Weekly Wine Quiz #33: Right Place, Wrong Vineyard
It is Saturday, and therefore it is time for the new wine quiz. I expect that you will not have much difficulty with today’s quiz. Here we go.
Below you will find a list of wineries, all of them from California, and all of them quite famous, if not legendary. While famous, one of those wineries doesn’t belong to the list. You need to figure out which one and why.
Here is the list:
A. Bryant family
B. Colgin
C. Araujo
D. Sloan
E. Pride Mountain
Please provide an answer in the comment section below.
Have fun and good luck! Have a great weekend! Cheers!
Re-Post: Best Hidden Secrets Of The Wine World: Amarone
During 2011 I wrote a number of posts for the project called The Art Of Life Magazine – of course talking about my favorite subject, wine. The project closed, but I still like the posts I wrote, so I decided to re-post them in this blog. Also, in that project, posts were grouped into mini-series, such as “Best Hidden Secrets” you see here – I will continue re-posting them from time to time.
Also note that the series was written for a slightly different audience – I hope none of my readers will take offense in the fact that sometimes I’m stating the obvious…
Continuing our “secrets” series, let’s talk about wine called Amarone. The reason to include Amarone as one of the “secrets” of the wine world is simple – I don’t think too many wine lovers know how great Amarone can be, to ask for it by name. I guarantee you – if you like wine, and you will happen to come across a good bottle of Amarone, it will blow you away. And, assuming that many wine lovers are not familiar with Amarone, let’s talk about it starting from the basics.
Amarone is an Italian wine which comes from the region called Veneto. Among [well] known wines produced in Veneto (which has the biggest wine production among all DOCs in Italy) are Prosecco, Soave and Valpolicella. While Prosecco is a famous Italian Sparkling wine, Soave makes dry white wines, and most of Valpolicella wines are red. Main grape varieties used in Valpolicella are Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, plus there are some other grapes which are used in production of Valpolicella wines.
Amarone is one of the wines produced in Valpolicella. What is so special about it? Let me tell you about my first experience with Amarone. I tried that wine for the first time during the Italian wine class at Windows on the World Wine School, taught by Kevin Zraly. On the nose, that wine had pure raisins, and lots of them. Based on the smell, I was absolutely sure that the wine will be very sweet. The first sip of that wine showed off very dry, full bodied and powerful red wine. The contrast of smell and taste was so amazing – it stuck in my head forever. As an interested side note, once we all smelled the wine, Kevin Zraly asked the class (about 100 students) what we’re thinking about when we smell the wine. Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, the woman in the front row literally jumped from her seat screaming “Sex!”. In case anyone curious, the wine we tasted in that class was 1997 Le Ragose Amarone della Valpolicella.
Outside of such an interesting reflections, what puts Amarone apart from many wines is the way it is made. Once the grapes are harvested, they are put out on the straw mats (used to be straw mats, now there are other techniques) to dry under the sun. The drying process, called Appassimento, usually takes between 3 and 4 month, and leads to the grapes shrivel to literally become raisins – and then those shriveled grapes are pressed and fermented to become Amarone wines. Another interesting fact is that after the grapes are pressed for Amarone wines, the grape skin and seeds leftovers can be added to the Valpolicella wines, which helps to impart additional flavor onto the resulting wine. The wines produced using this method will be called Ripasso which will be designated on the wine label.
It is the time to open a bottle. Today we will actually open 3 bottles, all three from the same producer called Vaona, and we will be able to compare the way the wines are made and taste, progressing from Valpolicella Ripasso to Amarone of different levels.
The first wine is 2008 Vaona Valpolicella Classico Superiore Pegrandi Ripasso (Pegrandi Ripasso means that it used the grape skins left after production of Pegrandi Amarone). This wine is a blend of Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara grapes and it was aged for a year in a barrel and 4 month in the bottle. The resulting wine is very smooth and concentrated, with lots of dark fruit and spices on the palate.
Our next wine is 2007 Vaona Paverno Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. It is made of the same grapes as the Vlapolicella wine (Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara). After the grapes were harvested, they were dried up in the wooden boxes for a period of 3 month, and then made into the wine. This wine is very nice and round, reminiscent of Charles Mara Pinot Noir, both in soft and round style and in masterful handling of the alcohol. This wine boasts 15.6% alcohol, and outside of reading the label, that level of alcohol can not be detected neither on the nose, nor on the palate – this is how balanced the wine is. The wine is showing some blueberries and a bit of tobacco notes on the palate.
