TagCloud:
Wine Ebooks:
| | The Complete Grape Growers Guide. |  | | A Complete Guide For Growing Grapes. Converts Very Well At A Reasonable Price! Growing Grapes And Making Wine Is A Very Popular Topic Right Now.
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| | Fool-Proof Wine Values. | | | Learn How To Easily Find Wines Of $50 Quality For $10 Or Less. Impress Friends With Your Expanded Wine Knowledge. Eliminate Your Dependence On Wine Salespeople. And Take The Hassle Out Of Buying Wine.
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| | Making Wine From Home. | | | A Fun And Very Informative Book On Home Wine Making. The De Facto Standard For All Home Wine Enthusiasts With Recipes, Advice And Tricks.
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Blogs & Sites:
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[10/31/2008, 01:57]
louis latour 2005 gevrey-chambertin | | | 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 [...] | | | |
[09/27/2006, 18:17]
Women's (wine) intuition | |  I was just talking with a friend from Chicago about Alpana Singh.
At 26, she was named the youngest female master sommelier. Now, at 29, she's director of wine and spirits for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Smart girl. And she champions the women-and-wine cause. I like that.
And there she is in today's Chicago Sun Times offering us a little taste of her wine savvy. I'm fond of this one in particular: Many good wines are meant to be drunk young. "Otherwise, while you're patiently waiting for 'Mr. Right,' you may inadvertently be letting 'Mr. Right Now' get away."
I'll throw in my own girly wisdom: Wine and shoes have a lot in common. You have the $300 Stuart Weitzmans stashed away in a cloth bag in an air-tight box in the back of your closet. And then there's the everyday, comfy-as-hell boots you throw on without a second thought, but can't imagine living without. Those dress-up wines you've got buried in your cellar, they're nice, but it's the week-night, lasagna-and-garlic-bread bottle that gets you through the week.
Tags: wine, sommeliers | | WorldWine Tags: wine, sommeliers, | | | |
[12/31/2007, 02:39]
Happy New Year! | | Happy new year everyone!
Have an amazing evening and above all - drink some great wine and champagne!
2008 promises to be an exciting year for The Cru so stay tuned!
To begin with I will be releasing a new look Cru in the next two weeks - it's going to a lot easy to navigate around and hopefully it will make finding your favourite South African wine that much easier and more enjoyable!
Until then have a great evening and enjoy the chosen Pouza! | | | |
[06/05/2008, 07:23]
Temporarily teetotal | | | by Martin Field Long-time readers will be shocked to hear that your humble correspondent has been off the grog for a few weeks. Doctor?s orders, following a nasty but necessary ?routine? operation visited often enough upon ageing geezers. Seems that up to a month?s healing is required, and alcohol, which can dilate blood vessels, may hinder this. Not that I felt much like booze, or food for that matter for a couple of weeks. No doubt due to trauma and the ongoing aftermath of a generous intrathecal dose of dope that left me temporarily legless. Where was I? | | | |
[11/19/2008, 17:26]
Atavist / Nadja | | Points at Infinity is the second collaboration between the UK?s most infamous doom/sludge metal band, Atavist, and the most prolific and respected act in experimental/drone/doom/ambient music today, Nadja.
The first collaboration, titled 12012291920/1414101 and released last year through Invada Records (owned by Portishead main songwriter Geoff Barrow), was merely an experiment?one that was actually initiated by Profound Lore Records. This second collaboration presents a sound picture with significantly more substance and depth; while still experimental in nature, Points at Infinity exemplifies growth and expansion by both of these enigmatic bands.
