It's a Thursday, that has no real significance but I thought I would point that out - looking for a bottle of wine I go no further than my sideboard, which has been housing this bottle for a few weeks now because we did not open it at a recent gathering of friends (it was picked out to open but never made the table). I have had a bottle or two of this wine in the past and find it not only good value, but exceptionally well balanced and enjoyable, especially in the fruit-department. So far I can say all that for when it's young: it is deliciously easy to drink - thing is, now it is 7 years old: will it be just as fun to drink? The answer is a resounding yes. The nose and palate seem to go hand-in-hand with plenty of chocolate, blackberry, cassis, and white pepper; palate adds an inkling of sour blueberry but is smooth with hints of black licorice on the finish. It has held up well, and still has life left in it - looking at my cellar inventory it seems I have a bottle left and will be glad to have it within the next year or two.
Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Montes 2006 and 2011 Limited Selection Red Blend (Chile)
Over the years I have written about and purchased quite a few Montes wines - this Chilean producer has proven they make quality wine at reasonable prices (sometimes too reasonable - but you didn't
 |
| The label has changed but the blend has not. |
Recently, the agent for Montes sent me a bottle of their newest vintage of the Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon (70%) Carmenere (30%) blend 2011 ... I decided to bring it to my wine class to taste, but I also wanted to show them what aging a quality wine could do for enjoyment of a wine, and also that you don't have to spend an arm and a leg for good, cellarable wine. So I found, in my cellar, a bottle of the 2006 Montes with the same blend to compare with the newer vintage - the results were quite delicious:
2011 ...
The nose had blackberry, black currant, mint, licorice and smoke - the palate had quite a bit of tannin but it was pleasantly in the background allowing the mint, smoke and black currant to shine.
2006 ...
Showed more interesting notes both on the nose and palate with good complexity: the nose was a little musty with earthy and peaty notes, there were also elements of prune, spearmint and coffee. The palate also held lots of interesting flavours - first it came off as soft and smooth with a woodsy short finish; tannins were present but they were rounder and more supple and as the wine sat in the glass the mustiness wore off bringing forth coffee, dried cherry and mocha notes.
The conclusion was that the 2006 was a real winner - once it got over the initial funk - it proved to be a fascinating and ultimately enjoyable wine; while the 2011 was something everyone could get at any time --- the key is to give it some time to mature and you'll end up with something much more interesting to sip on, or take to dinner.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Casa Marin 2006 Cartagena Cabernet Sauvignon (Chile)
It's Saturday night and I have just finished my seminars in Sarnia for the Fusion Festival ... now sitting quietly in my room I am able to open a bottle of something I have been looking forward to all day, put my feet up and watch a little hockey. But before I get too comfortable I thought I'd let you in on that wine I have been looking forward to all day, a Casa Marin 2006 Cartagena Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. What possessed me to bring it along as a room wine, I am not sure, but I am sure glad I did. The starting aromas are coffee and licorice adding touches of cassis for fruit. Then comes some white pepper and hints of mint - these appear on the nose and palate. The finish has a touch of chocolate and spice. As the wine sits in the glass the fruit starts to come out a little more and now we're at a juicy blackberry, cassis and white pepper stage ... so this is obviously getting better the longer it is open. So I'm gotta get right to it and enjoy the game along with my (turning into) delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
RJ Vinedos 2006 Pasion 4 Merlot (Argentina)
This screwcap Merlot from Argentina started off very slowly, in fact it proved to be pretty harsh at first and I began to believe it was not going to get better - but 30 minutes later it began to wake up and show a nose of blackberry, blueberry and cocoa ... on the palate there was cassis, blueberry skin, dried blackberry and a subtle, enjoyable smoky-oaky finish. Goes to show you, sometimes all you need to do is give it some time and it'll opened nicely.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
