2000 Beni di Batasiolo Barbaresco - Piedmont, Italy

Cherry red and just bordering on brick red so now is the time to drink this up if you have them. Secondary notes of leather and spice start with darker fruits in the background. The blackberry and currant is fading but they still come through as pleasant secondary notes. A fine texture and a slightly tart finish. Even with that at the end, it’s still a good wine. Although definitely nearing the end of its drinking window.

A New Wine Tasting Group: The Wines... Veneto-Italy

I’m part of a new wine tasting group. It’s currently made up of a few current and past work colleagues.

The past time out we tasted wines from the Veneto region of Italy to great effect. The line-up was made up of a Pinot Grigio, a Soave, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and two Amarone. It was an eclectic line-up that, other than the Amarone, show-cased wines and grapes that many wine drinkers don’t normally think of in the Veneto.

Tre Fili – 2008 Pinot Grigio ITG

This wine was best characterized as simple and straight forward. Lime green color with a very distinct lime aroma. The taste was made up of green apple and lime which rose just above a layer of minerality. The acidity was “stretched out” making this a very good food wine along with being a nice summer “quaffer.”

I Campi-Camp Vulcano – 2007 Soave Classico

This was pale yellow in color with light floral aroma and a tiny hint of peach. Lemon was forefront on the taste and this also exhibited a steely minerality. Medium bodied with a soft texture, leading to a refreshing long finish.

Le Ragose-Gaida – 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon

Deep garnet colored with a smoky aroma. Dark cherry fruit at first but this turned into more of a stewed fruit with noticeably darker characteristics like blueberry, green peppers, and spices as it saw some air. Soft texture with nice acidity and a medium finish.

Alberino – 2005 Amarone

Amarone is made by the rasinate method where the grapes are allowed to dry and shrivel on straw mats before the remaining concentrated juice is extracted. This process was evident in the deep ruby colored with a raisin and prune aroma as they are characteristics of highly concentrated wine. There are notes of blackberry, chocolate, raisins, and basically dark burnt fruit. This is almost port like which can happen with the way the wine is made. Jammy is the best way to describe this wine.

Guerrieri Rizzardo-Villa Rizzardi – 2001 Amarone

This was the undisputed wine of the night. Black in color with beautiful aromas of cocoa powder, black current, chocolate and dried dark fruit. This was incredibly refined and not as concentrated or overly extracted as the Alberino. Plum also emerged on the taste. This was a very full bodied wine with high acidity, a super long finish and tannins that melted on the tongue. The alcohol clocked in at 15.5% but it was barely noticeable as this was a very balanced wine.

2001 Viticcio Chianti Classico Riserva

This is a revisit of one of my favorite Chianti Classicos and it did not disappoint at all!

Rich red color with oak and earthy notes up front with the very well integrated dark berry and lighter cherry notes lurking just behind. Minerally and smooth with fine tannins and a long finish.

Lovely….. A!

2006 Querciabella Mongrana - Maremma, Tuscany

Back in April I wrote about the 2005 Mongrana from Querciabella, a new wine made in Tuscanny’s Maremma region by these venerable Chianti producers. The 2005 was their first vintage and they have since released their 2006.

This edition is garnet colored with dark berry and oak aromas with an earthy underbrush character as well. Fruits come across as dark cherry, blackberry and possibly blueberry.

There’s actually quite a bit going on aromatically with this wine.

It’s a bit astringent and very dry on the taste and texture but it has a lush feel and a long finish.

This is a good wine and is still at an affordable price.

This particular bottle was $15 at Garnet on the Upper East Side although they may be out of stock at the moment.

Personally I think this is a good wine and I’m pleased that Querciabella has produced another solid QPR wine in its second vintage.

2000 Poggio Antico Altero – Brunello di Montalcino – Tuscany

This is reddish brown in color. The nose is cedar infused with blueberry and tabac with hints of leather. All lend the wine a “smoky” character.

Soft, elegant with sweet tannins and a long finish.

Excellent wine which was picked up for $40 a bottle off of Wines Til Sold Out.

