It is 10:30 in the morning ... I know it is not really the traditional time to be opening up a bottle of wine for consumption, but it's a special occasion. We have spent the last 3 weeks looking at a half-completed bathroom. We started this project quite simply as a painting gig, it turned into a new vanity gig, which in-turn turned into a new flooring gig ... needless to say the entire bathroom looks different and much better. The whole project was suppose to take 3 days - so 3 weeks ago I put a bottle of this Banfi Aurora Rosé sparkling into the fridge hoping to pop it on the completion of the bathroom ... and I waited, and I waited, and I waited. Between contractors not showing up, flooring stores giving me the cold shoulder and one contractor with a heart of gold we finally got it done. Which means finally I was able to open the sparkling and drink it - and I did not care what the time of day: the water flows, the toilet flushes, the flooring is down and the lighting lights - hazzah. As for the wine, this Italian bubble is a beauty and perfect to toast the new fixtures, flooring and faucets (now if only I could figure out how to get it to flow through the taps) - it's a traditional method bubble made from 100% Pinot Noir which has a lovely rosé colour to it ... the acidity is wonderfully tart while the raspberry and strawberry peak through to give you a lovely sparkling wine experience - I could not ask for anything more. It's crazy good and fits with the crazy time we had getting this bathroom completed.
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Monday, November 18, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Le Ragose 2000 Valpolicella (Italy)
Yes it was quite a weekend when my wife left town ... I opened a variety of bottles that I found while cleaning up the cellar without being told I was an alcoholic ... I also have to admit I dumped quite a few as well, they were just too old, or I had previously written about them as being bad (and as luck would have it I found another bottle). It seems to always be the way. You wait for that perfect occasion to open that "special bottle" and the "perfect" occasion never comes and the bottle languishes and (sooner or later) goes off. But that was not the case for this 2000 Le Ragose, a ripasso method Valpolicella. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found under the cork: aromas of anise, dried blackberries and hints of plum (there was still an element of freshness to this wine that I was not expecting, especially on the nose). The palate followed the nose's lead kicking in nice acidity and a dried raspberry finish. But what really stood out was the smoothness that started mid-palate and lasted to the end.
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.
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.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Remo Farina 2000 Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso (Italy)
When you hang out with a bunch of Italian winemakers (or even one) you begin to have a hankering for Italian wine, even when you get home. Tonight, I wanted something old and Italian and ended up this Remo Farina Ripasso. At 13 years of old (from the label date) this wine really shows some good complexity and mostly tertiary aromas and flavours: smells of leather, prune, licorice, clove and baking spice ... the palate starts off with tons of black pepper and anise - seems to move quickly into a whack of acidity and sprice, which dominates the palate when drank on its own, but with food it worked beautifully: smooth and mellow while still being aged to perfection and with nice complexity. With a little time there appeared a slightly woody note and a finish of leathered-cherry ... for 13 years old this is one interesting wine that still delivers.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Del Palio Vineyards 2000 Sangiovese (Italy)
This was a really weird wine ... as I have mentioned in previous reviews I have recently put my cellar on CellarTracker and have been trying out some of the features. Today I thought it would be fun to see what kind of Chianti I have in my cellar ... sadly the program said I only have 3 bottles (this I am having trouble believing because I know I have more kicking around in there) - and the oldest was this bottle from 2000. Took me awhile to locate it because the label is one of those weird-fanggled-looks-like-we-made-it-at-home-with-our-new-printer kinda labels: lots of odd colours like orange and red, not what I think about when you hear the word Chianti. I also have to admit that I decided, in keeping with the old school nature of this wine, forewent the usual red wine glass I use and pulled out an small juice glass - like the ones you see Italians drinking wine from in movies (funny aside - as my wife was making fun of me for my glassware of choice, we happened upon an old movie on TV and what was the guy drinking wine from ... vindication). In this glass the wine showed that it still had some really good acidity along with dried fruit, some dried leaves notes - kinda like orange pekoe tea - the acidity helped to give the fruit a lift, and in the bottom of the glass a fine sediment appeared. This was quite a nice wine for a 12 year old Sangiovese ... the more I try old Italian wines the more impressed I am with them.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Masi 2004 Campofiorin (Italy)
My love affair with Masi continues as I pull out a bottle of 2004 Campofiorin to give it a go. Not one of the 5-star vintages that Masi touts on their label (under the year), but definitely it was a good one. For those that don't know Campofiorin is the Ripasso wine from Masi and is consistently a good wine and great value - especially if you consider I was holding this one for 6-7 years and it is 8 years old. The layers and complexity of this wine were amazing as each sip delivered something new ot the tongue - while the nose only gave out little bits and pieces: Aromas of black cherry, kirsch and creme de cacao were all that were present through the hour and a half I drank the wine - but the palate was anything buy coy. Plum, mocha, celery seed, cedar, fruit leather, cigar box and a slight bite from the tannins all made an appearance at one time or another ... my final few sips proved to be smooth with black cherry and cigar box notes - and those are the flavours I took away.