PRAISE FOR 12012291920/1414101:
 ?This collaboration between the UK?s Atavist and Canadian doom mongers Nadja is a rare old treat. Across two lengthy pieces, the bands square up to deliver a disc?s worth of bottom-heavy sludge and floating drones. Far from being a cold-hearted excursion into dark metal, the resultant pieces are a surprisingly warm blend of distortion, glacial chord changes and nebulous atmospherics. Opening with ?Twentyfour:Sixteen,? the collaborators launch themselves into an unexpectedly melodic domain only to soak up more challenging sonic elements as the piece progresses; by about halfway through you?ll hear glistening feedback tones beginning to intrude, and by the time we arrive at the half-hour long second track, ?Twentynine:Thirtyseven,? the bands are bathing their sound in oceans of noise and hollowed-out electronic tones with a distinct emphasis placed on the lowest end of the frequency spectrum. By its close, the piece gathers a sub-bass-driven weight that Stephen O?Malley could be proud of, all cloaked in a sense of warmth usually absent from the genre.? ?Boomkat
Info stolen from; Alien8 Recordings
You can find ?Alchemic Resurrection? on Cheeto?s blog Doomed To Be Stoned In A Sludge Swamp. Have fun and leave me a comment!
Links;
Atavist / Nadja - II: Points At Infinity
Atavist / Nadja - 12012291920/1414101
Atavist @ MySpace
Nadja @ MySpace
Profound Lore
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[10/10/2008, 21:14]
Cellar's Market: Fine Wine Investing On the Rise | | It looks like the trend mentioned a few weeks back is still popular. Jennifer Waters (marketwatch.com) writes: CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- On a hot, sunny Friday here in September only days after the first Monday market meltdown, two well-heeled wine buyers battled each other at a private auction for the privilege of shattering a world-record price for a single case? of 1982 Chateau? Lafite Rothschild.
A Chinese buyer who flew in from Beijing for the Hart Davis Hart Co. auction won with a final bid of $54,970 -- a whopping $4,580.83 a bottle. At its release in 1984, a single bottle would have sold for roughly $100. A case of 1990 Romanee-Conti Domaine? de la Romanee-Conti that was released at about $500 a bottle sold for $179,250, or $14,937.50 each. A case of 2000 Chateau Petrus was bought for $57,360, or $4,780 a bottle. At its release, the price was $750 a bottle.
Such dramatic price appreciation is not the norm for wine investments, but it does underscore how lucrative and resilient investing in fine wine can be -- particularly so at a time when market volatility is deflating 401(k) accounts and retirement nest eggs, and low interest rates are choking returns on cash and other investments.
Full Story Tags: melgab, wine, investment, ROI, auction, south-africa, South Africa | | WorldWine Tags: melgab, wine, investment, ROI, auction, south-africa, South Africa, | | | |
[11/19/2008, 09:45]
2006 Encyclopedia Tempranillo | |  Here's my second look at the new Coppola Encyclopedia wines in the odd-shaped bottles. The 2006 Encyclopedia Tempranillo is from Yecla in Southeast Spain. $14, 13.5% abv. The nose has a little stewed fruit with a touch of herbs, medium tannins, and a black cherry finish. It's a solid but uncomplicated wine that's food friendly in the grand tradition of Spanish wines. The tannins are probably a little strong for Thanksgiving but keep this in mind for stews and braises over the winter months. I thought it was a great burger wine.
The screwcap is large, 1⅝" (42mm) across, ample room for printing a quote. (The silver swirl destroys the contrast necessary for legibility! Elementary design concepts!) The bottles are designed to be reused as decanters or containers for olive oil, vinegar, etc.
I suppose I should take this opportunity to mention that I've got a new camera. For the past three years almost every photo on this blog has been taken with a Fujifilm FinePix s5000. The Fuji was a great camera and I was able to coax some amazing shots out of it, but for a bridge camera (between standard point-and-shoot and DSLR), I started running into limitations with it regarding low light conditions and chromatic aberration when using macro lenses. I recently upgraded to a Nikon D40, a true digital SLR with the ability to swap out lenses.
