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This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.
The difference in perception of this wine and the Dulka Cabernet we just covered is quite huge - the wine makers from Fru?ka Gora do seem to know how to add some magic to their wines and add a special touch to it (OK, it costs twice as much, but is well worth it!).
Score: 5/10 Price: 240 RSD (?3) Retailer: Widely available in Serbia and Montenegro
The average diner tends to be less than well-educated when it comes to pairing wine with their meals, or knowing how to serve it. To avoid turning ordering a glass of wine into a major ordeal, it's important to educate yourself about the wines available and the things you should or should not be doing to enjoy them.
Wine & Spirits Magazine recently announced its Top 100 wineries in the world, and that included the first New York state winery to ever make this prestigious list ? a list that has an amazing 22-year history.
Fox Run Vineyards on Seneca Lake will be featured with the others on the list in the November issue of Wine & Spirits.
Congratulations to Scott Osborn at the entrie crew over at Fox Run on this monumental achievment!
Its a struggle drinking Chianti without food; insufferable punishment on the taste buds in fact. That sharp, acidic, slightly earthy finish is how the wine is supposed to taste but it's a struggle to consume more than a glass. Rasping if you are subjected to a poor quality bottle.
Add food and it's like drinking a different wine.
But, I hear the masses yell, that is what Chianti is designed for - drinking with food. It is like a television without an aerial; you can use it but it just doesn't work very well. You know you are missing out on the bigger picture.
Two bottles of this rather decent Chianti have been consumed over the last few days. A Sunday roast of beef and Yorkshires was fine. Further complexity was revealed in the flavour but there remained something lacking.
What the roast lacked was the sweet acidity of tomatoes to balance. Step forward a superbly thrown together lasagne. Combining mince beef, plenty of fresh parsley, a splash of red and a tin of chopped Italian tomatoes the wine shone like a beacon . The wines refreshing acidity makes it all the more drinkable. (I'm also thinking lamb would have been a better match, over beef, with the wines acidity cutting through the inherent fat beautifully).
Review0.3 Wine Tasting Note: San Felice Il Grigio Chianti Classico Riserva, 2004, Tuscany, Italy Stockist: Everywine £257 for 12, Italian Wine Society £15.19 £182.28 for 12 [More on Adegga / Snooth]
A richness of dark cherry fruit leads into a twist of acidic bitterness on the finish. Smooth and robust with hints of leather and mixed herbs. but shines with food. Shown to both Slavonian and French oak barrels which adds complexity. 100% Sangiovese. Alcohol 13%.
Andrew BarrowScribblings Rating - 90/100 [3.75 out of 5]
The quality of California Syrah continues to skyrocket, and its success is pulling along other Rhône Valley grape transplants, chief among them Grenache. As we've tasted through dozens of new Rhône-style reds in recent weeks, it's amazing how delicious so many of these infant wines are.
The Pride of New York Harvest Festival at the Desomond Hotel in Albany, New York was a wonderufl success. Many celebs of the New York wine world were seen walking the floor, including Hunt Country's Art Hunt, Fox Run's Scott Osborn, Matt Spacarelli of Benmarl, Chris Reno of Lafayette Reaneau, and many other winery owners and winemakers, as well as scurrying sales staffs.
Its been a good year for many wineries, and this event was a great mixture of New York gourmet foods and New York wine.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Fat Bastard wines are doing their part to cure this disease by donating 25 cents for every bottle sold in restaurants and retail stores, up to $75,000. This is the sixth year the company has run this program and to date, they have donated more than $250,000 to breast cancer research.
During October, Fat Bastard wines will be easy to spot on the shelf. They'll have a pink ribbon necker with an attached pin for consumers to wear. Fat Bastard's wine collection includes Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
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I grabbed this for $9 as it was a "Best Buy" in one of my wine mags. It is light garnet in color with fruity, nice bouquet of black cherry.
Palate--Lt. bodied with initial spice, licorice, some wood and a smoke finish. Sounds better than it really is. I didn't care for it as an example of Syrah. It's okay but if you want Syrah, be willing to pay about twice what I paid for this. Check out Santa Barbara Syrah's for nice drinking and raise a glass.
I don’t often buy wines from Maison Latour, and whilst I’ve had so-so bottles from them, it has more been due to lack of local availability than quality reasons. Now I’ve found a relatively close merchant, so two or three bottles might appear over the next days. 2005 Louis Latour, Gevrey-Chambertin Medium-plus colour. The [...]
Christina Rowan of Washington DC thought quickly and calmly when a gunman crashed a backyard barbecue and held a gun to a 14-year-old girl's head. Moments later, the gunman left with a glass of wine and a smile. Read the whole story.