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.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Vigne Regali (Banfi) 2008 La Lus Albarossa
I'd tell you I feel like I'm flogging a dead horse here, but this horse is far from dead ... I found myself at my brother's new house for dinner tonight and decided that I would bring along one of my newest favourite wines ... why should he not enjoy what I have found, plus, over the years he has turned me on to some really good beer, so I thought I'd repay the favour with the fermented grape. I have written about this wine extensively in blog posts about Banfi tastings: in the spring and in the fall ... and then a larger post for Ottawa Life magazine's blog a couple weeks ago ... so if you have not read about it yet I am going to suggest linking up to one of those pieces to see what I am fussing about, the Ottawa Life piece is probably the fullest and best of the bunch. Anyway, after tasting the wine in my own glass amongst family I can tell you that my admiration for the wine has grown even more. If you haven't yet purchased some you might be out of luck - but search around anyway, you won't be disappointed.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Allegrini 2001 Valpolicella Classico (Italy)
If I told you that I opened this wine and said it tasted like an old Italian wine, would you know what I mean? Some would and but most wouldn't - if statistics are correct - most of you have no idea what I'm talking about (95% of all wine purchased is drank within 48 hours). So to have an 11 year old Italian wine is a rarity these days, and too bad cause it really is an educational experience, as well as a tasty one, if you like old wine. Not sure I should be doing it regularly with Valpolicella's though (known more for being light and fruity than age-worthy). There was plenty of dried fruit on this one with smoky notes and a light cedary playfulness about it. The dried fruit was cranberry and sour cherry and it really was quite enjoyable on the palate. The palate was smooth with dried fruit and only hints of wood interuption, but as it crossed the mid-palate and moved to the back oak and cedar took over and lingered - though still pleasantly - nothing was over the top or took over, it all just melded together pleasantly. About 30 minutes into the experience the wine took on three new aromas and flavours: licorice, forest floor and dried leaves. I was thrilled with the way this wine stood up
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Mionetto NV "MO" Prosecco Extra Dry (Italy)
It's funny that nobody talks about bubbly as a late night snack. Oh, sure you hear about it as a before dinner drink, or maybe a during dinner beverage. You might hear people talk about having it to toast a special occasion, or maybe outdoors on the patio on a hot day. Yes it's a great thing to mix with orange juice on a Sunday morning, or pour in a little cassis to make a kirsch after dinner ... but I have never heard of somebody saying it makes a great after everything beverage. Which is exactly what we did last night with this bottle of Prosecco. It was after dinner, after dessert and I was sitting in front of the TV with my wife watching some Olympic sporting event recap when I suddenly heard myself say: "Want a glass of bubbly?" Even more surprising was the answer I got, "Sure". And off I went to the fridge for a bottle of what was there, this MO Prosecco. I had received the bottle earlier in the week and thought I must try what is considered the "Number one Prosecco brand in America". The wine had nice bubbles with floral, and lemonade-like sweetness, wild flower honey and sweet apple notes - it was pleasant and easy drinking, so much so that it was almost swiggable. Interesting to note that it was so popular in America that it is now in Ontario, proving that you have to make it in the States before you can even be thought of here in Canada.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