 I normally don't repeat photos, but take this recent shot. Very low light conditions, yet I shot it without a tripod and without any special setup. I just put the camera in full auto and snapped a picture. Due to the lenses, with a DSLR it's very easy to get that low depth of field look. Without going into all the math, it just means that what you want people to pay attention to is in focus and everything else in front of or behind the object is blurry. In the top photo of the wine bottle, the screwcap is in sharp focus but you can barely discern any details about the background other than colors. (This method can be increased or decreased through various methods, but I'm not teaching a photography class here.)
Will the Nikon D40 give you outstanding photos? Only if you take a lot of terrible ones first. Like anything else, practice makes perfect. But out of the different cameras I've used throughout the years, this is simultaneously the easiest and, if I want to explore all the different settings and adjustments, the most powerful camera I've owned. If you're interested, check out the review linked above, and if you decide to get one for Christmas, you can purchase it from my Amazon store, where you'll find customer reviews, accessories, and other detailed information. | | | |
[03/06/2008, 00:51]
Hardys announces that the race to the bottom is over; now for the hard work ... | |  By Campbell Mattinson
Publisher, The Wine Front
IN A DRAMATIC change of focus the Hardy Wine Company today announced that it was taking a great leap backwards - and changing its name. From the end of this month the Hardy Wine Company will be known as Constellation Wines Australia. This is an attempt to change the perception of the Hardys wine name from that of a corporate giant to, more simply, a regional winery 'known for quality and craftsmanship'
While this change is largely window-dressing, it is important. It marks a significant shift in thinking at Hardys. In recent years its super-premium portfolio has been sadly neglected, to the point where many premium wine drinkers (and wine media) today query whether the Jack Mann, Houghton Gladstones, Hardy's Tintara and Thomas Hardy super-premium labels still exist. The Hardy Wine Company has become known for good quality, cheap, non-region-specific fighting varietals. It has been at the forefront of the much maligned 'race to the bottom'. And for a long time this strategy has been widely perceived as puzzling and myopic - like defecating in your own nest.
Hardy Wine Company President John Grant said today that ‘This is a pivotal time for our company as we embark on a range of activities to move our company to higher ground. From 31 March ... we aim to showcase to the world regional winemaking at its finest. ‘By drawing on Constellation’s global resources and tapping into our generational traditions, we aim to become Australia’s regional wine champion, recognised for our quality brands and winemaking excellence.’ ‘Changing our company name provides greater freedom to shine the spotlight on the real heroes of our business - the outstanding regional wines. In particular, it allows the Hardys brand to return to being a winery, known for quality and
craftsmanship, rather than being known as a corporation.’ ‘We will be adding to our diverse regional offering and continuing our exploration of Australia’s premium wine regions’, he said, ‘as well as strengthening our front line staff, with additional personnel, tools, resources and training’. Constellation Wines Australia brands include:
Amberley, Banrock Station, Barossa Valley Estate, Bay of Fires, Berri Estates, Brookland Valley Estate,
Chateau Reynella, Goundrey, Hardys, Houghton, Leasingham, Moondah Brook, Omni, Redman, Renmano,
Stanley Wines, Starvedog Lane, Stonehaven, Tintara, Yarra Burn.
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[11/12/2008, 07:36]
Are We Not Drawn Onward to New Era? * | |  So here we are again, the harvest is completed and the new wine is in the barrel. Once more the cycle begins anew, a sequence which we in the wine business live to develop and enjoy. Already we are hearing talk about the miraculous victory of the return, the gathering of the century, the harvest of hope. The bringing in of a new dawn, the hope of a new age.
And during the daytime I am like a priest in a confessional listening to folks in the wine business go over all the sins, not of their own, but of the others.
 Today in a little trattoria; a rather immense man, with an even larger ego, walks in and proceeds to sit in the table next to me and my lunch companion, an old pro who has seen it all. This large man is a small distributor and he knows not of the code of professional regard. All the wine in his beat up 30' by 70' stockroom is a small insignificant corner of a warehouse somewhere in the Midwest, forgotten by time or care. But as he has not trodden the path of the ancients, his malfeasance is to ignore the history of his trade and mock those who have paved the Via Appia so that he may pretend to be in the company of those who really give a crap.
