderful wines, but the thought of world class Pinot Noir's just a little more South was too great to miss.

The Willamette Valley, which I used stammer out Will-a-met-tee or the Will-a-met Valley until I saw a T-shirt in the region that just said "It's Willamette Damn-it" , got it,  Willamette rhymes with Damn it. The valley runs north south roughly from Portland to Salem and West to just past Mcminnville which is about an hour from the Coast. Here the climate is just right for the finicky Pinot Noir and they are producing some of the best, and most expensive Pinots in the world. They tend to be a bit riper than those other great Pinots, you know the ones from Burgundy. All I know is we tried a a bunch and that bunch were good and the good were a bunch of money.

We started our trip in Portland and headed east on the 99W towards Newburg. I had done some research before we left as to which wineries we might be able to afford, and what ones would be open mid-week. We hit Newburg and trying to follow google to winery I wanted to hit we landed in the parking lot of Chehalam wines, and lucky for us they were open on our pre-noon arrival. They specialize as most do, in single vineyard Pinots Noirs. They had a good range open of their Pinots as well as several of their whites. I was quite fond of their Gruner Veltliner, a delicious Austrian variety. This is a white wine that is very aromatic and crisp with jasmine sage and lemon notes. Great for road tripping and camping out of the back of your truck. The other neat thing they were doing here was wine by the growler just like a craft brewery. You buy their 1 liter bottle for $5, and they charge you the 750ml bottle price to fill it. Supposedly other wineries in the area are doing it as well, and some are using the proper 2 liter size growlers.

The next place we hit was the combined tasting room of Purple Cow and Fox Farms located downtown. Purple Cow was the one I was originally trying to find because the have a large selection of different grapes. They have a Tempranillo, Petite Syrah, Teroldego, Muscat and of course some Pinots. Some of their wines are from Californian grapes, but who cares they were well worth the taste. The service was great and we tasted more then our 5 picks; having been poured multiple vintages for some of the wines, and as well as some not on the tasting sheet. We ended up buying their Tempranillo, a dry Muscat for that afternoon, and a red blend called "Soren - Thunder of God". This big bold wine is made up of Teroldego (50%), Durif (Petite Syrah)(31%), and Petit Verdot (19%). A beautiful blend that offers many levels of complexity and keeps your lips smacking for more.

We then turned around, walked 5 steps, and settled at the tasting bar for Fox Farms. We were lucky enough to have the co-owner, David Fish pouring for us. It was one of the most informative and complete tastings I had ever had. He asked for our level of geekiness we wanted to dive into, and we went full overboard; it was great. I was even tasting the different soil samples they had from each of their trio of single vineyard Pinots. He compares them to music styles, there's a Classical, Jazz, and Rock style. We ended up buying the 2012 "Jazz" Pinot from Ribbon Ridge, as well as their blended Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. David's passion for his wines and the attention to detail during the wine-making process shows across the full range, and I could of walked out of there with all of them. Fox Farms also have a wonderful Syrah, and a Pinot Gris to round out their line up.

The last stop of the day was at the Owen Roe winery; which was bustling with activity as they were rushing to get everything bottled. Harvest is coming early this year with all the nice hot weather we had all summer. Their wines were again really delicious but mostly out of our price range. We ended up picking up their Red Table wine, Abbot's Table, and their Riesling which had some nice petrol notes like a nice Clare Valley or German Riesling. Nice nuances of green apple, crisp lime, and dried apricot on the palate and it made for a wonderful sipper on that 100 degree day.

The next day we headed south to the Dundee Hills and McMinnville areas. Our first stop was Lange, and it was well worth the twisty dirt road that climbs up into the Dundee Hills. There is a great view from their patio over looking the whole AVA. Another Pinot Noir specialist, with some nice Chardonnay's to match. I bought their entry level Pinot; as most were out of my range but we were definitely glad to taste them. Next up was Eola Hills tasting room in McMinnville. Another great find with a impressive range of wines. Great knowledgeable staff with Devon friendly pours. We ended up buying their 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 Syrah; both from the Columbia Valley, and their newly released 2013 Malbec. I would of loved to been able to buy any of their wines buy the case!