La Crema 2006 Sonoma Pinot and Tarapaca 2006 Carmenere (California / Chile)
Today I attended a BBQ with some fellow wine writers and if you think you have trouble deciding what to bring to a BBQ imagine if where you were going was filled with wine critics ... so instead of looking to impress I went with a couple of bottles I wanted to try myself (which is good advice anytime), and if they turn out to be impressive it's a double bonus. I started off by popping the cork on a bottle of La Crema 2006 Sonoma Pinot Noir, I had put a bit of a chill on it and wanted to see if 7 years has made the difference. Last time I had this wine was three years ago duing an American Thanksgiving celebration, and I thought the fruit was beginning to fade even then. This time out I picked up some nice cran-cherry and violets on the nose, definitely an improvement from last opening. The acidity was pretty good, there was also white pepper and some sour cherry ... not the best version of this wine I have had but it was drinkable. Some writers thought it a little green. The other wine was one I enjoyed myself (meaning I did not see anybody else pour themselves a glass) and that was the Tarapaca 2006 Reserva Carmenere. Say what you want about Carmenere, but well made versions are worth there weight in gold, I found this version to be lively and juicy and still vibrant even at 7 years of age. I remember buying a bunch of this particular year because it was one of the best I had tasted in quite some time and it still delivers: minty blackberry and lovely cassis - I think it still has life left in the bottle.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Cline 2006 Syrah - Sonoma County (California)
It's been a long day, amongst the things I've accomplished are the household finances and the recording of 23 new videos for my YouTube Channel ... so I feel I need a drink. I decided to dig through a box of "hold 'em" wines and found this bottle of 2006 Cline Syrah. Now if memory serves I paid $12.95 for this bottle back when I bought it, and it's always interesting to find out how those bargain bottles are aging. Nose is initially smoky with raspberry notes ... so far pretty impressive. As it opens there's a peppery-ness that creeps into the aromas and maybe a touch of smoked meat ... then again maybe I'm just hungry. On the palate there's a oaky-spiciness and also some fruit coming out as dried and peppered-raspberry ... all in all it's quite smooth and that bite from the spice and pepper doesn't get in the way of a pleasant drinking wine ... now if that oak will just hold off getting in the way it'll be a good wine to continue drinking. Half and hour in and it looks like it is dissipating ... nice bottle of under-$13 ... my patience on this one has turned into a virtue.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Two Big Reds: Zinfandel (California) and Shiraz (Australia)
The night started with a lovely bottle of Chateau des Charmes 2012 Cuvee d'Andree Rose and ended with a big Aussie Shiraz, a bond fire that did not quite get going and a morning after with wax on the ground and burnt holes in chairs (you know it's a good party when ...). We had some new friends come over for dinner, something simple really, a little pulled pork (so you have to know what wine is coming), beans, slaw, and my wife's famous pea salad. We started with a light welcome wine (the Rose, listed and linked above) ... we then moved to a Gamay from Malivoire (full review coming to the website) and then dinner was served. With pulled pork or ribs you just know I'm pulling out a Zinfandel and so tonight's gamble was with a 2006 L de Lyeth Sonoma County Zin: this one was good, not great, but passable for all the right reasons, yes it is 7 years old but I have tried some amazing older Zins ... this one stood up, but seemed a little muted, even after an hour of being open. Dried plum (but not prune-y) with a hint of pepper and subtle vanilla, silky yet drying, it was a good match to the pork. One of our guests was driving so he was out for the next round (in fact he does not drink red, so he partook in a little white wine with my wife); but his wife expressed an interest for Shiraz, so down to the cellar I went for a bottle of Sister's Run 2011 Epiphany Shiraz - smooth and supple with lots of dark fruit, hints of cocoa and not too much spice on the finish, but with some pepper to make you know it's still Shiraz, a perfect wine for in front of the fire. Which is where we enjoyed it; to steal from an old phrase: We drank while wood burned. Let's hope we can all get together to do it again very soon (minus the holes in the chairs of course).