And now we can talk about the flagship wine – 2006 Vaona Pegrandi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. The grapes for this wine come from the vineyard called Pegrandi, where the average age of vines is 30-40 years. The same Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara are used in the production of the wine, with an addition of local indigenous grape called Raboso Veronese. Once harvested, grapes are dried on the bamboo racks for more than 4 month before they are made into the wine. The resulting wine was aged for 24 month in the small barrels before the release. Again, the wine is incredibly smooth and balanced, regardless of the 15.8% of alcohol. On the nose, it shows fruit jam and dark chocolate. It is extremely rich on the palate, with lots of dark fruit and dark chocolate notes, powerful tannins and hint of tar and tobacco – and then more tannins. This wine should truly be experienced – describing it using words doesn’t do a true justice to it.
I really hope that once you read this article, you will run into the wine store, and ask for the best bottle of Amarone – this wine should be really experienced, and who knows – you might find your wine love forever.
P.S. This post was also prompted by the recent post on Vino in Love blog about best wines from the latest Gambero Rosso (famous Italian wine guide) and his rant about Amarone at the end of the post.
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Jura Wines, Garagiste Here and There, Sherryfest and more
Enjoy Californian wine from Napa & much more!
Meritage Time!
First and foremost, here is the answer for the Wine Quiz #32 – A Guessing Game, Ultimate Challenge. In the quiz, you were supposed to match 6 red wine grapes with the reviews of the wines, and for added bonus provide country of origin for each reviewed wine. Before I will give you the right answer, let’s talk about the winners. Nobody managed to match all 6 reviews correctly, which was rather expected – but both Vinibouni and Whineandcheersforwine did quite well, correctly identifying 3 and 1 wines, respectively. Actually, Vinibuoni could even hit 4 out of 6, but he couldn’t decide between two reviews for the Merlot grape, so his final count stands at 3. In any case, I applaud the courage of both respondents, and considering the level of difficulty, I would like to declare Vinibuoni a winner of this quiz (as usual, the winner gets the unlimited bragging rights and have to pat him/herself on the back).
And the right answer (drum roll, please) is A5, B6, C1, D3, E2, F4 (looks almost like lottery numbers). Here are the details:
Cabernet Sauvignon:
“delicious stuff; not huge, but impeccably balanced, nuanced and tremendously long and pure. It’s a cascade of currant, blueberry and plum fruit shaded on one side by subtle, toasty oak, on the other by hints of minerality and exotic spice. But it’s the elegance and the length that make this a winner.” – Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Barossa Valley Kalimna Block 42 2004, Australia (WS97).
Malbec:
“torrent of blackberry, boysenberry and bittersweet ganache notes. But there’s exceptional drive and focus here as well, with a great graphite spine driving through the spice- and floral-infused finish. A stunner for its combination of power and precision” – Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Mendoza Nicasia Vineyard 2007, Argentina (WS96)
Merlot:
“complex, yet subtle, with blackberries, minerals and berries. Full-bodied and very velvety, with lovely rich fruit, with chocolate and berry character. Very long and refined. A joy to taste.” – Chateau Certan Marzelle Pomerol 2000, France (WS91)
Nebbiolo:
“a seductive red, drawing you in with its pure cherry and floral aromas and flavors, then capturing you with the silky texture and harmonious profile. Stays fresh and elegant, with a long, ethereal finish.” – Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Cannubi S. Lorenzo-Ravera 2008, Italy (WS95)
Pinot Noir:
“aromas of tar and smoke, with very pure, concentrated blackberry and spice notes underneath mark this exotic, seductive red. Silky and complex, it caresses the palate. It needs a little time to absorb the oak, but this is long and has great potential.” – Mommessin Clos de Tart 2003, Burgundy, France (WS95)
Syrah:
“still tight, with a wall of mocha and raspberry ganache covering the massive core of fig fruit, hoisin sauce and plum cake notes. This is extremely dense but remarkably polished, with a long, tongue-penetrating finish that drips of fruit and spice laid over massive grip.” – E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 2005, France (WS99).