Enjoy the subtle juiciness of this dry version, with flavors of orange marmalade, chamomile, honey and sea salt. This has good intensity and focus, but also the overall elegance of a well put together wine. Smoky finish. Drink now through 2023. 1,000 cases made.
2005 Ponzi Pinot Noir The 2005 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley offers toasty cherry and strawberry aromas leading to a medium-bodied, structured wine with spicy flavors and a slightly tannic finish. Drink this tasty Pinot Noir over the next 4-6 years. Ponzi Vineyards began in 1974 making them one of Oregon?s pioneers. Dick and Nancy Ponzi, the founders, remain very much involved although winemaking duties were turned over to daughter Luisa in 1993. In addition to remaining a reference point for Oregon Pinot Noir, the winery fashions excellent wines from Italian varietals including Arneis and Dolcetto in honor of their heritage. Not yet released. Tel. (503) 628-1227; www.ponziwines.com Rating: 89 Estimated Cost: $29-$40
Celebrate Wine is pleased to be a part of a new wine-writing project called "Drink Local Wine." The site brings together wine journalists, sommeliers, bloggers, and other wine enthusiasts from 16 "non-west coast" states and Canada. The goal is to enforce the reality that North American wine is not just about California, Oregon, and Washington anymore.
At "Drink Local Wine," you'll find information about wines from Illinois, Maryland, Georgia, and Wisconsin...and, of course, my home state, Ohio. Be sure to take a look.
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Leave it to a baby boomer to latch onto this millennial wine label concept. Forgive me; the label goes with the new table we just bought from Pier 1 Imports, that place where the millennial generation now shops. The proverbial "we" refers to the writer, namely me, and my civil union partner of nearly 20 years, or whatever is allowed to be said given we do not fall into the category of "one man and one woman".
Geode is a wine concept. It is a design. It is targeted marketing. This is its first vintage. It over-delivers. That's a good thing. Quick, before they sell it off to a larger company keen on watering it down and milking the label as a cash cow, buy it and drink up.
If they are going to wing these concepts out at us, then we need to know when to buy and when to pass. We need to be as fickle about our preferences as they are about their focus group results. My experience is this type of concept is best when it starts out. They can evolve into something even better, but rarely. Again I say, buy now and drink up. Just don't get married to it. Play the field. Be gay with California wine - don't get married.
White Rocket Wine Company has done a great job with Geode Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2006. Chardonnay is the proverbial "dead horse" in many ways these days, so it takes a strong concept, product and price to make hay. True to form as a Santa Barbara County Chardonnay, this newbie takes on hints of Puligny-Montrachet, a remarkable feat for a sub-$15 wine, Geode is packed with oodles of honeyed botrytis overtones and delicious tropical fruit flavors. The honey is in the head space and the pineapple, mango and lemon-lime grace the palate in a sophisticated way. The performance is very well rounded, creamy on the palate, yet the finish is crisp dry.
Veteran wine maker Melissa Bates is credited with this stellar value laden effort. She reportedly gave this wine an average of 8 months in oak, 3/4 French, 1/4 new.
Price: $14 (Nashville). Closure: real cork. Alcohol content: 13.5%.
They maybe should start calling Napa Chardonnay simply, "a glass of white Napa". Chardonnay seems so generic, especially in the days of now, when "mom-and-pop" wineries are a romantic thing of the almost-past. Last year William Hill Estate changed hands, leaving the portfolio of Jim Beam's peeps and joining the ranks of E&J Gallo's decendents' peeps. But this is Napa juice, so I say, call it "a glass of white Napa". It sounds more distinguished than, say, a glass of Gallo's William Hill Napa Chardonnay.
By the way, do you know how to tell right away if that winery you're researching is owned by one of the large "wine umbrella portfolio management groups", without googling it? Here's a hint: If they ask you when you're born, before you check out their homepage, tell them you're born on January 1st 1901. And rest assured, you're under a big umbrella.
Okay, now that we've established that Gallo bought a Napa property with lots of history and genuine character, let's give them credit for injecting the house with efficiency without sacrificing quality. Under Gallo's umbrella, William Hill can compete better in the reality known as wine 2.0, the modern wine marketing landscape. As part of an entire "aisle" of offerings, this label can wield more muscle than it could stand-alone. We get better deals as a result. When they don't water it down, we stand to benefit by such an arrangement.