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Masi 2006 Campofiorin (Italy)
Before I even begin I have to come clean, I am a fan of Masi's Campofiorin ... I am also a big fan of well-made Ripasso, hence now you know why I enjoy Campofiorin, still one of the best made in the style. This one is from a Masi-declared 5-star vintage, of which their have been very few, I believe it's something like five over the past 80 years (checking back with my notes on the subject it's 8 since 1942). I have been sitting on this bottle for probably the last 4 years and still have a few more in my cellar so I can watch the development of this wine. Tonight we had my brother and his family over for dinner and after some aperitifs of Rose and Sauvignon Blanc I BBQed up some sausages and had to find a wine that would go. Now it's 30 degrees in the shade (that's ~ 90F) on this lovely Saturday and the thought of a hot and heavy red did not seem like a good plan ... but this wine fridge dweller seemed like it just might do the trick. The wine was silky with enough acidity and tannins to keep it on pace with the smokiness and flavour profile of an array sausages (honey mustard, cheese and onion, medium, etc). The fruit was also very nice with cherry and plum taking center stage followed up by spices and some smoky character; all finished off with a lovely bit of chocolate. This wine stood up extremely well and still has plenty of life left in it, in fact it barely showed any of its 7 year age. I can't wait to open my next bottle, which could be in a few months or in a few years, but I have no doubt that it will be another exciting and tasty experience with Masi.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Darting 2006 Riesling Spatlese - Ungsteiner Herrenberg (Germany)
Riesling doesn't get anymore chuggable than this one on a hot day ... this Darting 2006 Spatlese was just the ticket as the sun beat down. Now Spatlese can be somewhat of a gamble in the heat (or anytime), too sweet and it's syrupy, too dry and ... let's just go with the sweet part, dry Riesling is good anytime. This Darting is a delight at 7 years of age, the nose has peach and apricots rolled in with a lick of honey and lemon. Taste follows the nose to a tee and still with enough acidity to cleanse the palate leaving enough sweetness behind for a long finish that gets you craving the next sip - quite delicious.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Montes 2006 Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere (Chile)
At times I get in a little hot water for this column (and my other two aged wine columns: Taste it Again / Lost & Found) for waiting too long to enjoy some of these bottles I review. Comments and emails from winemakers that tell me it wasn't fair to write about it because the wine was "past its prime", "too old", "never meant to age this long", etc. etc. etc. But that's the nature of both the business and people - you don't always get to a bottle on time within its peak period, especially if you collect bottles of fermented grapes. The purpose of this column is to discover wines at various stages of their lifespan: some have over-shot their mark, some are too early in their life and other are exactly where they need to be (reached their fullest potential). If you want to enjoy wine you have to be willing to accept the good with the bad. All this is preamble to a so-so bottle of Montes 2006 Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere, a 70/30 blend from Chile. I have tasted this wine at better stages in its life ... now some 7 years from vintage date things are a little drier than the fruit forward wine I remember. The nose is dried mint with clove and dried blackberries. The palate is all over the place, in both good and bad ways. Dried mint shows, as it does on the nose, along with the dried blackberries, cassis and saliva-sucking tannins ... the finish is an interesting blend of cassis, mint, cedar, and pencil shavings with some clove and anise thrown in for seasoning. Missed the sweet spot of this wine? For sure, but it's an interesting older wine that deserved to be discovered in this state.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
A to Z Wineworks 2006 Chemin de Terre (Oregon)
Tonight, once again I pop the cork on a bottle of A to Z Chemin de Terre ... sadly this is my last bottle of this totally delicious wine and I am so happy that I waited to give it one last go. The last time I opened a bottle was in August 2010, before that it was July 2010 and then at some earlier times (because at one point I had 5 bottles of this wine in my cellar). This really is a kitchen sink wine as it had about 7 or 8 different varieties in the blend, and some you never would have pegged to be grown in Oregon (Sangiovese anyone?). But now some 7 years from vintage date I can tell you the wine has held up extremely well and currently has smoky blackberry notes with cassis and black cherry, lots of fruit left in it for a wine of this age - it was smooth, elegant and really sexy in the glass. I know we had some people come over and I have to tell you I have no idea what they drank - I just know I enjoyed this.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Final Dinner at the ACWC (Germany / California / Italy / France)
