1989 Krug Brut Champagne

Date: Sun, Jul 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

Back in October of last year we drank a bottle of 1989 Krug but for some reason I had it my mind that it was the 1990 bottle. I recalled that we were not particularly impressed with it back then and were looking forward to comparing a different vintage to it. Imagine my surprise when I went back to that review and discovered it was also a 1989!

We opened a bottle of 1989 with some friends last weekend, and after that tasting and re-reading the original review I can only conclude that the bottle we had last year was in fact flawed.

The bottle that we tasted last weekend was stunning. The nose was somewhat yeasty with overtones of white flowers. The palate gave a wonderful bouqet of peach and nectarine, with a touch of nuttiness in the background and quite a bit of carbonation that only began to fizzle out towards the very end of the bottle. The champagne had a good balance of acidity and a lasting finish.

Once again I am reminded that bottle variation is definitely something that can alter one's perception of a wine. Had we not opened this second bottle, I would have sworn that the 1989 Krug was not one that lived up to its name... fortuntately, I stand corrected.

Cheers!

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2009 Alberti 154 Torrontes

Date: Sun, Jul 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

Good Torrontes can be a wonderful white wine on a hot summer day. With notes of ripe green apples and a hint of spice underneath, they are extremely refreshing with a brightness that resembles sweetness but is still bone dry.

This was a very good example that we had a couple of weeks ago. A bit more on the medium bodied side than is typical, it still showed wonderfully with lush floral notes and the typical green apple very prevalent. There was a nice acidity on the finish that rounded this off nicely.

Looking at the back label and doing a bit of research, it appears that the grapes are grown in Argentina but the actual vintification and bottling is done in California. Interesting.

This one was $12 and certainly worth the price.

Cheers!

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2006 Badiola

Date: Sun, Jul 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

This is a blend of 70% Sangiovese and 30% Merlot. Overall it was a medium-bodied style of wine that offered some good flavor but was not particularly outstanding.

The nose was that of leather and smoke, with some black currant and cherry fruit. On the palate we noted some earthiness along with the black fruit and a bit of vegetal nuances on the finish, which was somewhat short.

While this wine was certainly not terrible, neither was it particularly memorable. We would drink it again given the opportunity but are not likely to seek it out on a regular basis.

Cheers!

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2006 Masi Campofiorin Ripasso

Date: Sun, Jul 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

So if you have read much of our little blog you probably recognize that Gary is a big fan of the Italian Valpolicello style of wine, particularly Amarone. Ripasso's are a good, less expensive alternative to Amarone in that they are made by pouring Valpolicello juice over the pressed grapes used to make Amarone.

We have never been huge fans of Masi, but this particular Ripasso has gotten some good reviews and so we decided to give it a try. As usual with these wines, Allison did not care for it as much as myself. However, we did both find it to be very satisfactory overall.

The nose showed some woodsy tones, along with splashes of green peppers and a hint of black licorice. On the palate the wine was very full-bodied (surprisingly so) with cocoa, black cherry, a slight touch of leather and some raisin on the finish. The tannins were a bit gritty throughout, which is probably the one thing that we both agreed was a negative. With everything this wine was offering up, it had a very short finish which we thought was a bit odd.

Overall, for $13.99, this is a very good wine. As we noted, the grittiness of the tannins was a bit of a downside, but I suspect if you paired this up with a hearty meat dish it would show better than drinking it solo like we did.

Cheers!

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1990 Moet Chandon Cuvee Dom Perignon

Date: Sun, Jul 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

If you recall 1990 was regarded as one of the classic vintages for Champagne and it seemed like just about every major house was releasing a vintage Champagne. And I would have to agree that it was a stellar vintage, and I wish that when these were widely available I had been more attuned to Champagnes and stocked up accordingly. By some happenstance I did manage to put away this Cuvee Dom Perignon which we opened the other weekend with some friends to celebrate his new job.

Dom Perignon of course is named after the Benedictine monk, who in popular myth "created" champagne. We'll not go into all of the particulars about this myth or the truth except to say that while Dom Perignon did in fact contribute to what we now know as champagne. You can read more about it over on Wikipedia.

Knowing that this champagne was 20 years old, we were somewhat afraid that it might have been past its peak but fortunately it turned out to be drinking well and probably would still be good for another 5-7 years.

