2004 Domaine Sauvion "Les Ombelles" (Loire Valley)

The 2004 ''Les Ombelles'' Pouilly-Fume from Domaine Sauvion is a crisp clean wine with some minerality and notes of light citrus. It’s pale yellow in color with a round texture. Overall, good but not a great wine. I’ve had fantastic New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs lately that I like more, the 2004 Dashwood and 2005 Babich are two that come to mind.

However, it’s getting harder and harder to find Pulley Fume’s for less than $20 and I do think this is a decent expression of the region and might not be a bad starting point for someone just learning about these Loire Valley wines.

This was $16 at Sherry Lehmann (http://www.sherry-lehmann.com/) which is the only store I’ve seen it for sale at.

2004 Ravines House White (Finger Lakes)

Ravines Wine Cellars (www.ravineswinecellars.com) a Finger Lakes Winery in Hammondsport, NY where it sits along the Eastern Shore of Keuka Lake. They make a total of seven wines, the best of which is their Riesling. The owner and wine maker used to work at Dr. Konstantin Frank (www.drfrankwines.com) and then moved on to open this venture just a couple years ago.

In addition to the Riesling and a Chardonnay on the white end, they also make a House White. The 2004 version is pale yellow in color with citrus notes with lighter notes of apricots and peach. It’s a crisp wine with just a tad of sweetness. It would make a great companion to Chinese take-out.

2002 Jim Barry - Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon (Australia)

The 2002 Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon from Jim Barry is a big meaty wine. It’s nearly black in color with an almost inky thick texture. This offering is very fruit forward with notes of prunes and black cherry but it also has hints of coffee or mocha. It’s dry with a medium long finish. Overall, good but not exactly to my taste and at 15% alcohol, I thought this wine was a bit hot for my taste. Fans of big California Cabernets or Zinfandels might want to give this a try.

I found it for $17 at Sherry Lehmann (http://www.sherry-lehmann.com/) after keeping an eye out for it around New York. The only other place I know that carries it is Union Square Wine (www.wineaccess.com/store/unionsquarewines) where they sell it for $20.

2002 Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir (Oregon)

My past experience with wine clubs has been hit and miss. My wife and I have had three gift memberships given to us and we’ve subscribed on our own once. Three of those experiences have been with Wine.com which seems to have a decent market share of the business if you consider that they, along with The California Wine Club, rise to the top of the list in internet searches. While my own experiences have been limited, I intend to do some research and write more on the topic at a later date.

In the meantime, today’s selection comes from Wine.com’s “Big Bold Reds” club. It’s the 2002 Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir.

The wine is brick red in color with spice, notably nutmeg, and dark fruit, leaning towards a black cherry, on the nose. The oak has made its presence known but not in an overbearing way. Overall it has a soft texture and a medium long finish. It’s good wine for immediate consumption that I’d feel good about bringing to a party.

The club is selling this wine on special for $10.99 as a special with a regular price of $18.99. As a $20 Pinot I think it’s ok but not great as I’ve had various other fantastic Pinots for just a few dollars more. However, I think it’s a terrific value at $10.99 . I haven’t come across this wine in any of the New York City shops I’ve been to recently but it doesn’t mean its not out there. A quick internet search leads me to believe that if you do find it, the price will probably fall in the $15-$19 range. At that point, you’ll have to judge for yourself.

2003 Jean Marc Brocard-Fourchaume (Chablis Premiere Cru)

This 2003 Chablis was recommended to us by an associate at Sherry-Lehmann (http://www.sherry-lehmann.com/) who thought it would be a nice "complimentary contrast" to the buttered sole we were having that night. The recommendation was a good one.

This complex wine is straw yellow in color with floral notes mixed in with hay. I also thought the nose reminded me of seaside air. Fresh with a great balance of sweetness to acidity along with a honeyed texture. It's a structured wine with a nice lingering finish.

Sherry-Lehmann sells this wine for $29 but I know I've seen it elsewhere in New York.