It's the last night of the All Canadian Wine Championship and as usual we meet at a restaurant with a BYOW license and many of the judges have something they want to showcase. The first that shows off something interesting is a bottle of Dr. Hermann 2007 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese an absoultely gorgeous Riesling that a real balanced beauty that is just a fabulous pairing with the butternut squash soup (and not bad with the mussels). The Banfi 2010 Centine is a good bridge wine that seems to be fruity enough to pair with the beet salad; juicy red berries that prove to be supple and succulent. The main is beef tenderloin and the choice is between the Domaine du Pegau 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape or the Enkidu 2010 Diener Ranch Red Hills, Lake County Zinfandel, both an excellent pairing with the beef. The Pegau was earthy with plenty of dark fruit, this bottle had plenty of life left in it as it was a 1500ml bottle, so we popped the cork way to early, but all are thankful it made its way to the table (thanks AG). The Zinfandel was a beauty of a plummy, spicy wine with 15.6% alcohol that was smooth and sexy. Another great year at the ACWC where I believe Ontario should have done much better than in previous years. Next year we'll do it all again, with more great Canadian wines and great international bottles for dinner.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Cline 2006 Big Break Zinfandel (California)
I have quite a few Zinfandels in my wine collections, but none is more precious to me than my Cline 2006 Big Break Zinfandel ... it's a silly reason really, they just happen to be the most expensive bottles of Zinfandel I own, and like many people who hold onto wine they feel is precious I don't want to open it until precisely the right time. We had a friend coming over tonight for an impromptu visit and I needed something to serve. I pulled out a starter bottle of Chardonnay (reviewed here) but I needed a red to go with dinner. Granted we weren't going gourmet tonight (remember it was an impromptu visit) we were grilling up some burgers ... but our friend has just recently found (or re-found) Zinfandel, and so I can't just pour them any old bottle - so I brought out one of my prized possessions. I have to say I am critical about expensive bottles - I paid quite a bit of money for these and want them to be just right ... and happily this one is. Plum and baked cherry along with baking spice, vanilla, reduced cola and spiced plum, all made an appearance either on the nose, palate, or both . My wife is more of a white drinker so she stuck with something light - but I just know I impressed our friend, she drank the whole glass and asked for seconds. And I know I impressed myself, it was so good.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Can Blau 2006 Can Blau (Spain)
It's Sunday, and the Kawartha Flavour Festival is now behind us. My seminar went well and now I am sitting in a bed and breakfast (Golden Pathways) eating the topping off some anchovy and hot pepper pizza - I thing there are hot peppers on it too - trust me it was not my choice ... anyway I do have this bottle of the Spanish Can Blau with me, a blend of Mazuelo, Shiraz and Grenache. I am a huge Blau fan so I am exicted abot opening this wine. Upon capsule removal I am staring at a plastic cork (with some trepidation I might add); and I'm also thinking, 'how often do you get a Spanish wine with plastic cork, after all they make cork in Spain - weird. The folks who are staying with me have quite a bit of wine knowledge themselves and also looked chagrinned that plastic is on the docket as wine closer. But as it goes into the glass and up to the nose one of them says, "it comes off as a full aged red" - at only 6 years old I'm not sure that's a great thing to say, but the wine ends up being a very pleasant mix of dried red fruit and spice, quite enjoyable to drink. I know I have more bottles sitting at home in the cellar which means it is time to drink them this summer. If you have some bottles too I would recommend the same.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Golden Mile Cellars 2006 Zinfandel (British Columbia)
