Vereinigte Hospitien Schavzhofberger Riesling Spatlese (Germany – Mosel-Saar-Ruwar)

Light golden hue. Floral nose with notes of orange peel and a hint of petrol. There’s also some honeydew and melon so there’s a lot going on here. Leeche taste with the sugar clinging to the tongue for a medium long finish.

A very nice, solid B wine that was given to us as a gift from my sister Cindy and her fiancée Israel. What’s nice about receiving wine as a gift is that you get the opportunity to think about how nice the people who gave it to you are. And I’m not just saying that because they’re family!

2003 Chateau de Clotte (Bordeaux-Cotes de Castillion)

Deep purple and inky color. Dark earthy fruit up front, most notably of currants and blueberry. Just a slight hint of oak. Dry velvety with a lot of grip and a long finish.

A good wine that I’d give a B to and especially affordable in an expensive Bordeaux vintage at $16 from Wine.com.

2005 Qupe - Bien Nacido Cuvee (Santa Maria Valley)

This is from Santa Barbara County's Qupe Vineyards who are known for their Central Coast Rhone Varietals. This is a blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Viognay from a rather well know vineyard in Santa Barbara County called Bien Nacido.

The wine is a vibrant yellow color with nice aromas of citrus, hey, and a floral element. Very pleasant. Citrus on the taste. Some orange. Medium bodied that leads to a lasting finish. The only real knock on this wine is that it’s a bit too acidic and that puts it slightly off balance for me. Slightly too much acidity for its weight.

A decent effort but really a B- wine for my tastes. $20 from T.B. Atkerson Wine in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn.

1995 Chateau Gloria (Bordeaux–St. Julien)

This wine exemplifies what a little age (in this case 12 years) can do for an affordable bottle of Bordeaux.

Deep red color. Nice aroma which is a mix of cedar and tabac, leather, and dark earthy fruit. Black currant becomes more evident on the taste. The tannins have softened with the bottle age (or I’m assuming they have as this is the first time I’ve having this vintage.) The soft texture leads to a nice long finish.

A solid B+ wine that I purchased for $25 from the online WineBid.com auction.

2003 Chateau La Vieille Cure (Bordeaux-Fronsac)

This a young wine but I have four more bottles of this and can’t wait to see how it develops over time.

Dark garnet color. Aromas of blackberry, cassis, lead pencil, cedar, and general dark fruit. Loads of tannins and a velvety texture with a long juicy finish. I generally like Bordeaux wines and thing this is going to be fantastic down the road. I’ll give it about three to five years before opening the next bottle.

$25 from Morrell Wines and brought as a future.

2005 Mollydooker Shiraz – The Boxer (Australia-McLaren Vale)

Living up to its name, this wine will KNOCK YOU OUT! Big… That’s the operative word here.

Inky purple-black color. Lots of different aromas going on. Prunes. Blackberry. Dark cherry (to give it a “lighter” note.) It’s also slightly earthy with faint wood and cedar aspects. A “juicy” wine with gobs of fruit through. Namely prunes. Figs. Spices as well, especially on the finish which is very long. The texture is velvety and creamy in a way. There is also a nice surprise at the end which is a bitter chocolate aftertaste if you wait it out long enough as the finish lasts for almost a minute.

If you are a fan of this style of wine, you’re probably going to like it. After all, Robert Parker did give it a 95 score! However, if this style isn’t for you, it’ll be hard to get past the first impressions it leaves.

I’m on the fence on this wine. For aromatics and general complexity, I think its an A. As for my own style and preference, I don’t think I could drink this too often.

$25 at Zachy’s although the 2006 version of this is coming out now.

2003 Chateau Ste. Michelle – Indian Wells – Cabernet Sauvignon (Washington)

Deep garnet color. Blackberry currant and kirsch. Generally “juicy” with dark fruit and toasted oak underneath. Earth and very thick in texture. Very aromatic as well with nice tannins and good balance. Lingering finish. Very nice for the $17 paid at Liquor City in Syracuse, New York. An A grade wine for the value.

2001 Zilliken – Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett “Forstmeister Geltz” (Germany - Mosel-Saar-Ruwar

Light straw/hay colored. Aromas of lemon and lighter tropical fruits and floral notes. Sweet but not cloyingly so. There’s also a pineapple taste that comes through. Light on the acidity which makes this an ok but not a perfectly balanced wine. Medium short finish.
A good effort and a decent food wine but really a B- . This was $20 at Crush Wine.

