ch. st. andre chateauneuf-du-pape

My apologies for the harsh flash on this bottle of Chateauneuf-Du-Pape. We picked this up in what at first might seem the most unlikely of places, a deli grocery in Murren, Switzerland. Murren is only accessible by cable car. However, given stone's throw proximity to France it no wonder I was picking up French wines in the grocery to try out. This bottle managed to escape our drinking and made it home to New York where we tested it out for dinner. As far as CDP goes, this was not what I was expecting. But then again, before this $12 bottle, I hadn't had a CDP under $30, so maybe that should tell me something. All I can say is, you get what you pay for, even on the French border. Maybe my impression of overpriced CDP in New York is changing. Maybe they really are worth the high dollar.

swiss wine

My apologies for not posting recently, as the lack of posting definitely does not reflect any lack of wine consumption. Rather, I've been in Switzerland for the last 10 days and spent quite of bit of it diligently tasting Swiss wines in the Southern French speaking regions. In particular, Keely and I were lucky enough to stumble across a once a year wine tasting event in the Vaud canton of Switzerland called the Route Gourmand. It is held in the wine fields of Vevey-Montreaux surrounding Lake Geneva looking across to France. The experience was the most incredible wine tasting event of my life, and I do not write that lightly. I'll explain more in subsequent posts.

I have notes from all the wines I tasted, that is until I couldn't reasonably taste anymore. There will be many details coming in the next week, once I recover from the backlog of work I left myself with this mini working vacation. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the fun and I'll return soon with more Swiss wine tasting notes than you can likely handle.

nepenthe sauvignon blanc

When you are headed over to early drinks on a warm autumn day in New York, or better yet, a hot summer day, and need a great bottle of wine that doesn't cost $30, Nepenthe is your standard. You can depend on this Australian winemaker to deliver quality. This particular 2004 Sauvignon Blanc from the hills of Adelaide has all the goodness those Aussie's pour so well into their wines. This one does not disappoint.

Color: Clear pale lemon

Nose: Steel and wet stone with a light grapefruit perfume

Taste: Pungent grapefruit and lemon juice with hints of apple and pear. The acid is predicatably strong and bubbliness lingers on the tongue.

le belles vignes sancerre and muga rose

My sister and her husband came over for dinner. We were making a wine, cream, and herb clam linguini. I'd left most of our wine in the in-law's cool basement for the summer and still hadn't picked it up yet. So, off to the local wine store. They are pretty nice people down the hill at Rockwood and Perry Wine Merchant. I picked out this Loire Valley Sancerre and a Muga Rose from Rioja.
Pretty standard Sancerre. And by that I mean good. Not the best Sancerre I've ever had but definitely right up there with good whites for a warm evening.

Color: Pale white gold
Nose: Subtle floral notes
Taste: Steely, smooth and silky. Nice lemon fresh acidity but no overpowering citrus flavors. A good clean complement to the dish. I'd drink this 2004 again for $18.99.


I wanted to pick us something that if my sister liked it, she could find nearly everywhere and which is pretty cheap, ~$12. So, a Spanish Rose from Muga it was. Not bad, but then again you don't normally think Spanish when you think Rose. It is a Grenache and Tempranillo based blend. The Muga was drinkable, in that no one protested. But fairly simple overall. For this price, there is probably a cheap out-of-the-way French Rose that will pull off a stronger finish for $12. I'd shop around before picking this one up again. But if you pop into a wine shop in a hurry and want to try something different from the normal Rose round-up, Muga is going to treat you fine.

Color: Muted glowing coral
Nose: Light cherry, also subtle
Taste: Fun ripe red cherry cola bliss without the color. Good, easy to drink with a little bite on the back of the palate and a gentle vanilla from this blend of 60% Grenache, 30% Tempranillo, & 10% Viura. Citrus lingers on the tongue. A very dry rose and overall pleasant.