2002 L'Ostal Cazes (Languedoc)

The 2002 L'Ostal Cazes is a relatively new venture from Jean-Michel Cazes and his son Jean-Charles of Lych-Bages fame. The wine comes from vineyard land they purchased in the Minervois district of the Languedoc region in France. L'Ostal Cazes is the grand vin of the property and it, along with their more entry level Circus Shiraz and Shiraz-Cabernet come from 150 acres of vines on the 370 acres they purchased in 2002. Winemaking is overseen Daniel Llose who is also the managing wine director at the Cazes properties in Bordeaux, including Chateau Lynch-Bages and Ormes de Pez.

The wine is a blend of Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, and Carignan. It's ruby red in color with aromas of cassis, blueberry, cedar, and chocolate. Lush with a medium long finish. Overall a very solid wine what I found went well with a more casual meal like herb chicken. In my vernacular, this is a great "Thursday or Friday night wine" where you want to drink something good with a quick-fix meal.

The only wine store I know of in New York that carries this is Sherry Lehmann (http://www.sherry-lehmann.com)/ where it sells for $30.

1995 Caparzo La Casa (Brunello di Montalcino-Tuscany)

The 1995 La Casa from Caparzo is hands down one of the best Brunellos I've ever tasted. The wine is the reservia bottling and their high end Brunello in terms of the quality they try to put in the bottle. I've been a fan of their regular Brunello bottling, especially the 1999.

This particular bottle was from a vintage that wasn't exactly rated among the highest by the critics and the bottle itself was rated rated as above average. (An 88 by Parker and a 91 by Wine Spectator. Parker rated the 1995 vintage as an 88 as well.)

However, I think bottle aging has been very very kind to this La Casa. The wine is incradibly complex. Dark red in color. Smoky wood, tabacco, and dark fruits all intermingle on the nose. Cassis and cherry are also evident, first in the nose but more so on the palatte. It has a soft, velevety texture and a long long finish.

Overall, it's a medium bodied wine with structure and soft tannins now that its been in the bottle for over a decade. Important to note, this needs about an hours worth of decanting to bring out its complexity.

Price wise, this wine was a bargin for me at $40 from D. Sokolin in Long Island during one of their sales (http://www.sokolin.com/). However, they're selling it for $80 now and that's the lowest I've seen it on the web. Luckily, I picked up two bottles and have one left!

2004 Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Riesling (Finger Lakes)

Light yellow in color. Tropical fruit on the nose including pineapple and lychee. Hints of honey complement. Very balanced with a long honey finish. This wine is drinking great now but could possible be aged a couple years. Very good.

It can be found in New York at Vintage (www.vintagenewyork.com), a downtown store specializing in New York State wines. It cost $22 there and I believe the wine is good enough to warrant a price in the $20 range but buyer beware. Anyone taking a trip upstate can find this in either Ithaca or Elmira, NY (two towns in the Finger Lake region) for several dollars less.

Ithaca’s Northside Liquor and Wines (www.northsidewine.com) sells it for $16 a bottle and buying three bottles or more will end up costing less than from Vintage. It might even be worth calling GCP (www.gcpliquors.com) in Elmira Heights as they often undercut Northside by a couple dollars and they have hands down the best selection of Finger Lake wines in the state.

It’s worth getting your hands on a couple bottles of this.

Enjoy!

2001 Montiano (Lazio - Italy)

Although not exactly inexpensive, this is to me a great value from Italy. A 100% Merlot Super Tuscan from Falseco, it has consistently been on of my favorite Merlots period regardless of vintage.

The 2001 is very dark red in color with aromas of red fruit and chocolate. A great combination! It has a very velvety texture, round and soft in the mouth. It’s got a long, lush finish. Overall a fantastic wine.

I’ve purchased all my bottles from D. Sokolin (http://www.sokolin.com/), a place out on Long Island which delivers in the city. I’m only a so-so fan of the store as they give you the hard sell (especially watch out for their sometimes misleading e-mail offers) but they stock a lot of hard to find wines and some of them are offered at great prices. They are currently selling the 2001 Montiano for $40. I’ve seen it elsewhere for at minimum the same price but often more. If you’re looking for a restaurant experience with this wine, which I would highly recommend, it can be found on the list at Lavagna in the East Village (http://www.lavagnanyc.com/) for $85.