A Four (?) Bottle Night (British Columbia / California / and more)
Am I getting too old to have a four-bottle night? Or was it five bottles? That's tough to say at this point, as I write this 3 days later, but I can tell you they are fun. Had some friends over for dinner, "and that's where your drinking problem starts," said my sponsor from AA - alright I'm kidding about that - but we did have some friends over for dinner, and I knew I had to step up my A-game for wine for this group. So what did I grab out of the cellar? Well we started with a glass of cheer, sparkling of course, a Road 13 2008 Home Vineyard Sparkling Chenin Blanc from the Golden Mile, British Columbia (Southern part of the Okanagan Valley). The grapes for this wine come from the 44-year-old vines of Chenin that grow on the property. The wine was lovely, fruity and exotic with just a hint of sweetness that comes along with a nice bubbly - but always with a dry finish. Went down so light and easy, great starter wine.
We then had two bottles of Chateau des Charmes wines from right here in Ontario, a 2006 Riesling (whose review will appear in my Taste it Again column next week) and a 2011 Rose (which will appear in my Newsletter in the next couple of weeks).
Dinner was pulled pork, baked beans, cole slaw ... BBQ fare ... so the only thing I could think of was Zinfandel: Cedarville 2005 El Dorado Zinfandel. This was a very elegant Zin, complex and delicious with plum and white pepper, spiced and dried berries along with an element of fresh cherry - it was not only great with dinner but a wonderful sipping wine for after too. The final straw of the evening was the bottle of Frazitta Zibibbo, a Marsala style wine sweet with apricot and honey character that has a slight oxidative quality - but is really a wonderful sipper. Well, that'll do it - five bottles down (well we did not finish the sweetie) ... and I'm still standing ... and that is always a good thing.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Apollonio 2001 Valle Cupa Salento Rosso (Italy)
After a weekend of drinking beer spent with my in-laws I was glad to see a bottle of wine waiting for me upon my return home. This is a wine I had taken out a few days previously but never got around to drinking - a 50 / 50 blend of Primitivo and Negroamaro aged 12 months in barrel then an additional 12 months in bottle (or that is what I understood from the back label and my rusty almost non-existent Italian). At first it smelled kinda hot, looking at the alcohol content I am not surprised as 14.5% jumped right at me, it also tasted rather warm but there was a spice on the front palate amongst the heat that told me that a little time was needed for it to come around. Dried plum, spiced -raspberry, licorice, all-spice and black pepper were all found on the nose; while white pepper, licorice and dried red fruit dominated the palate. The wine smoothed out after 45 minutes and was supple and easy to drink, but still with dried fruit, spice and pepper ... around the hour mark it developed a hint of bitter cocoa on the finish. Nice wine for its age.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Wines at the Bauer Kitchen (Italy, South Africa, BC, California)
My 2001 vintage experiment was put on hold for a night as a small group of friends headed out to a Kitchener-Waterloo restaurant called Bauer Kitchen (187 King Street South, Waterloo) where sommelier Jake Richards toured us through a number of interesting wines from a diverse array of places: Italy, South Africa, Japan (by way of Toronto), California and back to Canada (British Columbia to be exact).