As you can see, the line up look pretty reasonable (using best wines, nothing obscure) and includes all the wines which I would loooooove to try. I don’t know yet what the next wine quiz will be all about, but I think I’m done with wine reviews for a while.
And now to the “interesting items” department.
First, there was a very interesting blog post by Wink Lorch about her unique tasting experience of old vintages from Caves Bourdy, one of the best producers in Jura. Why am I sharing this? I have no idea why I’m so generous with you, my readers, as I’m giving to you one of the best-and-still-under-appreciated wine regions. Very interesting wines are made in Jura, and Jean-François Bourdy represent 14th (!) generation of winemakers – his wines are outstanding and very long living – but equally hard to find in US. I mentioned that “scarce availability” in my comment for the post, and Wink was kind enough to send me a list of distributors and retail shops which carry Jean-François Bourdy’s wines. One of the names on the list was Garagiste Wine, which I never heard of before and which attracted my attention. And that leads to the next interesting subject I wanted share with you.
Turns out that Garagiste is a wine buying service, where wine is available through e-mail newsletter. I looked through the sample, seemed interesting, but as I’m trying to limit the amount of wine I’m buying, I decided not to subscribe, simply to avoid temptation. To my surprise, a few days ago I came across an article by Dr. Vino about Jon Rimmerman, the man behind Garagiste, and all the controversial coverage which ensued from the article in New York Times, for which Alice Feiring, a well known wine writer and blogger, had to write her own blog post and provide her commentary. It is a lot of reading to do, but I think it will worth your time.
Now, here are couple of wine events for you, taking place on two opposite coasts of US. First, to continue the theme of Garagiste ( no connection to the NYT story and the wine selling service), The Garagiste Festival will be taking place in Paso Robles on November 10th, giving attendees an opportunity to taste wines from more than 50 small and unique wineries (I wish I can be there, sigh).
Another event is taking place in New York, which seems will be taken over for the next few days by a Sherry – Sherryfest will start this coming Saturday and will go on for a few days. If you like Sherry, or never had it before, and especially if you had it before and didn’t like it, you owe to yourself to give it a new taste.
That’s all I have for you today, folks! Happy Wine Wednesday and Cheers!
3 Days in Vegas – Day 1: Total Exhaustion, Part 2
This is the continuation of the post about our 3-days Vegas adventure. In case you missed the first post, below is the link for you:
Sure, some 25 minutes later and 2 or 3 stops to ask for directions, we managed to get to the train. Short ride, another walk, tram – and we finally arrived at Mandalay Bay.
Our “small meal” at MGM buffet (hope you sense the sarcasm) finally started to wear off, so we were ready to eat – which brings us to the subject of food, which in Las Vegas definitely deserves its own special coverage and attention.
I think that Las Vegas has highest in the world concentration of the high end restaurants per square foot. Can you think of a famous chef? Doesn’t matter who you came up with, I can practically guarantee that he or she will have their own restaurant in Las Vegas. What you should also expect is that those restaurants will be priced accordingly. I perfectly understand that visiting a great restaurant is an experience, and as such, it has its own price – but, in the end of the day, Las Vegas is a tourist, holiday town, and it is not for nothing all those casinos refer to themselves as resorts (by the way, they also charge resort fee, if you care to know). When you walk around the vacation town, what do you often see advertised on the doors of the restaurants? If you said “happy hour”, you are corrrrect! Considering the level of the restaurants, I think it is somewhat unusual that they offer happy hour specials, but hey, everything is possible in Vegas, right?
Taking advantage of my prior experience, I was determined to visit Stripsteak, one of Michael Mina’s restaurants (I ate there a few years back during the happy hour, and I had happy memories – oops, happy = happy, interesting). On the way to Stripsteak, we passed by Aureole, a Charlie Palmer’s restaurant, and stopped by to admire the wine tower:
Yeah, one day [may be, may be] I will order some wine there, but not now… Then we had to stop by the restaurant called Red Square and take look at the Lenin’s statue – very appropriate, right? Too bad we had no time to visit their Vodka cave – considering everything we didn’t do this time in Las Vegas, I think we already have full agenda lined up for the next visit.
At most of the happy hours, the restaurants are offering beer, wine and cocktails at some reasonable price ($6 wine and cocktail, $3 beers) – all with limitations, of course, plus some food items. At Stripsteak, I had a glass of Oberon Cabernet Sauvignon (very good!), and my wife enjoyed the cocktail. We also got a couple of small plates from the bar menu, and sliders were particularly good.