Enjoy!

2003 Goat Roti (South Africa)

This wine from the Goats Do Roam Winery in South Africa is a blend of blend of 85% Shiraz, 12% Mourvedre and 3% Viognier, all grapes from the Northern Rhone. Overall, I think it’s a fantastic wine.

It’s dark red in color with a lot of spice on the nose and aromas of red fuit underneath. It’s nicely balanced with a mediun-long finsih. If I were any type of expert on Rhone Valley blends, I might mistake this for one. But then again, I’m not an expert.

Still, this is an excellend value wine that can be found at a variety of wine stores in New York. It’s available at Garnet Wines on 68th and Lexington (http://www.garnetwine.com/) for $15 and at 67 Wine on the West Side (http://www.67wine.com/) for the same price. I’ve seen it elsewhere too. Also be in the lookout for their slightly less expensive Goats Do Roam which is another excellent value. I’ll post that one next time I pick up a bottle.

New Mexico and Wine

The Trip

New Mexico might not be at the top of everyone’s wine vacation hot spots and I myself would think of Napa or Bordeaux before New Mexico would cross my mind and it’s true that New Mexico doesn’t exactly offer up the wine tourist vision of grand tasting rooms and tours found in California or the stately chateaux of France. However, what New Mexico does have to offer up is some nice wine; white, red, and sparkling; that makes you take notice.

Tahirih and I spent five days in mid-February visiting my cousin Debbie in Albuquerque and two days on our own in Santa Fe. Since I started exploring the world of wine three years ago, I’ve only encountered two New Mexican wines, Gruet’s sparkling white (www.gruetwinery.com) and Casa Rondena’s Cabernet Franc (www.casarondena.com) I took this trip as an opportunity to explore what else the state had to offer.

Rather than go through an itinerary of our trip, I’ll instead stick to the major wine experiences we had. Although by doing so, I’m knowingly overlooking some of the other fabulous culinary and cultural experiences we had. The Georgia O’Keefe Museum, arts and crafts shopping, and walking tours of Old Santa Fe are not to be missed should you ever visit. The town of Madrid which lies midway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe is a hippie town hold over full of artists and not unlike a Southwest version of Woodstock. Finally, the view from Albuquerque’s Sandia Peak at sunset is one of those natural sights that will stick in your mind forever.

Now to the wine…. The epicenter of our wine experience in New Mexico was at the Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro in Albuquerque (www.zincabq.com). It sits on Central Ave (old Route 66) and was within walking distance of my cousin’s house. The beauty of Zinc lies in two areas. One is great food which can be sampled as either a series of appetizers or as a full meal/restaurant experience. The second is that they have a fantastic wine list with premium pours available by the glass, ¼ carafe, ½ bottle, or bottle and all at basically retail price! It list covers wines from all over the world and is one of the best, affordable lists I’ve seen. Interestingly, Zinc only carried two wines from New Mexico, a red table wine and a Gruet sparkler. Was this a telling sign of what New Mexico wines were really like?

We went back to Zinc twice over the course of our stay, sampling a total of 10 wines of which three were Napa Valley based Cabernet Sauvignons, two west coast Pinot Noirs from California and Oregon, one Napa Chardonnay, one Spanish Port, one Ice Wine, and two New Mexicans. One a Gruet Rose Sparkling wine and another red table wine from Milagro (www.milagrovineyardsandwinery.com).

On our first trip to Zinc was spent on the restaurant side tasting flights of wine. The best of all these was the 2001 Silver Oak which was one of the best wines I’ve had in the past year let alone on this trip. In addition, I thought the price was great. For $40 we could get a half-bottle and for $80 we could get the full bottle. A bit expensive in the grand scheme of things but for a top quality like this that would sell for about $150 on a standard wine list, why not! Our other two big discoveries here were the 2004 Roessler “Blue Jay” Pinot Noir and the 2002 Peju Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, both from Napa. The Roessler Pinot was Tahirih’s “wow” wine and was probably the biggest discovery of the trip. I don’t really know the whole story about the Peju but whereas with some digging you can find bottle of the Roessler, it seems the Peju is a new venture and might be limited more to West Coast restaurants according to our server. The two disappointment were the 2005 Willamette Valley “Whole Cluster” Pinot Noir from Oregon and a NV New Mexican red table wine from Milagro. The Pinot was basically too young and the 2005 vintage date made me think that this was from second rate grapes and was bottled to make a quick buck. I know that’s a harsh assessment but it’s what came to mind. The NV red from Milagro was basically what I would have expected from a NV table wine. Good but not worth thinking too much about. My thought at the time was “better than a most Long Island reds” which I haven’t been too impressed with.