Jake started us off with a lovely Prosecco from Contarini called Val-Secco because, according to Jake's information, when they re-drew the lines of the Prosecco region (in Italy) this winery fell just short of the line - so, not being able to call themselves Prosecco they took the first few letters of Valdobbiadene (a classic Prosecco region) and the "secco" to form their proprietary name. What a delicious bottle of bubbly this is, full of fruit, persistent bubbles and lemon candy sweet with balancing acid notes. A great starter to the evening, we could have happily drank this the rest of the evening, but Jake had more in-store. Like a South Africa white blend from Sequillo, their 2008 white had us guessing the blend: Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and possibly some Chardonnay (?) - creamy vanilla, exotically grassy with some real intrigue in the mouth and a lovely long finish.
Next up was a palate cleansing Sake from Izumi of the North, a sake house located in, of all places, Toronto, Ontario,Canada - we drank the Nama Cho cold, and it refreshed and cleansed the palate for the reds that were to follow.
With a smile Jake brought over a very black bottle and started to pour, only once all the glasses were filled and we had taken our first taste and universally agreed on the "fine-ness" of the wine did he reveal it as a 2009 Syrah from Black Hills winery in British Columbia - nice blackberry, cassis and raspberry aromas with white pepper, blackberry, and mocha on the palate ... after tasting this you can see why you'd believe the rumour Jake was willing to start: that BC wineries are ripping out their Pinot Noir vines to replace with Syrah ... it's quite plausible and maybe even the right thing to do. Finally, and surprisingly, the last wine was my least favourite of the evening: Caymus 2008 Zinfandel ... many of my readers know my love for Zin but this one seemed a little out of whack, there was plum and chocolate notes but you could also sense the alcohol heat on both the nose and palate (15.2%) and this made the wine seem unbalanced ... I suspect another couple years in bottle might rectify that situation. All in all a fantastic wine tasting and the meal presented to us was equal to the task. Thanks to Jake and the wonderful staff at the Bauer Kitchen for a fantastic evening.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Eugenio Collavini 2001 Merlot - Isonzo del Fruiuli (Italy)
Over the next few days I will be sipping and sampling wines from the 2001 vintages from around the world ... there's no conspiracy as to why I am drinking wines of this certain age, I was just messing around in the cellar the other day and thought maybe I should be drinking up my seemingly vast collection of 2001 wines (make room for the newer stuff). So over the next three days you'll see more reviews of wines from over a decade ago. Tonight's candidate in the category is a wine from Italy's Friuli region, a Merlot - not usually a grape many consider a traditional Italian grape, but they do mess around with the international varieties. This was an interesting wine and one I wish I had more than one bottle of; after a decade in bottle it proved to have a wonderful mouthfeel and smoothness to it. Dried red fruit and blueberry lead the charge here, with a touch of some cedary notes, there also seemed to be quite a bit of spice (probably from the wood) in the early going. But after an hour it settled down and became a wine you could sit and sip on for most of the night - which is what I did ... let's hope the other wines from a decade ago hold up just as well.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Boscaini 1998 Santo Stefano de la Cane - Ripasso (Italy)
There are some promises you make as an aside to people you rarely see: "let's get together for dinner sometime" or "we must get together soon". Then there are those you make to those close to you, and no matter how minor it seems at the time or in hindsight, you stick to it. Such was the case with this bottle of Boscaini wine. About 4 years ago I opened a bottle of this for my mother's birthday ... we enjoyed it but felt it still could use some time to mature. So down it went into a box of wines to age for a long upside down nap; at the time I promised mom we'd try it again when it awoke from its nap - and that time has finally come. Actually the time came a few months ago, but because mom and I live in separate cities and both her and I were traveling at different times we just couldn't get to the bottle, so it sat some more. Tonight I found myself in Toronto overnight and so I