But then again, he doesn?t dine regularly with Cicero and Seneca, so what can he know about where he is going? Like so many who think they must abjure their competition, I just laughed at his folly on my way out the door. I could pretend to be a bigger man than the whale. After all, what runs through my veins flowed through the Tiber, then and now. As we all have.
 Today I saw a group of college students as they were being taken on a tour of one of the big warehouses, in for a little recruitment into our multi-thousand year old trade. How I?d love to have five minutes with them. But since I haven?t been asked, wait, this is my wine blog, I can take five minutes. Or ten.
Dear new generation looking to come into our tiny little global wine village,
If you are looking to join up to make a lot of money, think again. If you are looking for a career, well maybe you could call it that. If you don?t know what to do with your life, but if you don?t do anything you?ll end up like a character in a Camus novel. And that would be distressing to a generation that has had so much landed right in front of you.
 If you are looking for a place to get a free drink on a Friday morning, you?ve come to the right place. But if you have alcoholic tendencies, this place could be worse than Gitmo for you.
If you want to travel all over the world, you missed that boat by about 20 years. Can't even make it up in coach.
So what is it that would draw you to this wine business? Not money, nor travel, nor an escape from some kind of existential ennui.
 Well, let me tell you. Because I was once there on the outside-looking in. I really didn?t know what to do with my life. I had graduated from a private university and the economy was in the tank. Gas prices were high, home values were crashing, the stock market was a mess and American cars were the pits. But I remember the times I?d drive up Highway 29 in Napa and think what a wonderful little place that was. Or I?d think about the grapes I had picked in Calabria and thought how special it was to sit in a cellar at night with a bunch of cousins who I didn?t understand and they surely didn?t understand me. But after a bottle or two of wine in that musty, balmy old place, a miracle occurred. We started understanding each other. Our global village was born there and to this day I have been under the influence of a power greater than anything I could ever imagine or take credit for creating. In a phrase, I found my place. I belonged. And that gave my life meaning. Greater than the $100 million bucks one of my sad relatives probably just lost. Greater than the fame my college friend Tony once had, a friend who can no longer find it in him to return a phone call from one of his friends before he became famous ( him, not his friend). I am having a Lou Gehrig moment, and I have it often in this crazy old wine business.
 Oh, one other thing ? find a specialty, be it Port or Bordeaux or naturally made wine or the wines of Campania, just find a way to be seen as having a special niche. And don?t forget to love all the other wines too, for they are all part of the same energy and deserve your respect and honor.
 Do that and your ?career? will take you anywhere you want to go. And before you know it, you will have been in it for some time and you?ll be walking down a corridor and pass by a group of young folks on the outside looking to get in. And then the large cycle will have made its rounds and you?ll be part of the elite group of folks, from Chaldea in 1000 B.C to Suvereto in 2008.
To answer the question which started this post ? Yes, we are drawn onward.
There?s something about all these old and familiar worn out faces.
*Are We Not Drawn Onward to New Era? | | | |
[12/14/2007, 01:34]
Wine in the Digital Age: Cyber Surfing Nightmares | |  I?ve just spent a few hours researching some wines Susan and I are tasting next week. Well, attempting to research would more appropriately describe this exercise in frustration. I?m still astonished how many winery websites are hard to find, poorly laid out, and then give little or no information. Sometimes I dig through page after page after page and finally discover a two-line tasting note ? how exciting.
To all you wineries, if you think this amount of information will have wines flying off the shelves, think again. First of all, by the time most consumers are looking up a wine on the Internet they?ve already tasted it, so they?re after more detail than ?black cherries and leather.? And could you include just a few words on your different vintages? Your 2001 tasting notes are getting a little dated. Besides, I?m  sure your 2006 will taste different ? different weather, different harvest conditions, different wine.