Not a bad price for a Brunello nowadays.

2005 Querciabella Mongrana - Maremma, Tuscany

The 2005 Mongrana from Querciabella was a real find for me. I’ve been a big fan of their Chianti Classico since 2004 when I had my first bottle and it hasn’t disappointment in any vintage I’ve had.

Last week I was in a relatively non-descript wine-shop in Brooklyn and spotted the 2005 Mongrana for the first time for about $13 a bottle. I hadn’t seen it before but recognized the label as coming from Querciabella. I picked up a bottle and went home to do some research, discovering that this was the first vintage from Querciabella’s venture into the Maremma region of Tuscany which is know for being the home of some of the more famous Super-Tuscans such as Sassicia. True to the region, this is a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot. Also true to these “Super-Tuscan” blends, it is labeled as a Toscana-IGT which is essentially table wine.

The wine itself is medium cherry in color with oak, dark fruit, blueberry, earthy but also with some subtle floral notes. Balanced with a nice soft texture, medium bodied, with a nice medium long finish. The dark fruit also lingers on the tongue.

This is nice work from a producer I traditionally like. As far as everyday drinking wines in this price range, this is excellent and has a fantastic price-per-quality ratio.

Tasting Note: 2005 Greppicante – Bolgheri – Tuscany – Italy

Greppicante is a new wine venture in the Bolgheri region of Tuscany, Italy which is part owned by the Landini family of Fattoria Viticcio, makers of one of my favorite Chianti Classico wines.

Bolgheri is from the northern portion of Tuscany and the wine is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. This classic Bordeaux-type blend is more common in Bolgheri than it is in other regions of Tuscany.

The wine is rich ruby red in color with aromas of dark earthy fruits mixed in with leather and hints of oak. The fruits might be boysenberry or black currants but to be honest, I can’t really remember the last time I had boysenberries! There might also be a hint of tar. The bottom line is that there is a lot going on with this wine’s aromatics and others might be able to pick out different scents than me. The texture is tannic and slightly sharp but with a nice long finish. It could use a couple years bottle age but its enjoyable now and decanting definitely helps smooth it out. Excellent – A.

This wine was recently part of a weekend blowout sale at Zachys for $14 at which point I picked up a couple bottles. They are currently selling it for $22 which I still think is a decent value for a wine like this.

Wine Blogging Wednesday Tasting Note – 2006 Cantina Nalles - Schiava – Italy - Alto Adige

Light.
Earthy but bright.
Shift Finish.
Essence…

My tasting note for the 2006 Cantina Nalles - Schiava, the main red grape of the Alto Adige region of Northern Italy. If the tasting note above is compelling, you can find a bottle at Astor Wine & Spirits for $12.

Mold in the Cellar…

… or at least on the boxes that contain some of my wine. I’m count myself incredible fortunate and blessed not only to have a wonderful wife who is very understanding and willing to put up with my wine habit but we also to have an actual cellar to keep it in. We have an unfinished basement in our house in Brooklyn which would seem ideal for wine storage and it almost is. But there are a couple of flaws.

* It can get a bit dry, especially in the winter with humidity hovering between 20% and 30% when the ideal for wine is 60% to 70%. This is partly due to the mechanics of the house which include the forced air unit to heat the house and the hot water heater. They are not near the wine but they do suck some moisture out of the air. Humidity during the summer is much better.

* The second flaw is the temperature range, moving from the 50s in the wintertime to the 80s in the summer time. However, it is a slow climb and it only hits the 80s when it’s 100+ outside.

There is also what might be considered a third “flaw” but it really is only a function of my stupidity. With an unfinished basement, there is little moisture protection on the floor. Hence, when flat objects are placed down directly on the porous cement, moisture gets trapped underneath and depending on the material (think cardboard or wood wine boxes here), mold can form.

You see where I’m going with this. (I must have missed that bio class in 7th grade when we talked about how mold forms.)