2005 Casa Lapostolle Cuvee Alexandre – Apalta Vineyard – Cabernet Sauvignon (Chile)

Another big wine which is also on the “jammy” side. Plum and fig with maybe a whisper of raspberry on the nose. Fig is also apparent on the taste along with some chocolate notes. Dry… and very velvety texture and a long finish. This was $15 from PJ Wines on sale but it typically retails for $20 to $25 dollars. At the sale price, this is a very good value for the money and a B+ wine for my tastes.

2005 Layer Cake Shiraz (South Australia– Barossa Valley)

Big! Dark purple in color. Actually, it’s almost opaque. Notes of kirsch and raspberry but generally… gobs of fruit with some cedar notes underneath. The raspberry really comes out on the palate. Thick texture with a medium long finish. This is a high alcohol (15%), high octane wine that you’ll probably like if you’re a fan of this style. This was a $16 purchase from Garnet but I’ve seen it elsewhere as well. For my tastes… it’s a B grade wine.

2005 Belle Glos Pinot Noir – Clark & Telephone Vineyard (California)

The Belle Glos - Clark & Telephone Vineyard is a Pinot Noir from the Santa Maria Valley in the Central Coast region of Califorina. The wine is cherry red in color. Bright fruit aroma of strawberry and some raspberry but there’s also an earthiness there, exhibited by tabac and smoky notes. Creamy texture and a medium long finish. Good enough for a B grade. Nice but not outstanding.

2004 Coren Pere & Fils Pouilly-Fuissé (France-Burgundy)

One of the things I like to do is check out new wine shops. What usually happens is that I go in, check out the place, look at the prices and compare them in my head to what I think they should be. (I’m usually disappointed.) Then I buy a bottle of something. Sometimes I’m lucky and the shop has a bottle open to sample or a tasting going on.

This is what happened with this wine. The 2004 Coren Pere & Fils Pouilly-Fuissé was being poured by the chateau owner at the Brooklyn Wine Exchange on Vanderbilt Ave.

The wine… Light golden colored. The nose is very floral and an actual florist could probably nail down a specific scent but I certainly can’t. Underneath this are very light and lovely hints of almond and citrus, almost like an almond cake. Smooth texture with a little zip of acidity and an easy finish. Nice wine that I would give a B to. We bought it for $25 and thought it was worth the price.

2000 Cellole Chianti Classico Riserva (Italy-Tuscany)

It’s winter and I’m on a “hearty red Italian wine” kick. The 2000 Cellole is another product of our Honeymoon in Tuscany two and a half years ago. I had first read about the 2001 Cellole in Wine Spectator then and liked what I had read. Wine Spectator game it a 95 score which made it predictably hard to find, saying it had a "phenomenal nose, with complex smoky, tarry, licoricelike red fruit aromas" and that it was "full-bodied, with added tobacco and vanilla coming through on the palate, with silky tannins and a long, minerally finish."

We eventually found the wine in Florence on the wine list at Cibreo, a restaurant known in Florence for its somewhat out there dishes like duck esophagus (which I had and liked) and a strange take on braised beef (which my wife had and didn’t like as much.) The thing we agreed on was the wine. After that dinner, we looked around for a bottle to take home but came up empty with the 2001 vintage but we did score on the 2000 from a fantastic wine shop in Grieve where they have samples, for a fee, of close to 100 wines dispensed from enotec machines as well as samples of Tuscan olive oils.

Luckily, this wine did not have to live up to the lofty expectations and memories associated with the 1998 Poggio Antico Altero but because of the search we went through in Italy trying to find a bottle, there was some nervousness. Would it live up?

Yes, but not because it reminded us of our experience in Florence. It was just a good wine that exhibited characteristics we like.

The wine… Tahirih got it right away when she said “It’s like walking through a thicket!” This wine is earthy. It’s dark red in color with a beautiful earthy aroma, mixing in wind fruit and wood. The fruit is blackberry and fig although there might also be a light note of raspberry there to just give it a little bit of lightness. The wood is oak. There is a nice balance of tannins and acidity. The wine has a nice grip to it that leads to a long finish. A solid A grade and not because of the memories of Italy. This is just a good wine.

1998 Poggio Antico Altero - Brunello di Montalcino (Italy-Tuscany)

What I look for in a birthday wine is a memory. Not the memory of a wine per se, what it tasted like the last time I had it, or anything like that. I look for an emotive memory, something that makes me thinks back to a time when things really felt good.