It's seems like forever since I have been to Golden Mile Cellars ... and as the saying goes, "You can never go back" - and in this case that is very true ... Golden Mile Cellars changed its name soon after I visited it (I am sure there is no corollary there) to Road 13, giving the name of the winery back to the region in which it resides - The Golden Mile - which is in the southern Okanagan. But I still had a bottle with the old name and label and so tonight, along with my mother, with whom I visited the winery, drank and reminisced about our time in the Okanagan and the Luckhursts who own the winery. Surprisingly the wine was better then I remembered it - we had tasted it almost two years to the date ago and all that was really apparent about the wine was the spiciness ... now sure it has spiced plum and just plain old spice but there was so much more like dried blackberries and a real nice seam of dark chocolate. Sadly this is my last bottle of this wine in the cellar and all we have left from our Golden Mile Cellars experience are the memories and this blog ... cheers to good wine, good times and pleasant memories.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Haras de Pirque 2006 Equus Carmenere (Chile)
This wine revealed itself in stages: what it was on first opening and then aerated. When the bottle was first opened and poured into the glass the overwhelming smell was mint-chocolate and that showed itself on the palate, especially on the finish - the mid-palate was pretty grippy and brambly in nature showing little fruit. But with such an enticing finish I knew there had to be more, and I hate to admit it, I was not going to be patient to find out. So I pulled out my VinOair and re-poured the wine: nose went from overly minty to black cherry and spice ... then as it sat in the glass you could smell the alcohol heat (looked it up, it was 14.5%) and became a cherry cough syrup - which isn't bad if you grew up on Triaminic. The taste was also staggered: kirch and cassis like notes, cherry liquor, spice and a long finish. I think it depended what stage I caught it at as to whether I really liked it or just liked it, though when the alcohol heat started to show through it was less appealing - but it was all about waves for this wine ... a wave of really good followed by a wave of mediocre followed by a wave a hey-that's-not-bad and so on. It's gonna be another one of those bottles I pull out this summer and try again ... with company.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Rosemount 2006 Show Reserve GSM (Australia)
I had a lot of luck with a 2006 wine last time - so once again I'm going back to the well of 2006 and trying another ... this time I'm going all the way around the world to grab something out of the cellar from Australia - a Rosemount Show Reserve GSM (Grenache / Shiraz / Mourvedre) ... this is a pretty standard blend from Australia, because they can get all three grapes to ripen in their kind of heat. While the blend is standard this wine was far from your average every day sip. What I really liked about this wine, in its present state, is the menthol that rises up from the glass - some could mistake it for alcohol heat, but it is most definitely a menthol note that seems to envelop itself around the other aromas of cassis, blackberry and mocha. Sip after sip it revealed more and more flavours, most dark fruited, with spicy character, some licorice (a cross between both red and black) along with some of that menthol on the finish. This wine is ageing very well and hopefully will continue to do so over the next 5 years or so.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Bodegas Lan 2006 Crianza (Spain)
This is a wine traditionally made with Tempranillo and is aged 12 months in oak. It comes from the Rioja region of Spain (the most famous of Spain's regions) and from a prestigious producer of the area - LAN. Now that the preliminaries are out of the way its time to get down to those brass tacks people talk about ... the wine itself. As mentioned in a previous post, I'm doing my typical winter wander through my cellar and picking out old bottles to taste. This wine is only 6 years old - so not the oldest I'll subject my taste-buds to, but it might turn out to be one of the best. This was an absolutely stellar wine that kept getting better and better the more it sat open in the glass. The nose was earthy (at first - this dissipated with an hour in the glass) along with plum, cedar and some strawberry aromas, which seem to struggle to get through, but did eventually make it. That earthy note that was on the nose was no where to be seen on the palate: plum, blackberry, sour cherry, and smoky ... but wait, near the finish it (the earthiness) did pop in to play with some cassis that lingers on. At about the hour-and-a-half mark it hit its stride and showed black cherry and cocoa from mid-palate to finish (and into the long linger). Simply lovely.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Four Wines With Varying Degrees of Interest (Australia / California / Italy)