Reportedly, the fruit for William Hill Napa Chardonnay 2005 is from Carneros and Atlas Peak. Malolactic fermentation and oak aging inject the wine with richness, layered atop the lean acidic structure begotten from the cool climate vineyards. The oak influence is noticeable, reinforcing the tropical mango and perfumed lemon aromas and flavors. Here is a successful baby Chassagne-Montrachet, if you dare call it that. I call it a darn good glass of "white Napa".
Price: $13 (Nashville, on sale). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 13.9%.
Beautifully conceptual these wines, both of them. This is what Chardonnay is all about, and it's amazing how affordable they are.
Anyone who?s read Blanc de Noir for long knows we?re both huge fans of Italian wines. There?s just something about the diversity, quality, and sheer fun factor of Italian wines ? whether it?s a casual summer patio sipper or a robust vintage to accompany a big, festive dinner or one of the meditative Amarones that are still way up there on our list of favourites.
So when BC Wine Appreciation Society decided to add a couple of Italian wines to an educational tasting scheduled just prior to the 2008 Playhouse International Wine Festival ? the theme country for this year?s festival was, after all, Italy ? Frank and our illustrious BCWAS leader, Tim Ellison, decided to add a twist to the event. How about putting up a couple of Italian wines with the usual BC vintages? Frank, however, took the concept one step farther.
Here?s the deal. From BC: three sparklers, four Pinot Grigios, two Pinot Noirs, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Merlot. From Italy: three Chiantis ? just three and all from Frescobaldi, one of Italy?s most respected winemakers (multi-generations shown above).
Here?s the catch. The Chiantis were bottled in 2004, 1982, and 1975. No, it?s not a typo. The last two came from the collection of Italian wines Frank recently acquired ? one of those fantastic opportunities that come about from being in the right place and the right time and having way more patience than most when it comes to negotiating.
Alas, on the night of the event, Frank was sick with flu, but you can bet eyes went wide as people realized what he?d sent.
The 2004 was, pretty much as expected, dark purple with lots of fruit and tannins that were more ?in your face? than makes for a good sipping wine unless you?re eating. But truth is, few people spent much time with that particular wine since they were all eager to try the two older offerings.
Immediately apparent was the change in colour ? now tawny with a much larger rim than the 2004. Controversy was plentiful and several people found neither one was ?quite my thing? as one member put it in an attempt to be diplomatic. The level of oxidization, especially in the 1975, caused raised eyebrows among half the folks there. It was virtually unanimous that the ?82 needs to be drunk now and the ?75 is clearly a bit past its prime ? although not a soul suggested it should be tossed.
However wide ranging the evening?s opinions were, one thing we all did agree on. These are wines made with love and benefit from patience.
Frank?s Tasting Notes: Castello di Nipozzano Riserva 1982 This wine has aged well, probably because it is a Riserva. After more than a quarter of a century there?s still lots of fruit left ? black cherry and dark fruits with a note of white truffles in the background. The tannins have smoothed right out so they are now a little silky, and the finish is fairly long. This wine shows just how well age can improve a Chianti. Alcohol 12.5%. All the bottles for both these wines are numbered ? I have 10 left, all around 84,960 series out of 293,600 bottles produced in 1982.
Castello di Nipozzano Chianti Rufina 1975 Sadly just a little past its prime but still drinkable as the acidity has helped this one hold up. Wide orange rim, brick red colour. Truffles leave sherry undertones. This vintage has shown a lot of bottle variation ? the fruit showed up a little more in this one than the first one we tried. Alcohol 12.7%. The last bottle I have left is number 74324 of 80,000 bottles produced.
Imagine 45 bottles of Syrah, each one bagged and numbered just waiting for sensory evaluation. Now, imagine that these evaluations will come from the very winemakers who made these wines.
That’s right, 45 winemakers evaluating their own wine, while competing against the wines made by their colleagues. That’s the premise of the 2008 Hospice du Rhône’s Syrah Shootout, where the winner gets bragging rights - plus a terrific-looking (not so much) “Coat du Rhône” to wear home.
Join winemaker Rusell Bevan and he takes us through a guided tour of this great event.
Created by Jim Henson, this made-for-tv movie broke new ground. It aired in 1969 on NBC?s Experiment in Television, a one-hour, commercial-free show that ran on Sunday afternoons and featured drama, comedy, and documentaries peppered with such personalities as Frank Langella, Nanette Fabray, Fritz Weaver, Bernadette Peters, Verna Bloom, Frank McHugh, Jack Gilford, Nancy Walker, David Steinberg, Mildred Dunnock, Donald Pleasance, Richard Briers, John Gielgud, George Plimpton, Christopher Plummer and Diana Rigg. Documentaries featured people like Marshall McLuhan, Frederico Fellini, Arthur Penn, Al Capp and the Beatles.