Once I figured this was happening, I pulled the three boxes that were on the bottom and checked out the damage. Two of the three boxes had mold on the bottom but none had made it to the bottles themselves. I threw out the boxes, placed the wine in new boxes and lifted them about 4 inches off the ground with bricks. I also did this with the third box but the mold had found its way onto some of the bottles.

I panicked because the wines affected were some of my favorites, namely Italian Brunello di Montalcinos. I wiped off the bottles and placed them in a new box, getting most of the visible mold off. But the bottles smelled and I was worried that the mold might have somehow made its way to the wine through the cork.

I opened one to find out. It was a 2001 Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino. I opened it and immediately poured the wine into a decanter to get it away from the affected bottle. I took the wine into the dinning room, set it down, and asked my wife to smell it. She detected nothing. All I could smell was the mold. Perplexing until I realized that I hadn’t washed my hands!!! After taking care of that, I went back to the wine and found no mold smell but the wine did seem somewhat closed. I started wondering if the mold had somehow muted the flavors of wine. I was at this point getting just a little worried. We had dinner, talked about other things, and then we went back to the wine. It had really opened up and smelled wonderful and ended up being a great bottle of Brunello! The mold had not won! The wine held up!!!

I’m still left with the unanswered question of whether the wines would have been affected if they had been left longer. Anyone?

I later checked tasting notes for the 2001 Caparzo Brunello online and read that it does indeed take some time to open up. As far as I could tell, the wine was unaffected and I don’t think I need to worry unduly about the other bottles.

So I sat back and enjoyed the bottle.

TN – One thing that stood out was that it went from being somewhat steely and minerally at first to soft and lush a couple hours later. Dark red in color. Somewhat leathery with dark fruit but also a touch of cherry to give it a little bit of brightness. Not too much but just enough. Bone dry texture with abundant tannins with a super long finish. Very well put together but it could stand at least a couple more years of age to soften up a bit more. Excellent overall. A-

Tasting Note: 2004 Viticcio Chianti Classico Riserva

I’m a fan of the Italian winery Viticcio, a fantastic producer situated in Greve, the region of Tuscany which produces mainly Chianti. I first found them with the 2001 vintage of their Riserva.

This is the 2004 Chianti Classico Riserva. It’s nearly black in color and filled with dark berry, tobacco, possibly leather, and is somewhat herbaceous. Overall, it has a lovely earthy aroma in my opinion. The texture is still a bit tannic right now. But it really coats the mouth and with a little bit of time in the bottle, it should turn lush and velvety. Long finish. This wine is only going to get better.

I got this on sale from Zachys for $23 and Garnet has the 2003 vintage for $22.

Like I mentioned, I’m a big fan of this wine. I think the Riserva is a fantastic wine for a fair price but their entry level Chianti Classico for anywhere from $10 to $15 is also one to check out.

Tasting Note: 2005 Querciabella Chianti Classico

I’ve had several vintages of this wine going back to 1998 or 1999 and this might be the best of all of them. I also tasted this and commented in September of this year.

Brick red color with a somewhat earthy and dark fruit aroma. Although it’s a mix of dark fruit, I think it’s the blackberry that comes out on top. There is also a gentle hint of spice surrounded by a cedar frame or structure. Mineral texture but also soft. Medium bodied with a long smooth finish. This wine has excellent balance and is a fantastic value for the $22 I spent on it at Garnet Wine. B+

2005 Poggio ai Ginepri - Bolgheri, Tuscany or my "baby Sassicaia" as I call it.

Before reading this wine note, keep in mind that the recommended date range to start drinking the 2005 Poggio ai Ginepri is 2010. I say this because when I first opened it with my friend Lisa to see what the wine was like, we both agreed it was good but somewhat “tight.” However, I put the cork back into the unfinished bottle and went back to it four days later and it was much more open and completely accessible and just plain good.

The wine itself, a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 25% Syrah was red brick in color with a very earthy (peat moss in particular) and herbal aroma. The earthiness lost some of its force after being open for a while but the herbal qualities remained. Also present were leather and light hints of smoke, both of which here enhanced with time. Medium bodies with a medium long finish. Shorter when first opened but much longer later. The texture was also very refined in a way. Somewhat “steely” but with fine tannins that suggest the quality down the road with some bottle age.