The initial nose was fairly yeasty, with some white flower thrown in. The color was starting to turn towards the amber side but much less so that I would have expected. The palate continued with a good bit of yeast and flower but also showed some apple, a touch of honey and a slight spice on the finish. The flavor on this was remarkably complex through out. The carbonation was also still very pronounced, with fine bubbles releasing in a continuous stream from the first glass until the last sip.

If you are fortunate enough to have some of this laid up, or have the opportunity to partake of it, we would highly recommend it.

Cheers!

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2008 Four Vines Naked Chardonnay

Date: Sun, Jul 4, 2010 Wine Tasting

With a play on words, i.e. "naked", comes this steel fermented chardonnay from Santa Barbara County. Regardless of the witticism shown by the winemaker this was a very tasty bottle. Allison told me that she still prefers a sauvignon blanc, but I was ready for something different and this hit the spot nicely.

Lots of peach and white floral notes both on the nose and palate, with a bracing bit of acidity along the edges and a lingering finish. This would stack up nicely with a lot of food, which is not a typical baliwick of chardonnays, particularly from Califonia.

If, like us, you do not like oaky chardonnay then this would be an ideal choice. At $12.99 I think it is a very good value for the quality and would not hesitate to recommend or serve it.

Cheers!

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2005 Monte Antico

Date: Sun, Jul 4, 2010 Wine Tasting

We have had this before and really enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised to see the other day for $7.99 a bottle and picked one up. While we still liked it fine, it was fairly different than what we remembered or expected.

The wine is blend of 85% Sangiovese, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot. I guess you could technically call it a Super Tuscan although I prefer to think of this as just a red blend.

The nose gave up blueberry with hints of dusty earth. On the palate it was pretty light initially, growing to a medium weight. The acidity was very pronounced, almost to the point of being harsh early but then settling down with some air. The fruit leaned towards red cherry and it finished moderately with some toasty oak and a hint of medicinal nuances, almost like cough syrup.

If not for the odd finish we would probably call this an everyday wine. We will likely pick up another bottle just to see if there was something funky with this one, and post the results here.

Cheers!

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2008 Domaine Jean Bousquet Malbec

Date: Sun, Jul 4, 2010 Wine Tasting

Looking about the other day in the malbec section, I spotted this bottle which we had never had before. Knowing that we had been drinking a lot of the same stuff lately I thought it was time that we started venturing out again and so put a bottle in the case.

Overall this was a good, if not great, bottle of malbec. The nose showed a lot of fruit, notably some blackberry, and hinted at some spice. On the palate the fruit definitely asserted itself but was balanced out by firm tannins. The finish was solid, with an abundance of fruit and a bit of licorice spice.

We were somewhat divided on this, with me liking it more so than Allison did. At $10 I thought that it was an enjoyable bottle of wine, but it certainly was neither the best nor the worse malbec that we've ever had.

Cheers!

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Venta Morales Tempanillo

Date: Sun, Jul 4, 2010 Wine Tasting

I tossed the bottle shortly after snapping the picture and did not realize that the vintage was not on the front of the bottle. However, I am almost positive that it was a 2008 as that was the first vintage made of this wine and I would be surprised to see 2009 on the shelves just yet.

This was recommended by my buddy over at Norman's Liquors as something new. It was also reasonably priced at about $8.

Unfortunately, while we generally are fans of tempranillo, this was nothing but a fruit bomb. Seriously over the top red fruit with only slight hints of tannin and spice underneath. Definitely not our style of wine. If you like big, bold, fruit-forward wine this would be a very good selection for you. If on the other hand you are looking for a more traditional rendition of the tempranillo grape you probably want to skip over it.

Cheers!

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2000 Chateau Tour St. Bonnet

Date: Sun, Jul 4, 2010 Wine Tasting

We were fortunate several years ago to have good contacts in the wine industry and even more fortunate to receive as a christmas gift a magnum (1.5 liter) of this bordeaux one year. Those were the good days indeed ;-)

Thinking that we were going to have some company the other evening we decided to give this one a try since there would be plenty to share. Neither of us were familar with this producer, but if you recall 2000 was perhaps "the greatest vintage in bordeaux's history" or at least until the 2005's and more recently the 2009's started getting reviews. Another reason to take professional wine reviews with a grain of salt. Yes, they are very useful for general overview and reference points but as I have always advocated you must taste for yourself and let your own preferences tell you what is good... for you. But I digress...

