This is made from Garnacha Blanco. Light golden in color. The nose has minerals, steel and lemons. On the palate this is crisp-ish. Mostly minerals. Slight fruit. Good with food. Inexpensive.
Sadly, this wine was just about DOA. The cork was good. The wine was pale ruby and watery looking. The wine was oxidized. Oh well, I had hoped for better but that was a lot to ask.
Gigondas is often thought of as a "poor man's" Chateauneuf du Pape and for a lot of reasons that is true. But, the best Gigondas producers are certainly on a par with many of the better Chateauneufs and Saint-Cosme is certainly one of the best Gigondas producers. At 12 years from vintage, this seems to be at about peak. 2006 was a very good if not remarkable vintage. Being caught between the classic 2005 and the ostentatious 2007, it got a bit over looked. Purple/ruby in color. The nose has cherries, spice, minerals, slight tobacco/dried leaves and dried cherries. On the palate, this
Back in November of 2007 I was putting together a wine tasting of wines from Andalusia. It was the final region of Spain from a series of Spain; the Food and the Wines - Region by region. It was almost impossible to find any table wines from this region (famous for Sherry and fortified wines). I posted on the old Robert Parker web site's Mark Squire discussion Board looking for help. In response, Nola Palomar said that she would be delighted to come and serve their wines. I explained that first, we lived in Cleveland, Ohio and second, it was only ten or twelve of us. Nola responded th
This is made from a vineyard planted originally in 1880. 96.8% Zinfandel and 3.2% Mixed Blacks 9field blend). It comes in at 14.5% Alc. Purple/ruby in color. The nose is interesting. Lanolin, and muted on opening. With air, black raspberry fruit develops along with some dried floral notes. Finally, black cherries and bramble emerge. On the palate, there are medium tannins. It presents a more feminine side to Zinfandel, at least on opening. Red berries with slight earthiness. With some air, it gets a bit wilder with some black cherries and more earthiness and spice coming out. Sm
This is 100% Zinfandel from a vineyard first planted in 1893! The vineyard is above the fog line and planted on volcanic and red clay soils. 15% Alcohol but not noticeable. Beautiful color; a sort of magenta and ruby, clear and bright. The nose is great. Earthy and deep with black raspberries, black cherries, a bit of cinnamon and spice. On the palate this is sweet black cherry fruit. Some might call this jammy, but to me that implies a lack of precision which this wine has. Earth and deep. It has a complexity that is intriguing even at this young age. Certainly the most complex o
This is 75% Zinfandel and 25% Mixed Blacks (a vineyard blend of dark red grapes). This is a different take on Zinfandel from a cooler climate vineyard. The wine was still able to get to 14.9% Alc due to a long growing season. Purple/ruby in color. The nose has sour cherries. There is also a black olive note which is very nice and likely from Rhone varietals as part of the mixed black make up. In addition, there is a classic bramble and black pepper note. Slight tannins on the wine. This is a more elegant side of Zinfandel. Black cherry fruit. Some depth but a lot of intensity that
Wow. It has been a while since I have tried any of the single vineyard wines from Ravenswood. This is great! Really glad to revisit these. Made in Dry Creek Valley on gravelly clay loam soils. 15.1% Alc but no hint of it. Ruby/purple in color. Clear and bright. The nose is earthy and dusty with black cherries and a bit of pepper. With air, an underlying char shows thru. On the palate, this is soft and smooth. It starts easy which is nice before picking up weight. Sour black cherries and some blueberries. The mid-palate has some black licorice too. Plenty of depth here. Medium
Vouvrays are made from the Chenin Blanc grape. Light gold in color. The nose is lovely with apricot, some orange peel, minerals and salinity. The palate is sweet. Not full on dessert wine, but sweet. Flavors of lemon hard candy; that sort of sweet/sour combination on the attack. The mid-palate has more oranges. Finishing back at the lemon hard candy. Long finish. This has good acidity and is food friendly. It also is full bodied and deep and works well on its own especially early on a nice summer evening outside. It is delicious. No doubt this could last for twenty years or more
This is 100% Nero D'Avola from Sicily. $45 on the restaurant list, it seems to retail for around $30. Fairly priced. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. There is a lot of barnyard on the nose. Fair warning, I loved it but this may be off putting to some. Seems to be brettanomyces which also leads to a bit of a yeasty note. Our bottle was served at restaurant room temp so that probably encouraged a blooming of yeast. Cooler stored bottles may be less pronounced. Also a bit of cherries, tobacco and licorice. On the palate, cherries, black cherries and slight forest floor. There is a