That’s where the 1998 Poggio Antico Altero fits in. We opened this up on my 37th birthday but the memory comes from Tahirih’s and my honeymoon in October 2004. We were in Tuscany. Specifically in Sinalunga at a resort, Amorosa, just outside of Siena. We tried the wine at the resort’s restaurant on the recommendation of the sommelier after discussing what we liked and didn’t like in Italian wines and mentioning that we’d like to try something from the region. This is what was recommended. The bottle was opened for us and she left us to our first sips, only to rush back and say in her broken English… “If you can, leave this wine for seven minutes.” I think what she meant was “several” but her point was made. Needless to say, we loved the wine, enhanced all the more by the “magic of Tuscany, looking into my new bride’s eyes, and by the fabulous steak in front of us! The next day we actually made the trip into Montalcino and found the Poggio Antico vineyard, buying this bottle and a couple others for transport back home.

Fast forward two and a half years later. My birthday and the biggest question, other than how does it feel to officially be in my “late thirties” is how will the wine live up to its incredible first impression when taken out of the Tuscan countryside and transported to a Brooklyn dining room. Is it even fair to ask any wine to live up to that?

Well, the answer is that good wines can and do live up to the challenge when expectations are set high by a previous experience. This was one of those wines.

The wine…. Dark, deep red in color. Almost black. First impressions are chewy and smoky. Its important to note here that Poggio Antico has two basic bottlings of their Brunellos and Riservas. One is just labeled as Poggio Antico. The other, Altero, is aged more in oak, approximately a year extra. I’ve had both and this chewy and smoke characteristic is enhanced by the extra wood the wine sees. It’s earthy with lots of fruit as well. Namely blackberry and black cherry. But there’s also notes of violets and chocolate with maybe just a hint of black licorice. There’s a lot going on here. The word makes itself know again with cedar. Long finish that leaves a lasting impression.

This wine deserves an A in my book for delivering a fine wine experience and more importantly, for bringing back the memories.

2003 Jean Claude Bachelet – Chassagne Montrachet ‘Encegnieres’ 2005 (Burgundy)

This was a “special wine” we bought to go along with Tahirih’s and my Valentine’s Day dinner at Le Gigot, a very nice French Bistro on Cornelia St. in Greenwich Village. The wine cost $95 a bottle so it was definitely a splurge. It was a hard wine to track down on the internet and I couldn’t find the ’03 anywhere. However, it appears the ’04 can be found for around $40 to $50.

The wine itself is golden hued with a lovely and unusual burnt sugar and vanilia nose. There are also caramel, light butter, and a flinty or minerally aspect to the aroma. The texture is smooth and lush with a light buttery texture. This all leads to a wonderful, medium long finish.

This wine also really evolved in the glass as time went on. After about 45 minutes, the burnt sugar more upfront minerality which introduced a light scent of lemon. However, towards the end of the bottle, about an hour and a half later, the caramel and burnt sugar came back in a big way, reminiscent of crème brulle.

It’s not often I have wines like this and due to my own personal tastes, am rarely moved by a white wine. However, this was on the verge of transporting. I can only imagine that hard-core fans of White Burgundy would find this a good solid wine and have had better. But… I don’t have that base of knowledge and truly found this wine on the verge of transporting. A+

2005 Glenora Riesling

Straw colored with floral and citrus notes. After a little bit if time (i.e. as it gets warmer in the glass), notes of lemon emerge but the orange is still dominant. It might also be giving this wine a little too much credit to say that I noted, albeit buried deep underneath the citrus, faint notes of petrol. The taste is a little on the sweet side but there’s just enough acidity for a nice balance. The finish is on the short side but there. All in all, not a bad wine but it doesn’t bowl me over. I’d give it a B grade.

This comes from my stash of Finger Lake wines that I stock up on once or twice a year. This was bought for $12 at GPC Wine & Liquor in Elmira Heights, NY.

2000 La Magia Rosso di Montalcino and 2004 Vitiano (pre-b-day wines)

So… Today is my b-day and to gear up, Tahirih and I have planned an “extravagant” wild boar dinner. (I really should let up on Tahirih as far as asking her to come up with fantastic dinner to match our “special occasion” wines but… she’s up to it!). We followed a recipe from Vino Italiano, an Italian wine guide written by David Lynch (not that David Lynch) and Joe Bastianich. The recipe comes from Lydia Bastianich, cookbook author, tv star, and chef of Felidia on the Upper East side. What do you pair with wild boar? Well, they suggest a hearty Brunello and we’re planning on opening the 1998 Poggio Antico Altero.

However, we’ve been cooking all day and had to have a little something before hand. What we choose were the 2000 Rosse di Montalcine from La Magia and the 2004 Vitiano from Falesco. The later is also the wine we used to braise the boar.