A few weeks ago, a friend of ours gave us the skinny on a new wine shop in Barcelona called, Neyras Vins. Located on Calle Laietana, a short jaunt from the famous Barcelona Cathedral, it is a cozy and comfortable space that welcomes both tourists and residents alike.
It’s owner, Antonio Gomez Neyra, is also the owner of Restaurante Neyras, founded back in 1989. Albeit not an ancient restaurant by European standards, it has gained a solid reputation as a high-end seafood and wine establishment. Consequently, the creation of a wine shop two doors down from his restaurant seemed like an easy investment when your customers continually inquire about your fine Spanish wines. Unfortunately, as of yet, one cannot meander over to the Neyras Vins and pick out a bottle of wine to pair with your meal, but we’re hopeful this policy will change in the future.
What makes Neyras Vins unique is that its manager, Juan Manuel Gonzalvo, prides himself on actively seeking out a personal relationship with their producers, over 90% of which are Spanish. Many of these producers can also be read about on his blog Y Vinos, a point of pride and joy for Juan Manuel, as its creation came well before that of the store. However, there is not relationship between the blog and the store. Neyras Vins, sadly, does not have a website as of yet, but we’re hoping this will also change in the near future, and if we’re all lucky it will be blog based.
Neyras Vins is well organized, designed, and most importantly, affordable. Constructed primarily of wood, with bottles organized by regions, and plenty of wide open space to peruse while sipping on wines open and available to the customer, its a great little shop worthy of checking out. And if for whatever strange reason, you’re in the mood for a Japanese scotch (fun Japanese whiskey site!) or an exotic Tequila, while in Spain, you don’t have to look any further, as their glass case is stocked with a variety of liquors from around the world.
During our visit, we also had the opportunity to learn about a new producer, Heretat Montrubi located in the Alt Penedes. We tried two of their wines, one of which was an incredible sweet wine made with 73% Xarel.lo and 23% Parellada. The 2006 Advent is claimed to be the first ever sweet wine made with Xarel.lo. What’s more is that this wine is made in a very similar way Pedro Ximenez, where the bunches are individually hung from metal wires to naturally dehydrate over the course of 75 days. The grapes are then pressed, fermented at a low temperature with a specific yeast, and finally, placed in two 225 oak barrels where they finish off their fermentation for 11 months on lees. This process results in a delicate and radiant golden color with a lovely and bizarre range of aromas including: cereal, honeycomb, orange zest and a touch of white, mature fruit. In the mouth, the wine shows incredible acidity, medium body and a nice, lingering finish full of honey, lemon custard and raw nuts. And as if this sweet wine wasn’t interesting enough, we also experienced the 2004 Gaintus, an incredibly unique wine made exclusively from Sumoll! This is a rarity, and one clearly highlighted by the winery as, “the first single variety wine from the Sumoll grape”.
If you are in Barcelona, stop by and say hello from Catavino, and please share your impressions of the Neyras Vins here on our site.
Additionally, I’d be interested to know your thoughts as to whether retail stores need an online presence, and if so, how? How do you find a wine shop when you’re traveling to a new country, and what is the criteria that helps you decide if you want to swing by and check out a wine shop?
Saludos,
Gabriella Opaz
Neyrus Vins Via Laietana 41 (Esq. Joaquim Pou. 2) 08003 Barcelona Phone: +34 93 301 30 35 Map
One of my accounts handed me this wine review, written up by a former employee. "She wasn't all there..." they noted, and went on to say she'd find reviews online and cut and paste without actually reading them. This little gem was up for quite a while until horrified customers noted that they wouldn't buy the wine because the description was so off-putting. I, however, find it to be brilliant and would love to partake in the Ecstatic Singing Mantra whenever it transpires. So I searched for wine reviews of Jest Red online, and apparently, most of this review appeared on A Little Vino Would Be Keeno. Which is clearly now my favorite site. Ever.
"Blended from seven noble grape varietals, the nose is deeply perfumed with wild dewberries, Himalayan breeding musk, and horehound candy, while the flavors, so titillating they may only be disclosed in the Ecstatic Singing Mantra. Pair with beef, pork, pasta with red sauce, cheese or chocolate, or go wild and have it with pizza, burgers or even burritos!"
I'm not quite sure which is the best part of that - is it the Himalayan breeding musk or the pairings? It's sublime on so many levels.
It is home to over one third of all vines planted in France. Yet, how the Languedoc adjusts to world glut in grapes will have a profound effect on its future. Once responsible for massive amounts of low quality grapes, growers in the France's south have had to make a choice as competition from other countries have made this a less viable business.