The only thing better than making new friends is making new friends with a good wine cellar who are willing to share ... I have been very fortunate this weekend to find myself in New York meeting some wonderful people and drinking some pretty interesting wines. Friday was Sushi night and while everything we tried might not seem like sushi matching wines they were of varying degrees of interests all on their own. Starting with a MollyDooker 2011 The Violinist, a wine made from the Verdelho grape - a grape found primarily in Portugal and Spain ... what the Aussies are doing with it I have no idea but this wine was not to many people's liking - there was a suggestion that maybe it needed time and I'm not so sure, this was just a very underwhelming wine that lacked character and acidity. Should have been a great wine with the sushi, but in the end it fell flat. Opened next (and quickly after the white debacle) was a Sine Que Non 2003 Omega ... it doesn't get much weirder than this an Oregon Pinot Noir made by a California winery, but what the heck. I'm picking up a lot of interesting tidbits this week ... like the US system is much freer in what you can make and from where than my beloved Ontario (more on that tomorrow). This bottle was brought by our host because the bottle was leaking in his cellar and he wanted to see if it was still any good. After I had this wine I looked at a few reviews on-line and discovered that ours tasted more like Pinot than others, who spoke of it as more Syrah/Shiraz like ... this was most definitely Pinot Noir, in fact it seemed to blend the old and the new worlds with its old world stinky nose and its new world fruit flavours, a dichotomy of sorts that worked out well ... maybe the leakage helped it along. Final bottle at dinner was a Dark Matter 2006 Zinfandel, a delicious spicy, chocolatey with raspberry mixed in - it was a wonderful Zin, not for sushi matching but a lovely sipper tht would have been divine with BBQ ... maybe next time.
I'd be remiss if I did not mention a bottle of San Gregorio 2001 Serpico which was open earlier in the day on a dare ... and to see if this wine really was holding up. Parker gave this particular vintage of this old vines Aglianico 98 points and the scuttlebutt is that it can age 30 years. Upon first taste it would have been surprising that it lasted a second taste, but we were adventurous and kept giving it air and another try. It started off quite fruit driven, then closed up on itself and revealed nothing but wood, cedar and oak notes. The finish was raw and became like drinking liquid wood ... could this be the end of this wine? About an hour later we came back to the glass and it had really blossom with fruit and the wood had dissipated to a dull roar - a supporting player to all that lovely fruit. Post Script: we left the bottle for about 24 hours and re-tasted it ... the end result was a so-so wine but that middle part was wonderful, that was the sweet spot.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Concha y Toro 2006 Trio Red (Chile)
It's on a night like tonight where I start feeling very scared about what's in my wine cellar, especially the stuff in there from 2005 and 2006.
I find myself having to stay in the city tonight (Toronto) so I am off to visit my parents. Because mom always enjoys a good bottle of wine I decided to pack one, the above mentioned Concha y Toro 2006 Trio (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Cabernet Franc). I have loved this wine in the past and have been looking forward to opening it all day. Upon arrival I peel the capsule off the wine and lo-and-behold staring back at me is my nemesis: the plastic cork. Undaunted I carry on - thinking that just once I would like a plastic cork not to spoil one of my aged bottles of wine ... could this be that time and could this be that bottle of wine? Almost. The wine has basically no nose what-so-ever ... and continues this way through my last sip some 30-minutes later. The palate has hints of fruit upon the first sip and onto the second, but soon loses all sense of fruit and becomes lean, acidic and lacking any kind of interesting character ... in fact it takes a mere 20 minutes to oxidize completely to a point where I can choke but two more sips down before I am forced to give up the good fight and realize I am sipping on a losing cause. Another wine ruined by the dreaded plastic cork ... sigh. Am I to find these abominations on all my bottles of 2005 and 2006 wines? I guess we'll know soon enough.
Check out the OntarioWineReview.com website ...
catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario
sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.
catch up with the latest news and reviews from Ontario
sign-up for the free biweekly newsletter and much more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)