The break is over, and we need to get back to our program. Next on the list? Cirque de Soleil “O” show at Bellagio. First, of course, is getting there. This time we decided on the taxi. Excellent choice, took us only 25 minutes to drive about 2 miles. Note to self – “it is Friday night, stupid”. Once at Bellagio, you start getting acquainted with the place by admiring amazing glass chandelier which is literally the first thing you see after walking in. It is created by the world famous glass artist Dale Chihuli, and you can spend quite a bit of time adoring the magnificent exuberance. My pictures will not do justice to it, but remember, I told you before – I took pictures and I want to share them, so here you go:
and a little zoom:
Our next step was to pickup tickets for the performance – I ordered tickets in advance over the internet. Yes, you might be able to get the tickets when you are in Vegas (they also offer half price tickets, similar to New York’s Broadway tickets at TKTS) – depending on the show, you might or might not be successful getting the tickets exactly when you want them, so if you plan your trip in advance, I also recommend getting tickets as part of your trip planning. Yes, there were few empty seats at that “O” show we watched later on, but very few of them.
We had a little time left after we got the tickets, so we went to see the Conservatory – a free attraction at Bellagio which definitely should be on your “must see” list for Vegas. The Conservatory is changed a few times a year, depending on the season, and now theme was “harvest”, and it was absolutely magnificent, with talking tree, pumpkin swans, grape presses and many more elements pretty much forcing a “wow” or “just look at that” sensation out of you:
The Cirque de Soleil “O” was amazing, an incredible combination of water, acrobatics and breath-taking movements you can’t even believe a human can do – but you can find plenty of references and professional reviews for that without me, so let me get back to the description of our day (now evening, to be more precise).
As soon as we walked out, we saw the taxi line. Let me tell you – it was endless. We walked and walked and walked alongside of it, and we couldn’t understand where does it actually start. Okay – but we still had our monorail day passes, remember? So monorail it was.
And you know what? Whatever happens is for the better (at least I think that this is a very helpful attitude in life) – as we started making our way towards monorail entrance, first we could fully admire Las Vegas at night. Las Vegas is beautiful during the day, but it is simply stunning during the night, the way all the buildings are lit:
And then – music and the “wow” exhorted by many people at once – as Bellagio fountains came to life. These pictures will not do the justice to the art of water, light and music, but at least you will get an idea:
About 15 minutes later, monorail entrance was reached and (mini quiz – how long did it take us from the “monorail” sign until we got to an actual train? If you said “about 25 minutes”, pat yourself on the back as you are correct!) we are finally on the train.
Another walk (much shorter) and we are at the tram entrance – before we get inside, I simply had to take one more picture – this is Excalibur, which looks simply like a giant toy, isn’t it?
We got on the last tram (yay! I’m not sure what we would do if we would have to walk to our hotel) – and then we were finally back in our room. We both felt like our legs simply don’t belong to us and are hurting just to remind us that they exist.
We had to have a very early start next day, as we were taking a tour to the Grand Canyon, and considering our level of exhaustion, using an alarm clock was in order. My wife refused help I offered with the alarm clock and set it up on her own (she actually set an alarm both in the bedside clock and her phone), for us to wake up at 5:30 AM (we had to be at the “Tour and Travel” lobby by 6:05 AM for our tour pick up. After that, our tired bodies accepted sleep as a long anticipated blessing, without even saying “thank you”…
When I opened my eyes in the morning, the first thing I did was to grab my phone.
To be continued…
Daily Glass: Before Its Time…
It’s been awhile since I posted in the Daily Glass category, and by design of this blog the plan was actually to have the posts exactly as it said – daily. Well, we all have plans, and then we have the reality – whether we like it or not.
A couple of months back, I got an email from Benchmark Wine Company with an offer to buy the wine. It was about Petite Sirah, and the way it was written, it was hard to resist (besides, Petite Sirah is one of my favorite wines in general) – so I got a few bottles of Retro Cellars Howell Mountain Petite Sirah. To be more precise, I got one bottle of 2004 and 2 bottles of 2007.