Our second trip to Zinc was later in the week where we sat at the bar sampling a few half-glasses. The best of these were the 2004 Heinz Chardonnay and a 1997 LBV Port from Quinta Do Noval. I expected the Heinz Chardonnay to be a quality wine. What surprised me a little was that it felt litly oaked to me and more like a white burgundy than an over oaked California Chardonnay. We also sampled a Gruet Brut Rose from New Mexico. This was better than I thought it was going to be, only being a so-so fan of their standard sparkler.

Our favorite dinner of the entire trip was at The Old House in Santa Fe, part of The Eldorado Hotel (www.eldoradohotel.com). Our dinner of Crab Cakes and Scallops was sublime. On note to wine lovers was a part of the wine list that I had never seen in a restaurant before. At the end of the list they had an “end of bin” section where the last bottles of previous selections could be had for close to retail. We tried the 2000 Belle Soeurs “Wild Thing” Pinot Noir for $68. At release, it had a suggested retail price of $47. The current release is selling for about $80. It was a solid pinot and while it probably wasn’t the best pairing with scallops, it was great to be able to taste the wine in a fantastic restaurant setting for that price. However, it was “end of bin” for a reason and you could tell it was just at the edge of its maturity as it took a little while to open up and was a little too acidic at first. We finished the night with a German ice wine from the Mosel region. Delicious and a great way to finish our meal.

Wine stores in New Mexico are not as abundant as they might be in the Northeast as we only came across two in Albuquerque during out travels. However, they both stocked most of the wines we tasted during our trip and also had a healthy selection of New Mexico wines. The best of these stores was Jubilation (www.jubilationwines.com). It was here that we picked up a couple New Mexico wines to take back and taste in New York. Prices are reasonable and they have a very helpful sales staff who steered us towards a couple representative area bottles, including a St. Claire Gewürztraminer which at $10 was a great buy.

All in all, we had a fantastic wine experience in New Mexico but we still didn’t get a clear view of the best of what the state has to offer the wine world. More research is needed so I guess we’ll go back!

The Wines

2001 Silver Oak Caberbet Sauvagnion (Napa) – This is a very lush sophisticated wine with hints of pine needles and vanilla on the nose. Very rich dark fruit and very long finish. One of the best Napa Cabs I’ve ever tasted in my short time with wine. Very distinctive.

2004 Roessler “Blue Jay” Pinot Noir (Napa) – Bright fruit intermingles with hints of cedar dominate the nose on this one. The fruit, lead by cheery, burst into your mouth. The tecture is velvety with a nice long finish. This was Tahirih’s “wow” wine.

2002 Peju Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa) – Tar and cedar on the nose with dark fruit on a nice long finish. Lush, balanced, and very good. This is more in line with what I consider to be a traditional California cab.

2002 Ehlers Estaate Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa) – Dark red with cedar and black currant on the nose. Somewhat tannic with a long finish. A solid wine overall.

2005 Willamette Valley “Whole Cluster” Pinot Noir (Oregon) – A dry wine with mostly cedar. The cheery tries to fight through but doesn’t quite make it. Light red in color with a medium finish. It’s not a great wine but I might try again to give it another chance.

NV Milagro “Corrales Red” (New Mexico) – Nose has notes of blueberry and cedar but this doesn’t carry over to the taste. It has a medium-short finish and a light texture.

2004 Heinz Vineyards Chardonnay (Napa) – A nice balance of oak with hints of vanilla and apricot. Soft in texture with a nice finish. Very good.