I call this wine a “baby Sassicaia” but only in my own home. It really has very little to do with the real Sassicaia other than coming from the Bolgheri region of Tuscany with the Poggio ai Ginepri being just south of Sassicaia. Also, I can afford the $18 for this bottle from Sherry Lehmann but not the $200 for the real thing.

Excellent solid B wine with room to improve.

2003 Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva

Sometimes I get swayed by the pretty pictures on the bottles. Such was the case with the 2003 Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva. Not so much that it’s a pretty label but the picture of the castle reminded me of my trip to Tuscany and the Chianti region.

A good Chianti will also take me back to the place in my memory as well. This wine worked just fine for that. It’s ruby colored and medium bodied with strong cedar and price notes mixed in with red fruit. (I need to brush up on my red fruits to figure out exactly what was there.) Nice medium long finish and good balance between the tannins and acidity.

I liked it and thought it was a solid B. With the rising prices of European wines because of the weak dollar, I also thought the price was relatively speaking, ok. It was $17 from Garnet Wines on the Upper East Side.

2001 Falasco Amarone on a Tuesday Night

Sometimes you just want to open a good wine on a Tuesday night. Such was the case yesterday with the 2001 Falasco Cantina Valpantena, an Amarone from the Vento region of Italy.

In short is was a fantastic wine and exactly what I was looking for. Deep garnet color with strong nose of wood which I thought was more cedar and vanilla but also dark cherry and licorice. Full bodied with a long meaty finish.

A great way to end an otherwise bland day…

Wine From My Scrapbook...

From my scapebook...

2006 Inman Family – Rose of Pinot Noir
Rose pink in color. Bright with a berry bouquet. Strawberry or raspberry in the berry. Because of the Pinot Noir grape, I think it has more body than most roses. Balance between sugar and acidity is nice. Healthy bosy for a rose. Very nice. (Solid B)

2005 Querciabella Chianti Classico
Dark rudy red color with aromas of red cherry, cedar, and tabac. All very well integrated. Bright and smooth in texture. Light, resfreshing zip of acidity. Medioum long finish. Very nice. (B)

2003 Viticcio Chianti Classico Riserva Lucius (Italy-Tuscany)

The 2003 Lucius is a Chianti Classico from Viticcio, makers of what is one of my favorite Chianti’s, their Riserva.

The difference between the two… This one is sees more in oak. That is the basic difference. Does that make it a better wine for me? Well, it’s different and a nice departure from what I’m used to.

The wine is dark red in color. The oak really comes through on the palate with an oak/cedar aromatic blend but there is also noticeable “big” fruit underneath. Blueberry is predominant but lighter notes of cherry, plum, & prune lay underneath. Maybe the prune notes are possible result of the unusually hot 2003 growing season? Lots of grip on the long finish with a a strong berry taste. But… its just slightly tart. Really the only flaw in an otherwise solid wine that rates a B in my book.

This was part of a Viticcio sale at Zachy’s a few months ago for $25. I have one more bottle that I’ll let sit for another couple years to see what happens.

My Sister’s Wedding Wines

Back in June, I was tasked by my sister Cindy to help pick out the wines that will be served at her wedding in October. At the time I was thinking there would be PLENTY of time and that it might actually only take a weekend to put something together. However, not only do these things take longer than you think, it is for my sister and her fiancée and of course, I wanted things to be perfect. And of course, there is a budget.

(1) Wanting the wines to be “perfect” and (2) wanting to find them for under $10 a bottle equals creative shopping. Below is what we came up with.