I was visiting a good friend and decided that today would be a good day to open the 2004 Retro Cellars Howell Mountain Petite Sirah (14.2% ABV, $35). From the moment the wine went into the glass, it was very clear – the wine was opened way before its time. In one of the wine classes I learned a simple way to find out if wine is ready to drink – you pour the wine in the glass, and hold the glass tilted above some text written on the white paper – if you can read through that glass, the wine is ready to drink. This Petite Sirah was practically black – very concentrated very dark garnet color, without any possibility of reading through. On the palate, the wine had lots of sour cherries, ink and a touch of very dark chocolate – almost a baking chocolate level, the one which practically has no sweetness. Firm tannins. structure and perfect acidity were completing a very balanced package. This definitely was a great wine – drinkable now, but in reality, needing probably another 20 years to shine fully. Drinkability: 9-
That sentiment (needs time!) was also confirmed when I turned the bottle over – it was made by Mike Dunn, the son of Randy Dunn, one of the best winemakers in the Napa Valley. known for making Cabernet Sauvignon wines which require a very long aging period (some stories about Randy Dunn were mentioned in the last issue of Wednesday’s Meritage).
I definitely enjoyed the wine – but when it comes to the 2007 which I still have, patience ( and a lot of it) will be my best friend. Cheers!
Wine Quiz Anthology
It appears that I reached a stumbling block with my weekly wine quizzes – the wine quiz #32, where you were asked to match 6 red wines with 6 wine reviews, didn’t get a single answer (so far). And not because people couldn’t answer the question, but because they found it too long and/or intimidating.
I believe this makes it a good point to take a little break and look back at the line up of the past Wine Quizzes. This is also a nice point for me as a software guy (yep, by education and daytime work : ) ), as 32 – I have 32 wine quizzes out so far – is a very round number in the world of computers (2 to the power of 5 is 32), so it feels like I accomplished something : ). I also looked at this project somewhat religiously from the point of view of the timeline – these are 32 [consecutive] weeks worth of quizzes. They all come in different shapes and forms, and I changed the format slightly from a quiz to a quiz. Until the Quiz #7, the answers were provided with the next quiz in a week, and then beginning from that quiz #7, the answers for the quizzes started coming out every Wednesday. I also used Poll format for many quizzes – that definitely generates a lot more answers (people don’t like to leave comments, sigh) – but with those polls nobody remembered their answer and it was impossible to declare winners.
Anyway, I don’t plan to close any of the quizzes, so if you see something you missed, you can still take part in it – and then even check your answer right away.
Without further ado, here they are – all 32 with the links for the answers. Enjoy!
Weekly Wine Quiz #32 – A Guessing Game: Ultimate Challenge, Part 2 – still waiting for your answers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #31 – A Guessing Game: Ultimate Challenge, Part 1 – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #30 – A Guessing Game, In Reverse – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #29: A Guessing Game – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #28: Where Is The Wine In This Picture? – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #27 – This Whiskey Can’t Age Any Longer… – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #26 – Extreme Wines, Part 2 – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #25 – Extreme Wines – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #24 – Bottles Big, Bottles Small – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #23: There Is A Vineyard In UK … – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #22: Olympics For All – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #21: Do You Know The King? – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #20: How Much Does It Worth To You? – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #19: Wine, An Ultimate Facilitator of Art and Craft – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #18: Wine and Independence Day – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #17: Let’s Talk About Penguins (And Some Weapons) – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #16: Father of California Wine – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #15 – Most Historically Significant Spirit? – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #14: True American Grape – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #13 – Wine as a Matter of Life and … Death – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #12: The End of Prohibition – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #11 – Bubbles, Big and Small – the answer is in the Quiz #12 above
Weekly Wine Quiz #10 – Where [In California] Am I? – use the link above for the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #9 – What Is In The Name? – use the link above for the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #8 – Do You Know Your AVAs? – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #7 – Where In The World Am I? – here is the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #6 – No Pinot? – use the link above for the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #5 – Do You Know Kosher Wines? – use the link above for the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #4 – Which One Doesn’t Belong? – use the link above for the answer
Weekly Wine Quiz #3 – Judgement of Paris – use the link above for the answer
Lets Play a Little Game – Here Is A Wine Quiz – use the link above for the answer
Lets Play a Little Game – Here Is A Wine Quiz – use the link above for the answer
Have a great weekend! Cheers!
Battle of Viogniers: Texas Wins!