With wine budgets more or less depleted we headed for the coast to cool off and slowly meander our way back up North. Oregon is beautiful wine country and the lack of sales tax is a plus. Do research before you go as tasting fees and minimum purchase levels can be high; that being said I would definitely go back again. Only the next time with a thicker wad of cash. I also wish we could bring more wine back across the border; two bottles a person is a joke. Especially when you are also finding great bargains shopping with your Safeway card!

Thanks for reading, and happy sippin'!

       

  

   

Grape of the Week

Pinot Noir Rose - 2014 - FORT BERENS - Lillooet, BC 

Summer keeps giving, so I'll bring you another delicious summer wine. This Pinot Noir rose is great on the patio, at the beach, park, home alone on a Monday, paired with maybe with some pork or grilled veggies. Rose's are usually always served chilled


Fort Berens is the first winery in Lillooet, BC. Which is a couple hours north of Whistler on Hwy 99 on your way to Cache Creek. It lies in the rain shadow of the Coast Mt's and has a very arid dry climate. A rugged but beautiful little junction of ranges, rivers and valleys. The vines were planted in 2009 and they hit full production in 2014. I have tasted their full range of wines and they are starting to show their potential. We picked up this Rose, their Riesling, and the 23 Camels Red blend, (55% Cab Franc / 45% Merlot) all delicious. A great location with a great patio. Worth a stop if you're in the neighborhood, or a nice way to break up a long drive.

This wine had a nice nose of strawberry cream with some freshly picked wild raspberries on top, but was dry, crisp, and refreshing on the palate. Made with 100% Pinot Noir from their estate with 48hrs of skin contact to give it that rich salmon colour.

I find this a suiting send off for my vacation as I will be starting it in Pinot Noir country; the famous Willamette Valley in Oregon. More on that when I return....

Happy sipping, and thanks for reading.


Available at the winery and:

Swirl Wine Stores in Yaletown & South Surrey; as well as other private liquor stores throughout BC.


Fort Berens vineyards and patio in Lillooet.

Grape of the Week

Chenin Blanc

It's been a long hot summer and it has been awesome, but for wine drinkers who usually stick to their usual fare, you may be looking for something new. If you only drink red and you're stubborn then you can stop reading here.....

Chenin Blanc is a white grape with it's traditional home in the Loire Valley in France but has now found a new home in the coastal region of South Africa. It is one of the most versatile grapes around and can produce dry light fresh wines, dry complex age worthy sought after wines, some of the longest lived sweet wines in the world and even some nice bubbly.

This grape will give you a mouth watering acidic wine with honey, floral notes and fruit aromas that can range from citrus, to stone fruits and into tropical with most of the wines being dry. Vouvray from France, which is always Chenin, will even take on a distinct aroma of wet wool as it ages. It doesn't necessarily taste like you're chewing on a wet sweater when you're drinking it, but does lead to some complex flavours. Other French Chenin wines would be Savennieres that can have a smokey element to them, and Coteaux du Layon which are noble rot infected sweet wines; both worth trying if you ever stumble upon them.

In South Africa, Chenin is know as "Steen", and it is their most widely planted grape. This gives us lot's of nice patio / beach wines for under $15 and can provide nice value. California grows a lot of Chenin in the Central Valley for cheap bland bulk wines. The Okanagan in BC also has had some success with Chenin; the 2 that come to mind are Inniskillin and Quails Gate; and as I just found out Road 13 has an award wining sparkling version, well there you go, I'm learning too!

I had the Inniskillin last week and it was delicious. It had the usual honey notes and some nice tropical fruit; a dry crisp wine that's rather quite refreshing in this summer heat. Patio, or no patio go explore; pretend you're in South Africa, it's really really hot, your parched, you need a drink, reach out for some, (raspy voice) Chenin blanc....

                

                                                    


Thanks for reading, Happy sipping!





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