packed the bottle in a special temperature controlled carrier and took it with me. There are plenty of more details about how this wine finally made its way into our glass - including a very tight and temperamental cork ... but let's get to the wine already. The wine barely showed its age in colour, with very little browning or oranging around the rim, while a fine sheen of sediment coated the glass after the initial swirl. It started out with a pruney smell then moved to dried figs and marochino cherries before finally settling on sundried tomatoes. The palate was full of sweet dried fruit character and as the wine opened up in the glass the acidity and spice began to shine through and continued till the end. My mother, who likes her wines a little fresher of fruit was not as impressed as I, who thought the wine retained its elegance and finesse even at 14 years of age; sure it's crested the hill, but it had no intention of going out quietly - still a wonderful wine.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
5 Bottles on the Night Before Italy (Ontario / Italy / Washington)
Tonight a buddy came over to wish me well the night before I head off to Italy for an Amarone tasting and winery tour in Verona. Fives bottles were opened, none of them finished. Dinner was a mini-bucket (8 pieces) of Kentucky Fried Chicken ... not the best food to be pairing with wine, but what the heck we had to eat something, especially something that reminds us of our misspent youth, and, as my buddy said, "what would be a better than this for your last meal on North American soil" (I still have lunch tomorrow but still he makes a good point). The wines we tried reached as far back as 2001 to as current as a 2009 ... here's how they all fared:
Bottle 1 - Cantina Tollo 2004 Colle Secco Montepulciano D'Abruzzo ... this turned out to be a quaffing wine, dark fruit oriented with a raisiny-pruny quality that intensified the longer it was opened.
Bottle 2 - Tawse 2006 Echos Bistro Red ... a little more on this on my Taste it Again blog, but this one has turned very much into a spiced wood concoction.
Bottle 3 - Charles and Charles 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon / Syrah ... I have reviewed this one in the past few weeks and my review still stands.
Bottle 4 - Southbrook 2001 Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon ... another wine to appear on another blog (should be on the Lost & Found but ...) - no doubt about it, no matter how you slice it, this one was buggy, as in lady bugged.
Bottle 5 - Southbrook 2002 Cabernet / Merlot ... might be the best wine of the night, especially considering its age. Check the Taste it Again blog for my notes, but I this one reminds me of shish-kabob on the BBQ.
Bottle 1 - Cantina Tollo 2004 Colle Secco Montepulciano D'Abruzzo ... this turned out to be a quaffing wine, dark fruit oriented with a raisiny-pruny quality that intensified the longer it was opened.
Bottle 2 - Tawse 2006 Echos Bistro Red ... a little more on this on my Taste it Again blog, but this one has turned very much into a spiced wood concoction.
Bottle 3 - Charles and Charles 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon / Syrah ... I have reviewed this one in the past few weeks and my review still stands.
Bottle 4 - Southbrook 2001 Triomphe Cabernet Sauvignon ... another wine to appear on another blog (should be on the Lost & Found but ...) - no doubt about it, no matter how you slice it, this one was buggy, as in lady bugged.
Bottle 5 - Southbrook 2002 Cabernet / Merlot ... might be the best wine of the night, especially considering its age. Check the Taste it Again blog for my notes, but I this one reminds me of shish-kabob on the BBQ.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Marchesi de Frescobaldi 2009 Terre Mare dell Ammiraglia (Italy)
This wine hit the Ontario market the Saturday before (Oct. 15) and I was one of those that just had to get my hands on a few bottles ... a Bordeaux blend with a twist of Syrah added. So we have Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah in a bottle of Italian wine ... and it is delicious. The nose is cherries sprinkled with cinnamon and vanilla, very pretty. The flavours are smooth and lush with lots of red and black fruit and a touch of spice and best of all it gets better with some time in the glass. My only disappointment with this wine came when I opened it and found a plastic cork underneath the capsule, that means attempting to age this wine is out of the question ... so drink up within the next 1-3 years. This one's not for collectors, it's for drinkers.