One of the fascinating things about blogging is that you get to meet a lot of great people online. Moreover, you meet people who is passionate about the same subject as you are. And then, at some point, you can even meet those people in real life. This was my story Wednesday last week, when I met @SAHMmelier, who happened to live in Austin (you can find her blog here). As soon as we met, the feeling was that we knew each other for ages – it was so easy to start conversation (it was much more difficult to stop it later : )). Thanks to @SAHMmelier, I got a full embrace of the Texas wines, at the “Texas versus The World” meetup hosted by GUSTO Tastings, which we attended together.GUSTO Tastings does a great job of hosting multiple wine events every month, each one with a slightly different purpose. Each first Wednesday of the month, the members of the meetup get together for “Texas versus the world” event where the group gets to taste and compare wines made in Texas with similar wines made in the other countries and regions – this was the exact event we attended, and it was dedicated to Viognier (the November event will be all about Tempranillo or Sangiovese, which should be very interesting, as I think both of those grapes produce very good results in Texas – oh well, I will have to live vicariously through that one…). GUSTO Tastings also runs blind tasting events once a month, which are some of the most exhilarating experiences for wine aficionados. Anyway, if you live in a close proximity to Austin (or few other cities in Texas), you should definitely check GUSTO Testings out and use the opportunity to learn about the wines.
Let me tell you now about the event. First of all, we had the best table in the town. We were lucky enough to meet and share the table with Flat Creek Estate winemaker Tim Drake, a witty and charismatic guy and his lovely wife Spring. In addition to all the fun conversations at the table, it was even more fun listening to Tim delivering his thoughts in bright and engaging fashion, with the ability to use very convincing expressions to emphasize his point (I will have to refrain from repeating his vivid answer and explanation for the question about Reserve wines).
This particular event was all about Viognier, once nearly extinct Rhone white grape varietal. A few month ago there was a Wine Blogging Wednesday dedicated to Viognier, so for more details about the grape, including the link to the short video teaching you how to say that “Viognier” word correctly, here is the link to my blog post.
During the course of the evening, we tasted through 17 different Viognier wines – 8 from around the world, and 9 from Texas. All the wines where split into the flights of four, and the last flight had 5 wines in it.
The first four wines represented the old world – my notes are below:
- 2009 Cacciagrande Viognier, Maremma, Toscana – very unusual, I had no idea Viognier is used in Tuscany. The wine had a beautiful nose of classic Riesling, sweet with a hint of petrol – but palate didn’t support that nose at all. Acidic, briny, not pleasant. Drinkability: 6-
- 2011 Domaine des Cantarelles Viognier, Vin de Pays du Gard – Typical nose – perfume, full body expectation -but the body is too watery, almost Pinot Grigio style… Acidic aftertaste. Drinkability: 6
- 2009 Vidal-Fleury Cote du Rhone – Strange nose, a bit vegetative, and then very oily (I never had a wine before with such a mouthfeel; scotch – yes, but wine? Never), some muted fruit – not good. Drinkability: 5
- 2009 E. Guigal Condrieu – this wine was redeeming the first flight – beautiful concentrated nose, with touch of sugar candy. Nice and delicate on the palate, but not enough power. Drinkability: 7
Flight number 2 consisted of the New World wines:
- 2010 Cono Sur Viognier, Colchagua Valley, Chile – Beautiful nose, touch perfumy, perfectly round palate, good acidity, some green apples. Drinkability: 7+ (best so far)
- 2010 La Capra Viognier, Western Cape, South Africa – somewhat green on the nose, with some matchstick. Let me stop here for a second, and I have a question for you, my readers. Have you ever experienced anything like that? Is that a showing of the extra sulfates used during the production? Anyway, let’s continue – there was also some minerality on the nose (or at least Tim suggested that it was) Pleasant on the palate, more of a Sauvignon Blanc qualities – lime, touch of grapefruit. As I was all puzzled by the nose, I’m not even sure how I want to rate this wine.
- 2010 Yalumba Viognier Eden Valley, Australia. If the previous wine had one matchstick on the nose, this one had a whole box. While that smell was going away little by little, the initial encounter with that wine almost game me a headache. Strange nose at first (heavy matchstick? Sulfites?). The wine opened up eventually on the palate into the medium to full bodied wine, retaining some sharpness. Considering that smell (which rendered the wine literally undrinkable to me) I can’t rate it. I can only hope that it was a particular faulty bottle…
- 2010 Miner Viognier Oakville ’Simpson Vineyard’, Napa. Perfect nose – great bright fruit, nice perfume. Best nose so far. Palate doesn’t live up – kind of flat and unimpressive. Judging nose by itself this wine should get Drinakability of 8, but as a whole, I can only give it a 6.