How about a little technical information? French Oak or American Oak for example. A few lines covering pH, harvest dates, Brix at harvest, and residual sugar would be nice. Wine geeks will love you and talk up your wines ? free promotion.
I?d also think you would have your labels available for download ? after all, your design person?s already done the graphics in digital format, so just get a copy. Buyers could then print the label and take it to their favorite store as a reminder of what they?re looking for. Wine reviewers would be able add a label to their review or blog ? more free promotion. People could share copies with their friends and family: look at this great wine I just found. Even more free promotion.
People viewing your site aren?t usually there to read all about the owners and how wonderful they are ? at least not at first. Surprise ? top of most people?s hit list are the wines themselves. What grape varieties? What quantities in your Bordeaux style blend? Can we have a little story on the style of wines you are trying to produce? Who is the winemaker and what?s their philosophy, experience, and technique. What does your winery look like ? a picture or two might be nice especially for the folks buying your wine who live across the country.
Oh, and some way of getting a hold of you would be nice ? an email address or phone number would be cool. How can you except to answer questions ? like ?where do I buy your wines?? Or maybe you just like seeing your wines sitting in the warehouse.
None of this actually takes that much effort. Really, it doesn?t. All you need to do is spend a little time and money on your website to make it stand out  among the rest. If you want to see what I mean, here are links to a couple of websites that get it right.
 Arrow Leaf Cellars in BC?s Okanagan has a site that?s easy to negotiate and includes a contact list, newsletter, pictures of the vineyard, and a great tech sheet. There?s even info on screw caps with a link to the New Zealand Screwcap Wine Seal Initiative ? just in case you haven?t been converted yet.
Down under, Peter Lehmann Wines has another fantastic site ? history, descriptions of the area, info about the winemakers and the wines. After spending time on the site, you want to buy rush out to the store and buy a bottle or two.
And to the winery in Australia who will not put info on their web site because it is too ?techie,? it?s time to get with the Digital Age. You say you?d rather have people come to the cellar door to get info than surf the Net. Yeah, right. I?ll just hop on a plane from Canada right away. Lots of luck selling wines in our local market and no reviews from this quarter.
SUSAN'S NOTE:
I confess, I have a severe love/hate relationship with the web. I admire Frank?s ability to search through layers and layers until he comes up with some nugget of information, but I certainly don?t share it. No results after a couple of Google searches and I?m on to something else. And sites that give me no contact information put me into orbit ? Frank usually doesn?t even bother telling me about them any more because then he has to listen to my usually loud, always colourful verbal tirades.
However, one interesting thing did come out of his visit to the ?We don?t believe in an Internet presence? Aussie site. Our debate on whether the owner was simply stupid or was being blatantly arrogant was lively, thoroughly entertaining, and will certainly keep them at the top of our ?Do Not Visit or Buy From? list for a long, long time. FYI: arrogant won hands down.
Note: Photos show the Arrow Leaf Cellars' vineyards and porch area. Wine bottles show Arrow Leaf's Zweigelt and Peter Lehmann's Semillon. Enjoy. | | | |
[09/26/2008, 11:48]
Gaja: relax Brunello rules on Sangiovese | | A two tier qualification proposal for Brunello? I can't believe it's come down to this... talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. Richard Woodard (decanter.com) writes: Italian winemaker? Angelo Gaja has said that Brunello should operate a two-tier system and allow other varieties other than Sangiovese.
As the Brunello grape blending furore continues, the veteran Piedmont producer - who also makes Brunello di Montalcino ? has suggested DOC? Brunello should move on and no longer demand the wine is made from 100% Sangiovese.
In an article published this month in Italian newspaper Libero and local Tuscan paper La Nazione, Gaja says that if indeed Brunello producers have been adding other grapes illegally to the wine, then those producers should have been lobbying to get the appellation? rules changed.