Friday, July 15, 2011
3 Cousins – 3 Wines (Italy / France / USA)
The tale has begun on this year’s Pine Island visit, a 5-acre island in Lake Nippissing near North Bay, Ontario. Every year I host a Saturday evening wine tasting here (this year is New Zealand and Australian wines), I also stay for a few days in the peace and quiet of island living. First night we had some great steaks on the Bar-B cooked to perfection by my cousin Jim. I bring a box of personal wine with each visit, somethings I want my cousin Jim to try – he’s the one who appreciates the variety of reds (in return he provides his favourite beverage, Scotch, for the Sunday afternoon tasting) … my cousin Rhonda will occasionally have a sip or a slug of white (or try the red), but that depends on her mood. My final cousin on the island (Joel) does very little in the way of alcoholic drinking, but the boy is about to go to University, so something tells me that might change.
Wine 1 – with the steaks we consumed a Tenuta San Guido 2008 Le Difese … this is the same winery that makes the famous Super Tuscan Sassacaia, so you know I was looking forward to this one … The wine was a perfect match for the steaks with an earthy-cassis nose that delved into spice, vanilla, allspice, and black cherry pit – very complex and sniffable, but then it was palate time and that’s where this wine really took off: black fruit, spice, vanilla-wood, earthy with big spices. Sure it needs time to mellow but that steak with this wine was sublimely delicious.
Wine 2 – theoretically an after dinner wine is usually sweet, but I knew the night was far from over, we had catching up to do, so out came a Perrin & Fils 2009 Vinsobres “Les Cornuds” a Rhone blend that’s loaded with big red and black fruit and floral notes on the nose, while on the tongue black fruit, licorice root and lovely spices graced the palate. Not as complex as the first, but just as delicious.
Wine 3 – Finally, we’re fireside on the beach and out comes a Trentadue 2006 Old Patch Red (a wine I have been saving for just such an occasion) – it is a blend from California and screams juicy: Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignan, Sangiovese and Syrah. The nose is pure plum and vanilla soaked cherries. The palate is just as fascinating: big fruited, vanilla, plum with just the right hint of spice and acidity that keeps the fruit in check so that it doesn’t come off as jammy – but boy is that fruit robust and delicious.
3 days, 2 nights to go … be interesting to see what wines come out next, only I know.
Wine 1 – with the steaks we consumed a Tenuta San Guido 2008 Le Difese … this is the same winery that makes the famous Super Tuscan Sassacaia, so you know I was looking forward to this one … The wine was a perfect match for the steaks with an earthy-cassis nose that delved into spice, vanilla, allspice, and black cherry pit – very complex and sniffable, but then it was palate time and that’s where this wine really took off: black fruit, spice, vanilla-wood, earthy with big spices. Sure it needs time to mellow but that steak with this wine was sublimely delicious.
Wine 2 – theoretically an after dinner wine is usually sweet, but I knew the night was far from over, we had catching up to do, so out came a Perrin & Fils 2009 Vinsobres “Les Cornuds” a Rhone blend that’s loaded with big red and black fruit and floral notes on the nose, while on the tongue black fruit, licorice root and lovely spices graced the palate. Not as complex as the first, but just as delicious.
Wine 3 – Finally, we’re fireside on the beach and out comes a Trentadue 2006 Old Patch Red (a wine I have been saving for just such an occasion) – it is a blend from California and screams juicy: Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignan, Sangiovese and Syrah. The nose is pure plum and vanilla soaked cherries. The palate is just as fascinating: big fruited, vanilla, plum with just the right hint of spice and acidity that keeps the fruit in check so that it doesn’t come off as jammy – but boy is that fruit robust and delicious.
3 days, 2 nights to go … be interesting to see what wines come out next, only I know.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Tenuat S. Anna 2009 Brut Millesimato (Italy)
End of the work week, no better time or reason to open a bottle of bubbly ... and this Italy Prosecco is a beauty. Lovely citrus and apple smells with a hint yeasty-bready-ness and vanilla. The palate is fresh and lively with a citrus-apple combo playing across the tongue and a creamy mousse backing it all up ... ah, delicious - let the weekend begin.
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