Faced with the option of simply pulling out vines, a new generation of winemakers have chosen to make higher quality wines. While lower yields have improved the wines, putting more emphasis on more marketable grapes like Syrah and Grenache have no doubt made them more attractive to today's varietal conscious consumer. However, this second decision has come at a price.
The Carignan grape, indigenous to the south, has suffered as many growers have switched to Syrah and Grenache. Carignan can do wonderful things if given the opportunity, adding color, structure, depth, as well as dark cooked fruits, licorice and earthy aromas. However, since it is often relegated to the more fertile plateaus where it over produces, it can become rather innocuous.
At a recent tasting of Languedoc wines, the bottles that had appreciable levels of well-grown carignan were the ones that stood out. If you place a value on the importance of regional ?distinctiveness,' look for those Languedoc wines with higher percentages of this grape. Coteaux du Languedoc 2001, Mas Jullien One of my favourite producers is Olivier Jullien. His estate, Mas Jullien, is spread out over 15 acres around the village of Jonquiers, just north of the Mediterrean coast and the city of Montpellier. I have already reviewed his Mas Jullien Blanc, a six grapes blend that includes Grenache Blanc, Viogner and Chenin Blanc, and to my taste is one of the most distinctive and interesting whites in France that requires years of cellaring to reach it's apogee.
His red, a blend of Carignan, Syrah and Mourvedre, is no less interesting. Like many carignan based wines, it requires a couple of years of cellaring to iron out some of the rougher edges, but it rewards patience like few wines from the region. This was my fourth bottle (I still have two left).
Drunk to the tune of a big juicy steak.
Deep purple in both color and style. Like Richie Blackmore's guitar playing, Jullien combines virtuosity with power, beauty without being very pretty. It smells and tastes of dark plums, marinated in licorice and sweet spices. Rich and concentrated, the tannins melted away to a dense, powerful and harmonious finish. This is not the new dulcimer Blackmore, but the Richie of Old.
The web site for Philip Stein - purveyor of the new Wine Wand - claims that thanks to this nifty device "The full bouquet and taste of wine can be enjoyed within minutes, not hours." That's a bold statement, but one that can be tested on your very own at home, for the bargain price of just $325. That's right, that's the price of the Wine Wand, which Stein's site describes loftily as "a breakthrough device that uses natural energy to aerate wine, enhancing flavors and aroma almost instantly." Okaaaaay, so where's the catch?
I came back from the first Wine Bloggers Conference in Sonoma this weekend and there was one thing I knew for sure: I didn't want to drink any California wine. I needed a change. I caught up on my mail and read the backed up blog posts in my RSS reader and inspiration hit: I was going to drink an Argentinian Malbec.
This inspiration stemmed from two of the people I met at the conference (though I've known them via the blogosphere and Twitter for some time now): David from the blog Vinomadic, and Philip James from the wine finder and keeper site Snooth. David lived in Argentina for a time (and always gives me good suggestions on what to drink), and Snooth just had a tasting dedicated to value Malbecs. I enjoyed talking to both of them this weekend, and that was enough to send me scurrying to the cellar in pursuit of an Argentinian Malbec.
The wine that I pulled out was the 2006 Finca Las Moras Malbec Reserva (sample; suggested retail for this new release is $12; you may find it or other recent vintages near you for between $7 and $12) This wine was a simple pleasure from start to finish, because it was made in an apologetically New World fruit-forward style, but with some sensitivity and restraint. Malbec is often described as fitting somewhere between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in the flavor spectrum, but what I always think of is plums--lots and lots of plums. The 2006 Finca Las Moras Malbec Reserva did indeed have prominent aromas of plum, leather, and vanilla. These aromas were echoed in the flavors of plum and spice, and there was also a nice meaty note that gave the wine some depth of complexity. Very good QPR for this wine brought into the US by Joshua Tree Imports, who are known for their good value brands such as Razor's Edge and Fetish.
I love lamb with Malbec, and so we had this with Lamb Chops and a tomato-and-potato gratin. If you are vegetarian, I highly recommend making the gratin, and having it with some meaty grilled portabello mushrooms instead of the lamb. Whether you go with meat or a meatless option, you'll find that the meaty, leathery aromas and flavors will get drawn out by the grilled food and the beautiful plum fruit will be a nice complement to the earthy potatoes and sweet tomatoes.
Thanks to David and Philip for helping me get inspired about wine all over again. See you next year at the Wine Bloggers Conference!
Tecnorati
This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.
The web site for 