The 2000 La Magia Rosso di Montalcino is not from a fantastic year but not a bad one either. However, I was actually surprised to see a 2000 Rosso in a wine store as the 2004’s are currently showing up on shelves. Rosso di Montalcino’s are the 2nd wines of the Brunello estates and are made up of grapes from younger vines and grapes not deemed of high enough quality to make it into the main bottlings. However, these wines are often a good indicator and preview of the vintage.

The 2000 La Magia we opened is brick red in color with noticeable tar and a smoky, earthy nose. Dark berry… blackberry lies just underneath. There are also some spices evident. Somewhat out of balance with high alcohol (14%). That leads to a medium finish. Not a bad wine but falls short, even if its not supposed to live up to it’s bigger brother’s Brunello’s standards. I’d give this wine a B-. It was purchased at Warehouse Wine & Spirits for $16.

The 2004 Vitiano from Falesco is typically one of my “go to” wines, always offering quality at a low price point. The Vitiano is a blend of mix of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot which is aged for a short time in oak. The wine itself has a deep purple color with an earthy, cedary nose. Bark fruit underneath… again blackberry, prunes, and spice. The wine is very nocely balanced with good “grip”, leading to a medium long finish. Very very nice and a great value. This is a solid B+ for me. This was $10, also at Warehouse Wine & Spirits.

Both wines were a nice start to the day but I’m really looking forward to the Poggio Antico. Stay tuned.

2004 J. Vidal Fleury (Cotes du Rhone)

Sometimes you get what you pay for. At $6.99 a bottle from the hot or miss Warehouse Wine & Spirits, that’s what I learned with the 2004 J. Vidal Fleury Côtes du Rhône.

Purple hued color with funky earthy aromas of underbrush and just a slight hint of red fruit. You can also detect the alcohol on this much as you might a new world Zin. Don't get me wrong though. That's only the alcohol I'm talking about - not the taste of the wine. The texture is a bit rough and the finish lingers but not in an entirely pleasant way.

I've had worse wines than this certainly but rather than being unremarkable, this possesses some characteristics that I don't like. Mostly the texture.

It is against my recommendation to buy this, even at $7 a bottle. I give it a D+ in my book.

What did I pick it up… I’ve been coming to the realization that I like Rhone wines and I’ve been hoping to find a nice everyday one for less that $10 a bottle. I was hoping this would be a contender. I was wrong. Lesson learned.

1990 Chateau Lagrange (Bordeaux-St. Julien)

Deep garnet color. Notes of cedar, tobacco leaf and still strong fruit. Black currant. Blackberry. Hints of a red fruit mix as well but layered in the background behind the currant and blackberry. The texture of this wine is wonderful. It has a very soft and velvety feel. Very fine tannins and a super long finish. An outstanding wine what deserves an A+.

Read the full story of my wine experience with this bottle of 1990 Chateau Lagrange here.

1990 Lagrange with Mac & Cheese

First the tasting note for the wonderful 1990 Chateau Lagrange….

Deep garnet color. Notes of cedar, tobacco leaf and still strong fruit. Black currant. Blackberry. Hints of a red fruit mix as well but layered in the background behind the currant and blackberry. The texture of this wine is wonderful. It has a very soft and velvety feel. Very fine tannins and a super long finish. An outstanding wine what deserves an A+.

Now the story… I picked up three bottles on the internet auction site WineBid.com for what I think was approximately $75 each. Note bad for a wine that’s been retailing lately for $100+. I bought it during the summer of 2005 after actually having it at a dinner at Chateau Lagrange on our trip to Bordeaux in May 2005. That’s a whole other story.

This was obviously a special occasion wine for me given the price I paid. However, we ended up having it with some of my sister-in-law’s Mac & Cheese that she made for us just before we moved in October. I had been storing the three bottles in my winefridge in the closet and when pulling the wines out as we packed for our move, I notices that the cork on this wine had been pushed into the wine and there was significant seepage as a result. In addition, there was actually ice around the capsule that had eroded the tin. I had never seen anything like it before.

So, I set the wine out and chipped away the ice. I then took candle wax and tried to “reseal” the wine. When this didn’t work, I knew I had to open the wine and hope for the best. We had packed our kitchen at this point but thankfully Jasmine, my aforementioned sister-in-law, was making mac and cheese for us that night. We took the wine down to her apartment and enjoyed what ended up being a wonderful combination. Impressively, Jasmine’s homemade mac and cheese stood up to the 1990 Lagrange better than I would have ever thought.

Don’t get me wrong though. My next bottle is going to opened alongside a rack of lamb.

2004 Les Arums de Lagrange (Bordeaux-St. Julien)

This is the white wine from Chateau Lagrange in the St. Julien appellation of Bordeaux and I think this wonderful!