The next flight included a vertical of 4 wines from Flat Creek Estate Winery. As all of those wines were made out of grapes which didn’t grow in Texas (but the wine, of course, was made in Texas), they don’t carry Texas designation on the label. I have to admit that somehow I missed to take a picture of this flight, so just to give you an idea, I had to borrow the picture from the Flat Creek Estate’s web site.
- 2008 Flat Creek Estate Winery Viognier. Nose was practically non-existent (I couldn’t pickup any aroma), sweet on the palate. It is drinkable, but not great. Drinkability: 7
- 2009 Flat Creek Estate Winery Viognier. Nice nose, more of a typical viognier. Palate is touch out of balance (a bit sharp), but very drinkable. Drinkability: 7
- 2010 Flat Creek Estate Winery Viognier. Beautiful bright nose, touch of the pear preserve, fresh brewed tea on the nose. Needs a bit more acid on the palate. Drinkability: 7-
- 2011 Flat Creek Estate Winery Viognier. Perfect nose. Bright, clean, nice white fruit. Outstanding, perfect acidity, ripe fruit, perfect balance. Lodi fruit. To this point, this was my favorite! Drinkability: 8.
As we went to the all-Texas flight, Tim gave a great explanation to the room about different types of yeast and their ability to bring different qualities to the wine (more glycerin versus more esters etc.). And this is all in the hands of the winemaker. Yep, winemaking is Art…
And now, to the all Texas flight (look at my notes – they all show a progression of tasting as the wines were opening in the glass):
- 2011 Lone Oak Winery Viognier, Texas. Smell is similar to detergent. Not balanced. Not good. then it opened up on the nose, but with a note of brine. Pretty balanced now. Drinkability: 7+
- 2010 Brennan Vineyards Viognier, Texas. Some sweetness on the nose. Same sweetness on the palate – but not balanced. Needs more acidity. Leaves burning feeling. Improved after a breathing time!!! Much better! Drinkability: 7
- 2011 Becker Vineyards, Viognier, Texas. Nice nose, some gooseberry, little complexity. Finish is short. Drinkable, but not exciting. Drinkability: 6+
- 2010 McPherson Cellars Viognier, Texas. Interesting complexity on the nose. Sweet with some green notes. Beautiful palate, good round wine. Drinkability: 7+
And now (drum roll, please) let me present to you my best of tasting wine:
2012 Flat Creek Estate Winery Viognier, Texas. Barrel sample. Beautiful nose, light fruit, white fruit. 100% Texas fruit (brownfield). Very nice, good overall, some zest – really pleasant! Drinkability: 8+
The fact that grapes were picked 6 weeks ago, and that Tim had blended wine in the morning of the day of the tasting, is just makes it an incredible experience all together.
There you have it, folks – Texas makes great wines, so if you can get them – you should! And if your travel will take you down to Texas – make sure the wineries are part of your trip. You can tell them I sent you. Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Ingredients, F&W Winemaker of the Year and more
An extensive French wine inventory to explore.It’s Meritage Time!
Today’s Meritage issue is somewhat unusual – it doesn’t contain the main element, the answer for the wine quiz. The reason is very simple – nobody even tried to answer that quiz. Come on, my wine loving friends, at least you can give it a try! To remind you, in the Wine Quiz #32 you were supposed to match 6 red wine grapes (out of 7) with 6 wine reviews. Please try it again – hopefully there are some brave wine lovers out there.
As far as interesting wine reading is concerned, I came across a few articles I wanted to bring to your attention.
First, there was an interesting article by New York Times’ wine and food critic Eric Azimov about Bonny Doon winemaker Randall Grahm, who started putting wine ingredients on the back label of his wines. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I care to know if he added tartaric acid or oak chips to his wines – I mostly care about the taste of the wine, and I trust that winemaker did his or her best to create a good wine. But – that’s me – and I would be interested in your opinion.