The Reds…
2004 Falesco Vitiano – Umbria - $7 on sale from Zachy’s
2004 Cap de Faugeres – Bordeaux - $12 on sale from Zachy’s
2006 Julienas Flower Label: Georges Duboeuf – Beaujolais - $5.50 on sale from Zachy’s “The Flood Sale”

The Whites…
2005 Domaine Gaujal - Cuvee Dames Coteaux du Languedoc - $7 from Garnet
2005 Domaine de Pouy – Gasgone - $7 from Garnet
2005 “Rabbit Riesling” - $10 from Northside Wine in Ithaca

This last wine, the “Rabbit Riesling” is not its real name and was not chosen by me. I have had it and think its good and a good value. However, this is Cindy’s choice and she picked up the case of this. I think its German.

However, the others are all solid wines and I believe them to be better than most selections you’d get from a caterer. Especially the Cuvee Dames from Languedoc and the Julienas.

This later wine is interesting. It’s from the Gamey grape and is grown in Burgundy. It’s also an excellent wine but more on that in a minute. What’s interesting here is the price at $5.50 a bottle. In the spring, there were rains. At times they were heavy enough in the New York City area to cause flooding and this is what happened to one of the Zachys warehouses in Westchester. While not heavy flooding, it was enough to damage labels for the cases on the bottom of the pallets. For these wines, which they all claim to be undamaged except for the labels, they cut prices in half. Perfect for me and perfect for my sister’s wedding in terms of price. It’s a way to get an $11 wine for half the price!

In a different sense, this is what happened with the Cap de Faugeres although in this case, Zachys was looking to clear inventory of its 2004 Bordeaux to make room for the higher priced 2005s and 2006s. In essence, I think they needed the cash.

Now for the wine. 2006 Julienas Flower Label: Georges Duboeuf . I had to take the Julienas before agreeing that it would work for Cindy’s Wedding. It did. The wine is ruby red in color with notes of smoke, spicee, blueberry and cherry. It has a fantastic bright nose. There are other aromas going on here too. Maybe white chocolate? Cotton candy??? That might be going to far but regardless, there’s a bright cherry scent. Very soft texture, spicy taste which mixes well with the cherry. Medium to full bodied with a wonderful long and slightly dry finish. Fantastic. It gets a B+ (maybe an A if it holds up at the wedding!)

2006 Domain Mont Chavy – Morgon – Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais

This wine was tasted at the same time as the Julienas but as a way of checking out Beaujolais rather than for the wedding.

This was another winner. Dark purple in color. Earthier than the Julienas with notes of dark cherry and blackberry. Chewy texture, dry and more tannic than the Julienas. Long finish. Blackberry tastes as well. Maybe a layer of raspberry underneath. A very nice wone. Solid B.

2001 Tre Rose Vino Nobile de Montepulciano (Italy-Tuscany)

Deep purple color. It’s a juicy wine with notes of blackberry on the first encounter along with notes of cassis and cedar with come out as the wine aerates and softens. There’s a smokiness that emerges as well. It has a soft texture and a nice smooth medium long finish.

Very good wine at an affordable price. $15 from the usually ridiculously expensive D. Sokolin Wine on Long Island.

1994 Bovio Borolo – Vinga Arabrina (Italy-Piedmont)

Ruby red color. Very spicy on the nose with notes of nutmeg and light hints of cedar with the last bits of primary fruit peeping through. Notably cherry mixed in with some spice. Medium bodied with a medium long finish and a tannic, chewy grip. It just does not last that long.

This is a B grade wine whose time has come to drink up. Originally purchased from Pascal’s Liquor Square in Syracuse for approximately $25 as a gift to one of my groomsmen at my wedding.

1998 Montiano – Falesco (Italy–Lazio)

Falesco's Montiano. One of the finest Merlot wines I've ever had. I love re-tasting good wines and there is a reason why this is one of my favorites!

Dark garnet in color with a wonderful earthy aroma. Lots of underbrush. Blueberry. Blackberry. Currant. Notes of tar. Tabac leaf. Red currant to add just a bit of brightness to it. Smooth and silky texture with fine tannins that lead to a nice long finish. (At this point Tahirih chimes in with “Forest floor… Gooseberry… Brambleberry…” Is she making fun of me?!)

This is an A+ wine at its peak. Too bad it’s my last bottle.