One other quick side note that I think is important to note. A larger bottle such as this will not age at the same rate as a standard 750ml bottle. So, when reading any review try and note what size bottle was being tasted... most reviewers and bloggers use 750ml as the baseline (us included) and should note when a different size bottle is tasted. Remember that the larger the bottle, the slower it will develop.

Okay, so we popped this one open to give it some time to breathe. We decided not to decant it as the nose suggested that it was fairly approachable as is and we did not want it to break down with too much aeration. Subtle notes of earth, mushroom and hay sat atop black cherry fruit on the nose, while on the palate the fruit took on a more subdued role to velvety tannins and toasty oak. The finish was moderately long with nuances of leather and black currants.

This bottle probably still had some ageability to it, although we are glad that we drank it when we did. In a standard size bottle I would certainly recommend drinking it now.

Cheers!

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2007 Volver Tempranillo

Date: Sat, Jun 19, 2010 Wine Tasting

In getting ready for a tasting that we are participating in, I was surprised to see that while we have drank a lot of this wine we had never done a full write up. I saw that I am surprised because it is darn good for the money.

Unlike a Rioja which is made from the tempranillo grape, this does not have the rustic, earthiness but is rather a more robust and upbeat style. The palate shows black cherry, some hints of licorice, smoke and well integrated tannins. It is pretty full bodied, without being overly heavy.

While we all know my general adversion to wine review scores, this one did rack up 90 points in both Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator. In this case, I have to agree that it is a great bottle of wine for $12.99. We like it enough to consider it an everyday wine.

Cheers!

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HR Bill 5034 --- This needs to be stopped

Date: Wed, Jun 16, 2010 Wine Tasting

We are not going to turn this into a political blog but this is something that I just feel is wrong and all wine (as well as beer and liquor) lovers need to help get defeated.

The basic premise of the bill as I understand it would essentially remove the ability of consumers to sue for direct shipments and would effectively eliminate direct shipping by allowing the states to regulate this again, much as they did before Granholm v. Heald.

Of course this bill has huge support from the wholesaler's, because if direct shipping is banned then they once again control the flow from the wineries to the distributors and ultimately to you. This will of course negatively impact smaller wineries by not being able to get their product out to a wider audience and it will impact you by limiting your choice to whatever the wholesalers decide should be in your market. And the fact that the wholesalers do not sell directly to the consumer completely negates their argument that they are preventing the sale of wine and spirits to underage drinkers. C'mon... give me a break!

Anyway, I am really worked up about this and I hope that you are too. Read more about this bill on Steve Heimoff's blog, the actual bill being discussed and this article on Fermentation - The Daily Wine Blog and then call and write to your representatives in congress and urge them to vote against this bill (You can find them here).

I am off my soapbox now :-)

Cheers!

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2009 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Sauvignon Blanc

Date: Tue, Jun 15, 2010 Wine Tasting

Are you looking for a reasonably priced, non-descript sauvignon blanc to open? Look no further than this one. While there was nothing wrong with the wine it just did not deliver anything that made us think we would want to buy it again.

This was so pale as to be almost clear in color. The nose showed very little except for hints that the acidity was going to be dominant, which it was. The palate showed some pear and notes of limey citrus but was quickly overwhelmed by the acidity. Fortunately the finish was rather quick.

Honestly I was a bit surprised at this one. Mondavi generally makes some really decent stuff, even at this level, but I think they missed here.

Cheers!

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2007 Valley of the Moon Pinot Blanc

Date: Tue, Jun 15, 2010 Wine Tasting

This was a rich, medium-to-full bodied style with a nose of honeysuckle, peach and cinnamon while the palate boasted nectarine, wet stone and a touch of spice on the finish.

The weight of this wine, coupled with so much fruit showing, gives what could almost be perceived as a sweet quality. Allison actually did not enjoy this one because of that. It certainly is not the austere sauvignon blanc that makes up a large portion of our white wine inventory.

For domestic pinot blanc, 3 years is probably pushing the envelope on a lot of wines but I thought that this one was drinking very well. I enjoyed it quite well but at $16 probably will not pour it on a regular basis.

Cheers!

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