Next is an article in Food and Wine magazine about best winemakers of the year 2012 – I personally never heard of them before nor tried their wines – but thanks to the article, I now will be on a lookout for them.
And now a couple of articles on one of my all times favorite subjects – ageability of wines. Not all the wines in general, but mostly the California Cabernets. Both articles are from the Palate Press, an online wine magazine.
First article is written by Evan Dawson, and it is discussing the subject of California cult Cabernet Sauvignon being fit for aging (or not) depending on the source of the fruit (valley floor or mountain) and the ABV level of the wine – with discussion referring to the opinion of Randy Dunn, a winemaker behind eponymous Howell Mountain Cabernet. I don’t think I drunk enough California cult Cabernet to have an opinion one way or the other, but I can tell you that I had 2002 Dunn Cabernet when it was about 9 years of age, and it took that wine 5 days just to start opening up.
The second article is by the W. Blake Gray and it is talking about many wines (again taking California cult Cabernet as an example) are made for instant consumption and not meant to be aged – however, many wine connoisseurs still acquire those wine specifically for aging, and will be disappointed in the long run (and will lose money).
Both articles are excellent and are very interesting to read in my opinion – but let me know what your thoughts are.
That’s all for today, folks. The glass is empty. Happy Wine Wednesday and Cheers!
Following Wines Til Sold Out: October’s Full-On Marathon
121 wines (if my count is correct) during 18 hours, lots of 90+ wines, including 95-99 rated, great names (Joseph Phelps, Dominus, Antinori Solaia, Tattinger and many others) – “wow” is the only descriptor I can use here. Some (quite a few) of the wines lasted only 3 minutes – “you snooze, you lose” was in the full effect.
The event took place on Tuesday, October 2nd. As before, I did my best to collect the data, which is always challenging. Below is the table containing all (hopefully) wines offered during the event.
Guide to ratings: WS – Wine Spectator, WA – Wine Advocate, WE – Wine Enthusiast, W&S – Wine & Spirits, ST – Steven Tanzer, JHN – Jonathan H. Newman, WRO – Wine Review Online, RP – Robert Parker, JS – James Suckling, BH – Bourghound, IWC – International Wine Cellars, CG – Consumer Guide, IWR -International Wine Review, TWN – The Wine News.
Enjoy!
Weekly Wine Quiz #32 – A Guessing Game: Ultimate Challenge, Part 2
And yet another Saturday is here, and, of course, a new quiz. It will be the last one (at least for now) in the Guessing Game series (previous three can be found here: #29, #30, #31). As promised, this one is about red grapes, but we will kick it up a notch – you have 7 grapes to match with 6 reviews – one grape is there just for fun, but in my opinion, it easily could’ve been for real. So here are your grapes:
A. Cabernet Sauvignon
B. Malbec
C. Merlot
D. Nebbiolo
E. Pinot Noir
F. Syrah
G. Zinfandel
And here are the reviews:
1. “complex, yet subtle, with blackberries, minerals and berries. Full-bodied and very velvety, with lovely rich fruit, with chocolate and berry character. Very long and refined. A joy to taste.”
2. “aromas of tar and smoke, with very pure, concentrated blackberry and spice notes underneath mark this exotic, seductive red. Silky and complex, it caresses the palate. It needs a little time to absorb the oak, but this is long and has great potential.”
3. “a seductive red, drawing you in with its pure cherry and floral aromas and flavors, then capturing you with the silky texture and harmonious profile. Stays fresh and elegant, with a long, ethereal finish.”
4. “still tight, with a wall of mocha and raspberry ganache covering the massive core of fig fruit, hoisin sauce and plum cake notes. This is extremely dense but remarkably polished, with a long, tongue-penetrating finish that drips of fruit and spice laid over massive grip.”
5. “delicious stuff; not huge, but impeccably balanced, nuanced and tremendously long and pure. It’s a cascade of currant, blueberry and plum fruit shaded on one side by subtle, toasty oak, on the other by hints of minerality and exotic spice. But it’s the elegance and the length that make this a winner.”
6. “torrent of blackberry, boysenberry and bittersweet ganache notes. But there’s exceptional drive and focus here as well, with a great graphite spine driving through the spice- and floral-infused finish. A stunner for its combination of power and precision.”
For an extra credit, try to figure out the country of origin for the wine in the reviews.
Good Luck! Have a great weekend and drink well! Cheers!
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