» Full Story Tags: melgab, wine, brunello, montalcino, appellation, italy, south-africa, South Africa | | WorldWine Tags: melgab, wine, brunello, montalcino, appellation, italy, south-africa, South Africa, | | | |
[09/21/2008, 01:10]
Amazon.com to Begin Wine Sales | | 
Amazon.com, the online purveyor of books, apparel, and just about everything else, has announced its plans to enter the wine sales business. Beginning as early as mid-October, the online retailer will offer a selection of more than 300 wines from all over the United States to customers in 26 states. The company indicates that the selection will represent a wide cross-section of US producers, not just wineries in California, Oregon, and Washington State.
Shipping and taxes, as ever with online wine sales, will likely be an issue. Amazon says that customers of the Amazon Prime service (which carries a $79 annual fee) will get free shipping. Still, it's an intriguing development.
(photo © istockphoto) See full article.
Related Entries:
Catch Champagne Sales - 06 January 2007 Wine Sellers Dream of Amazon - 18 January 2007 British Spending More on Wine, Less on Beer - 13 August 2007 TiVo and Amazon will Deliver Digital TV Shopping - 24 July 2008
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[10/26/2008, 16:15]
Good With Seafood - Bodegas Fariña Malvasia, 2007, Toro, Spain | |  Review0.3A recurring event - a wine that ranks as 'just fine' by itself is raised in ones estimation when coupled with food. This nicely weighty white from Spain is another such example where a succesful match brings added pleasure to a meal.  Wine Tasting Note: Bodegas Fariña Malvasia, 2007, Toro, Spain.
Stockist: dunno [More: Adegga / Snooth]
A light simple nose - a touch of herbs, a smidge of yeast and a layer of lemon. More activity on the palate though with a gentle lemony start giving way to a sherbet, grapefruity palate and a tang of acidity. Pleasant enough and very drinkable but seldom is Malvasia ever going to knock yer socks into a cocked-hat (or something). Unoaked. Alcohol 12.5%. Its clean, fresh crispness was a joy though with some crispy Calamari rings dunked in mayonnaise. While the squid wasn't the best - it was frozen rather than fresh and certainly not as good as the mammoth sized rings myself and Douglas devoured with passion at a local Italian last week - but the wine worked wonders. When they say 'good with seafood' this partnership is what they have in mind.
Andrew BarrowScribblings Rating - 90/100 [3.75 out of 5]
By way of proving that I don't just make these food and wine matches up, a picture of the very same calamari. And yes, they were cold by the time I had finished taking pictures!   | | | |
[11/13/2008, 06:35]
Thailand: Winemaking in the Tropics -Siam Winery | | Siam Winery is no tiny concern. With 1.2 million liters of tank capacity for fine wine, and twice that for the profitable wine cooler venture, they are the big boys in the region. Their 72 acres of grapes are spread over several locations, including one parcel that is actually planted among canals.
The image of a boat paddling through the Floating Vineyards is only slightly upstaged by the shot of the elephants in the vineyards at Hua Hin Hills. This is certainly not any wine country most of us are used to. Don't be fooled by the tourist friendly visage, this is a serious wine concern, making serious wine.
Kathrin Puff is the winemaker, and an incredibly capable one at that. Hailing from Germany she spent years in Italy before coming to take the reins here in Thailand. Her approach is to take the best of technology without going overboard, and the best of the organic approach, without being limited.
The Floating Vineyards are the source of the local vinifera varieties Mlaga Blanc and Red Pokdum. Their Chenin Blanc, Colombard and Syrah are sourced from the slopes of the Hua Hin Hills Vineyards, which is ever expanding.
Hua Hin Hills has issues with high water tables due to their proximity to the jungle covered mountains, so they have had to dig down 15 meters and place water barriers and add shale and other stones for drainage. This huge effort has been well rewarded by decent quality fruit from surprisingly young vines. The quality can only go up as the average age of the vines increases.
Housed in an industrial facility the winery is not at all impressive from the outside, but the interior more than makes up for that. The barrel room is well maintained and there are plans in the works to double its size.