Golden hued with a very nice aroma of light oak and vanilla along with floral notes. The aromas blend so well together that you could sit and sniff this one for hours. There is a certain weight to the texture to this wine. There is a light caramel and honey taste which lends itself to a medium length finish.

I’m not sure I expressed all the characteristics of the Les Arums de Lagrange but the bottom line is that this is a fantastic wine. It’s not a necessarily easy wine to fine but Sherry Lehmann sells it for $17. What I think is amazing about that is this drinks more like a $30+ wine. Great QPR and really a must buy in my book for my tastes.

2000 Pavillon des Connetables (Bordeaux-St. Julien)

This is the 3rd wine of Leoville Poyferre in Bordeaux’s St. Julien appellation. Purchased for $22 at Warehouse Wine & Spirits in Greenwich Village. It was a curiosity buy as Leoville Poyferre is a favorite of mine and I didn’t even know this was one of their wines until I saw it in the store.

Garnet colored with blueberry, cedar and spice notes. Somewhat “bright” fruit my taste in Bordeaux but it has body to it. Enough tannins for a medium length finish.

A pleasant wine which is really all you can ask from a 3rd wine but it wasn’t worth the money I ended up paying for it. However, that seems to be the game in Bordeaux with the classified growth. Leoville Poyferre is a 2nd growth chateau.

2005 Gaujal de Saint Bon – Cuvee de Dames (Coteaux du Langedoc)

Straw yellow in color with a very nice light orange, maybe evern tangerine citrus nose. There’s also a floral and a grassy element to the wine. Overall, a beautiful aroma.

Light honeyed texture with just enough acidity to give it a perfect balance. Medium length finish.

I love this wine and it’s a solid A in my book. It gets extra points for being a great price-per-quality wine too at $11 a bottle from The Fermented Grape in Park Slope, Brooklyn on Vanderbuilt Ave.

New Wines to Start Off February

Not much of an intro to this post other than an offer to check out three wines I've tasted recently including two whites who make a run at claiming the title of "Favorite white Wine Of the Year" for me. Yes, it is only February and white wine season (i.e. Summer) is still months away. I know this. However, do yourselves a favor and check out the 2004 Les Arums de Lagrange and the 2005 Gaujal de Saint Bon - Cuvee de Dames. The later at $11 is also in the running for the "Price per Quality" title as well. To round out these three wine, Isatiatedd my curiosity by trying the 3rd wine of a Bordeaux favorite of mine, Leoville Poyferre. It was the 2000 Pavillon des Connetables. Enjoy.

Adventures in Wine and Food Pairing

I like to think I know a little something about wine but where I fall flat on my face is when left to my own devices for pairing wine and food. I know the basic rules of thumb like (1) White with Fish and Red with Meat and (2) its ok to break rule number one.

I tend to follow the 2nd rule and just order a wine I think I’d like and hope for the best. Following this line of thinking works about half the time.

A perfect case in point is a recent experience at one of my local restaurants called Farm on Adderley in Ditmas Park – Brooklyn. The restaurant itself has tasty food and I’ve yet to be disappointed in any of the several times I’ve eaten there. However, I have yet to be blown away either.

My wife and I decided to sit at the bar last Thursday and after perusing the menu, I ordered a seafood ragu in a red sauce while Tahirih ordered a lamb and pasta dish. Bother were specials.

For the wines, I ordered a NV Pinot Noir from Touraine in the Loire Valley region of France. It was $10 a glass or $38 a bottle, not exactly a bargain, especially for a non-vintage wine but I was curious.

It was cherry red in color with a raspberry nose. Actually more like candied raspberry. It was on the taste as well along with maraschino cherries. All fruit, syrupy texture, and a short finish. My point here…. I can’t recommend this wine and I was extremely disappointed at $10 a glass. Worse yet, what should have been a decent Pinot and red-seafood dish pairing was one of the worst combos I’ve ever had.

That was the miss. My wife on the other hand picked a winner with a 2001 Rioja-Crianza from Bodegas Saenz de Santamaria in Spain. This was $9 a glass and $28 a bottle. Brick red in color with bright red fruit. Spicy nose mixed in with a little oak. Smooth texture and a medium finish. My only knock is that it was a tab out of balance between the bright fruit and the acidity. It’s a great food friendly wine and at $28, a very good restaurant price. I’d give this a solid B score versus a D- for the Pinot.

That’s my latest adventure in food and wine paring but I got Andrea Immer’s “Everyday Dining with Wine” and will be studying up for my next restaurant trip.