12 posts tagged “wine”

I sent the following list of wines for my sister to pick up as a gift for my other sister.  I figured I'd just post these for reference.  I've been hunting them down myself, since I hadn't tried some, and I'll be writing reviews as I do.  The asterisk indicated to my sis that I've tried it and liked it.  After recently acquiring a subscription to Wine Spectator, I used the three issues they sent to me within about 2 weeks to discover some of these.

Whites
*A to Z Pinot Gris 2006 ($14)
*A to Z Chardonnay 2006 ($16)
Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs Sonoma County NV (non-vintage)
*L'Ecole No. 41 Semillon Columbia Vally 2005 ($15)
Drylands Sauvingnon Blanc Marlborough 2006 ($13)

Reds
*Falesco Sangiovese Umbria 2006 ($14)
Fontanafredda Barbera Piemonte Briccotondo 2006 ($13)
*Bedegas Borsao Garnacha Campo de Borja Tres Picos 2005 ($12)
*Columbia Crest Merlot Columbia Valley Grand Estates 2004 ($11)
Yellow Tail Shiraz South Eastern Australia The Reserve 2005 ($11)
Terredora Falanghina Irpinia 2005 ($14)
Thorn-Carke Terra Barossa Cuvee Barossa 2005 ($13)

Belle Vallee Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2005 ($22)
*Owen Roe's Sharecropper Pinot Noir 2006 ($22)

Lastly, I got to try the Miura Pinot Noir the other day...I think it was the 2001, pretty aged for a domestic Pinot...really great dark stone fruit nose and opened up over the meal.

Since my palette's accustomed to new world wines, the subtlty of Old World wines are sometimes a stretch for me.  In this case, from the smell of it, earthy and light fruit, could prove to be a challenging wine for me.  The taste of it is on the light, non-viscous side, and has a vanilla quality to it.  But, has good holding power along with the "gourmet" Target pizza (archer farms mediterranean vegetable pizza) I'm eating.  In the end, I'd say this is a really nice food wine -- not surprising with Old World -- and I'll have to see how this works by itself.

What's vendemmia mean?  Apparently, it means harvest or vintage in Italian.  I wonder if the root of this word has to to with selling, since the French verb "vendre" means to sell.

Here's the importer's coverage of the wine.

French wine labels crack me up.  Well, this is a wine that's imported by a Negociant, which is basically a wine merchant and this is a table wine.  Anyway, this wine is from Baune -- which is a pretty well known town in Bourgogne in France. Enough with the pleasantries about Baune, let's get to the "blind" tasting!

This wine has a light straw color and carries with it some fairly average sized legs -- probably a little on the higher alcohol side.  Pretty nice mineral nose with some pear and caramel.  Unlike an American Chardonnay, this wine has a sharp acidity and dryness throughout, and has a nice long gradual finish.  No butter here, and that's usually a result of the aging casks -- no oak.  Guess we'll see...  Coming up with the fruity flavors in the mouth is challenging as the acid/mineral combination dominates.

I've had the 7 Deadly Zins before I started blogging my tastings. Taking the opportunity that some friends gifted me a bottle, I thought I'd read up a little on Zin in my handy Oxford Wine Encyclopedia -- revealing that the Zinfandel grape is from Croatia and that the grape has been grown in the U.S. since the mid-1850s in California.

On to the tasting...

Swirl, swirl: Oddly, the legs aren't producing. There they are...really, really fat and slow. I wonder if the Jet-Dry didn't wash all the way out of my glasses?! Side note: I recently read that legs really don't tell you much about a wine, as they're produced with any liquid that contains more than 12% alcohol.

Color: Bright red, not as purple as I'd expect from a 2005.

Nose: Lots of alcohol biting in my nose. Some vanilla, maybe even a corn/maize, tobacco. Not much berry or fruitiness.

Mouth: Sweet, sticky, medium body, some harshness from the alcohol at the back of the throat. Getting some strawberry and cherry flavors. Light tannins.

From Lodi Vineyards (map):

"Soft, supple pepper and licorice-clove notes merge into a sinful marriage of deep, brambly blackberries and lustful cherries. The finish is clean on the palate with hints of rich vanilla, cocoa, and mild tannins."

Cheers!

Nose: Raisins, cherry, leather

Long finish -- nice balance from fruit to acid.

Jancis Robinson was on Charlie Rose this week. (TiVo makes it hard to figure out when shows are actually on!) She mentioned two wines that she had tasted when she was in Canada recently. The first was a wine made in 1892, and the second was one in the 1790s (something about the bottle having been Napoleon's at the Battle of the Bulge. Amazing.

Since Charlie's crew didn't seem to think that her portion of the show was as important as his interview with Madeline Albright, and thus is not available on the web.

BTW, Jancis Robinson's Oxford Wine Encyclopedia is on my wish list.

2003 Airlie Chardonnay "Barrel Fermented"

Nose: Lemon, peach, pineapple, whiskey
Mouth: Medium viscosity, pretty long finish from buttery with an acid finish

The flavors and aromas puzzled me a bit on this Chardonnay, and here's the page from Airlie. The whiskey nose -- maybe this is a defect -- was especially puzzling.

Overall, this is a pretty big wine and a nice balance between new world and old world style wine. Some fruit up front, but some earthiness along the way to the finish

Color: Still somewhat purple
Nose: Spicy, raisin, currant, vanilla, alcohol
Mouth: Full mouthfeel, not very acidic until the finish

I grabbed this one as a result of the Reserva we tried the other night.

Today I'm covering two (kindof three) wines. First up is the 2005 Acacia Chardonnay, next is the 2003 Bodegas Fontana Fontal Tempranillo Roble, and finally a 2000 Vina Santurnia Rioja Reserva.

2005 Acacia Chardonnay
On a recommendation from Lowry Liquors, my wife grabbed this nice Chardonnay.

2003 Bodegas Fontana Fontal Tempranillo

Nose: Spicy, earthy, plum, fruity
Mouth: Pretty dry, old-world style, medium acid

2000 Vina Santurnia Rioja Reserva

I don't have a detailed recollection of this wine, but it was, by far, my favorite of the Tempranillos so far. A big fruity wine with some tannins. I'd buy this again. We had this bottle of Reserva at Potager Restaurant.

Trying to find a good value in Pinot Noir is difficult. While I'd judge the Matua less complex than other more expensive Pinots, this is a pretty great wine for the price. At about $13, you get the typical cherry nose -- perhaps some vanilla -- and some strawberry tastes.

Nose: Cherry, hint of vanilla
Mouth: Pretty light fruit, good strawberry up front, tannins at the tail, acid kicks in about 2/3 of the way through, and the wine builds in tartness after a glass or so
Color: Light red/purple, maybe looks like cranberry juice, little bit of browns
Legs: Medium width

Okay, drumroll...now for what the winemaker says...

"An elegant and delicate wine style with tasty plum and wild cherry characters, that are well balanced with a hint of rose petal. Trim tannins and oak hints complete the wine with a touch of depth and richness."

Damn, this time it was oak and not vanilla -- but lookie there, a hint.

Oh, reading the wine pro's article on Pinot leads me to remember that oak delivers that vanilla characteristic.