Kathrin is a fan of micro-oxigynation so the lower level wines are not penalized by failing to get a chance to develop secondary aromas through barrel aging. The Monsoon Valley wines show the care and crafting you would expect from a small hands on winery, so the sight of the sprawling tank rooms might catch you off guard.
The scale of the fine wine production is nothing in comparison to the wine cooler facility. Here bottles whip by at blinding speed, 24/7 being filled, labeled and packed for the never ending demand for these "starter" wines. The commercial success of the coolers ensures that there is the needed capital for expanding and improving the fine wine division.
This fiscal planning is not only evident in their diversification, but also through their distribution. Not only is Monsoon Valley one of the most prominent Thai wines in stores and restaurants, they have their own retail outlet here in the high end resort of Hua Hin. This tiny shop in an upscale mall allows visitors to taste and buy the wines in the comfort of a beach town, without having to trek into the countryside or halfway to Bangkok.
But if treking is your thing the Hua Hin Hills facility will welcome you with their modern tasting room and dining facilities and tours are even available for the main winery. More information can be found at http://www.monsoonvalleywine.com/. | | | |
[02/06/2008, 07:47]
Ponderings on Points, Amarones, and Arias | | I have been traveling back and forth across the country for the last two weeks and have been working long days for months. In between flights and endless delays in airport waiting lounges, I try to make study time for my WSET exam coming up all too soon in a few days.  After a grueling, four-city tour, tonight I feel justified in picking something special to celebrate a clean desk and being home. A bottle of Amarone is definitely appropriate. The bottle I decide on is an Amarone Negar 1961. Yes the vintage is right, 1961.
It was a great year for Italian wine in 1961 ? rain and sun in perfect balance. John Kennedy was president of the USA. The Berlin Wall was under construction. Maria Callas was 38 and at the height of her career. Sophia Loren was starring in El Cid, and I was all of nine years old.
The label is a little worn and torn. The fill level looks  promising ? still mid neck ? although there is a little sediment. The cork seems to be okay ? solid and removes easily without crumbling. Should I decant and risk adding too much air? I pour a glass to see what has happened to this 40-something wine.
The color is amazing ? dark red, with a little orange and brick red on the rim. The nose is equally remarkable ? still lots of fruit left on the nose, black cherry with truffle, and a little sherry oxidization odors in the background. A few swirls of the glass and the oxidative aromas disappear.
The taste and finish on this wine is surprising, still full of black cherry, truffles, and forest floor with a finish that lasts for minutes. The tannins are like silk, and there are not enough descriptors to describe the mouth feel and full body. The acidity must be holding this wine together.
Now, there is a caveat to this story. We both love Amarone, so there is a built in basis here. But points and ratings have no relevance to this wine. It is, quite simply, a great wine. It is like the Callas aria playing on the stereo ? powerful yet  filled with grace and finesse. It is an Amarone at its heights. Yes, 1961 was a good vintage year for Italian wines. I am going to lay down some bottles for the future.
SUSAN'S NOTE:
This Amarone is a perfect example of why Frank and I both hate the point system. Is this a 98 or only a 97 point wine? After all, how do you define the difference of a single point? Or has this venerable liquid actually achieved the enviable position of 100 points despite its initial hint of oxidation? It is only two additional points after all.
And if we were to rate it as a 98, would that make it comparable to the 2004 Cabernet Blend IX Estate from that received a 98 point nod from Robert Parker? Hmmm, let?s see. A three-year old blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot from Napa Valley versus an Italian Amarone with almost half a century of love, care, and passion in its provenance. Somehow, the comparison just doesn?t work ? although I suppose one day, some scientist, somewhere in the world, will come up with a formula that proves you can actually make a meaningful comparison between apples and snow peas.
(Photos of Maria Callas and Sophia Loren are both dated 1960, only a year before this wine was produced.) | | |
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