25 January 2007

ch. caronne st. gemme 2003
















This complex bordeaux from Haut-Medoc is dry with a distinct lack of fruit forwardness found in your more California-styled reds. And thank god. I love California wine but when you find a good deal on Bordeaux, well, you just wish you'd bought more. This 2003 vintage had round, supple tannins - not pronounced in any way. Still had somewhat of a green flavor to the tannins implying a need for a bit more age. Of course, the youth in this bottle also makes it more affordable. Nonetheless, here was a light-bodied wine with a bit of resident bitterness from the acid, making your mouth water after every glass. It's not the best Bordeaux I've had but certainly quaffable. I even allowed myself to give this bottle for a holiday gift to good friends who are living in
Liberia (I met them in Brooklyn), which basically means I stand by your average wine drinker liking this bottle. It also means that I'm cheap enough to wait for them to visit to gift a bottle of wine rather than pay the million dollars or so it costs to ship something like this to Liberia (where it will most likely be "confiscated").

Price: $30

Color: Deep ruby

Nose: Rich pepper, dark ripe blackberry, and vanilla with a little vegetal coming through

Taste: Blackberry fruit predominates with again, vegetal characteristics, perhaps because it is still young for a Bordeaux. I would imagine this bottle would gain complexity with age since the acidity and tannins are still there. We probably should have decanted this bottle before drinking since allowing it to breathe a bit would no doubt open it up. It had a bit of an austereness to it (otherwise known as a tight pucker); a little harshness that probably would stick around anyway for another year or so regardless. Might as well drink it unless you've got a case. Overall this wine tastes better with food so pick a nice rich French dish or even Italian (don't tell anyone) and enjoy!

21 January 2007

dutton-goldfield zinfandel 2004













Only 8 barrels wer produced from this small block on a ridge just north of the little town of Occidental in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, California. This is a dry farmed vineyard specific wine from the Morelli Lane Vineyard and tasted excellent from start to finish. This bottle was made from only one and a half acres of old vine Zinfandel from the turn of the century (20th). When Keel and I were tasting at the Dutton-Goldfield tasting room at about 11am during a visit last summer to Sonoma, we went through a nice flight from Davis Bynum (whom D-G shares a tasting room with) but when we got to the D-Gs we knew we had found the good stuff. Bynum was nice for a warm up but the quality comes from bottles such as this one. We had to bring one home and unfortunately this is all we have left. Time for more.

Color: Black plum

Nose: Ripe plum, black cherry, and with, frankly, a big fruity nose that was rich and layered

Taste: This is Russian River Zinfandel done well with a rich, full, fruit forward expression from the grapes. Earthy with a bit of smoke and pleasant mild pepper. Suprisingly there were hints of leather notes on this early 2004 vintage. Truly excellent all the way through. A bit of tannins remain but well rounded and gentle. The fruit isn't too big for this Cali style. I mean, yes it's big, but not a punch in the face which can sometimes happen with Zin. Ripe, pleasant and perfect for pre-dinner drinking. I wish we had more of this because I could open this bottle day after day. Spices come out the more it breathes so if you happen to get a bottle don't pound it. After about 20 minutes (we were putting a rosemary roasted chicken, stock, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and celery into a pot for chicken noodle soup) I noticed the fruit sweeten and a fuller body develop. If you get a chance, check out the D-G website for available wines.

20 January 2007

saison des vins syrah l'hiver













This is Wells Guthrie's interpretation of a St.-Joseph or Crozes-Hermitage. The grapes for this Syrah are grown on organically-farmed vineyards in Mendocino County, California. They are planted with, according to Copain Wines, good clonal selections, expositions and unique soil compositions. About 15% whole clusters were used along with native yeasts and malolactic fermentation. (Malo conversion is the process of turning malolactic acid into lactic acid, which generally makes for a fuller mouthfeel and a richer more buttery flavor.) New oak was kept to a minimum (thank you) and the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered allowing the natural aromatics and flavors to come out on their own. As far as organic wines produced with such little intervention, this is the gem. This delicious, fun Syrah should drink well for 3-4 years and certainly makes one of the best syrah values around.

Price: ~20

Color: Purple plums with clarity

Nose: Ripe fruit, heady aromas, with a lite mushroom scent

Taste: Bright and full, fleshy tannins, balanced and pleasurable, really a beautiful wine for the price. Good acidity allows the flavors to linger on the palate. Red cherry dominates but also red rasberry in this young full fruit wine. It has adequate complexity but it would likely age for a couple years quite fine if I could keep from drinking it (but why?, I've kept it a full year already and I like drinking it). This 2004 opened up nicely and showed increased complexity after twenty minutes or so. After a little air the varietal nuances characteristic to syrah began to come through. Made in the Rhone valley tradition, it isn't going to compete with France, but at this price point I'm very pleased. I make a point of buying this each year when we see it, the same for the Saisons des Vins Pinot Noir L'Automne.

19 January 2007

'na vota ruche



















This 'Na Vota 2005 Ruche' di Castagnole Monferrato makes my first bottle of wine made from the Ruche' grape, which is an obscure indigenous variety from the Piedmont (Italy of course). 'Na Vota means "Olden Time" and these grapes are from the old times for sure as they are from now ancient hills around the village of Castagnole Monferrato. This bottle was also a birthday gift from my good friend Allen and I've been waiting for the right night to give it a try. The short summation is: A very nice drinking wine. Thanks Al.

Price: Unknown

Color: Dark cherry (thin)

Nose: Blackberry, smoked cherry and vegetal overtones

Taste: The spicy vegetal taste was fun with ripe cherries and a smooth finish. Good acidity lingered a bit in the mouth though overall a very light mouth feel. Definitely worth trying for the exotic grape and since I'm always up for something new.

Note to self: I learned an often mentioned but rarely heeded lesson the hard way with this bottle. Basically, it is common sense to rinse your wine glass well, but sometimes the dishwasher can, well, rinse too quickly. The first glass of this wine tasted like soap, and you could really tell why because of the soap suds on the sides of the glass. Rule #1, always rinse your glass with good clean water about 4 times more than you think you should, finish with filtered water if possible, and dry it most of the way with a clean towel, allowing the last bit to air dry. Then you want to keep them in a place not known for rank odors (which I do). Finally, given the moral of the story first, we of course had to dump the first two glasses of soapy 'Na Vota and promptly wash all our glasses and start over. Sorry Al. But the rest of the bottle was a treat!