1997 LBV Quinta Do Noval (Portugal) – Very dark and rich with notes of dates. Sticky with a nice long finish.

NV Gruet Brut Rose (New Mexico) - A yeasty nose and a bone dry texture. The fruit has to fight though a little but overall a decent wine.

2000 Belles Soeurs Pinot Noir “Wild Thing” Pinot Noir (Oregon) – Oak or cedar on the nose with red fruit breaking through, most of it cherry and red currant. It was ruby red in color with a medium long finish.

2002 Kinheimer Rosenberg Reisling Eiswein Mosel Saar Ruwer – Clean citrus flavor and not cloying. Dark yellow in color but just short of golden. Lingering finish. Very good.

2004 St. Claire Gewurztraminer (New Mexico) – Pale in color. Almost clear. Tropical fruit on the nose, including melon. A clean, only slightly sweet finish. Good wine but not as solid as some of my New York State favorites.

2003 Garretson Aisling Syrah (Paso Robles)

The Chelsea Wine Vault (http://www.chelseawinevault.com/) is located in Chelsea Market at 15th St, and 9th Avenue. The store has a solid selection of wines from all over the world even if I think it’s a little light on Bordeaux (my personal favorite.) One of the other great things about the Chelsea Wine Vault is its tastings of which they seem to have four or more times a week. This can be particularly fun (as well as dangerous and expensive) if you work in the building.

It was one my way home one evening that I caught a tasting of wines from Paso Robles’s Garriston Vineyard (http://www.garretsonwines.com/). They deal mostly with Rhone blends with Syrah being their signature grape. I tasted a variety of their wines, including both red and white table wines, a Roussanne, and two Syrahs. The best of the lot in my opinion was their Aisling Syrah.

The wine itself of a 100% Syrah aged in American Oak. Dark red in color, its nose is cedar and dark fruit with cassis (possibly blackberry too) standing out the most. Its texture is smooth and creamy with a long finish. Basically, this wine is all about the texture and it’s a good one.

There were only 500 cases produced and as far as I can tell, Chelsea Wine Vault is the only store in New York that carries it. Suggested retail price according to the winery is $30 and Chelsea carries it for $34.

2002 Franciscan Magnificant (Napa)

I tasted this about a month ago. I’m in the process of catching up on some of my previous wine notes that I’ve had scribbled on pieces of paper.

This wine is a direct result of the benefits that can come from knowing the right people. It came from a friend who tends bar at a mid-town hotel and was a result of overstock. A nice benefit!

This 2002 Franciscan Magnificant was inky purple in color. It’s aroma’s are smoky, leathery, tar, hints of cedar with dark fruit underneath. The fruit is there but it is slow to emerge. The wine was bone dry on the palate and somewhat astringent with a medium long finish. Overall ok but not as good as it probably could have been. Still, I can’t complain with the price!

NV Pol Roger (Champagne)

This might be one of the best bargains in wine. It was voted the best Champagne in Wine Enthusiast for 2005 AND it can be bought at Garnet Wine on 68th and Lexington for $25 where it retails for $40 and sells for that price elsewhere.

The Champagne itself is light pale in color with small, tight bubbles (always a good sign). It has a lovely yeasty aroma but isn’t overly “bready.” (I’m not sure how else to put that.) On the palate, it’s crisp and zesty with a bit of citrus. Overall, it’s a very pleasant wine and a great value.

2002 Gewürztraminer Alsace Grand Cru-Kirchberg de Barr-Clos Gaensbroennel Willm (Alsace)

This sweet Gewürztraminer Grand Cru from Alsace is golden in color, has floral notes along with pineapple and lychee, and has a very silky rich texture. Overall, the wine is very structured with a long finish. It’s excellent!

The wine was bought after one of Union Square Wine’s Saturday afternoon tasting where it easily stood out among all the others. It was selling for $25 at the time but with only 400 cases imported into the US, they are out of their allotment and a quick search of wineaccess.com revealed nothing.

The moral to the story is that this was wine good enough to make me wish I had bought another bottle. In order to compensate, I’m planning to either return to Union Square Wine and ask someone for something comparable or to take a trip to 67 Wine on 67th and Amsterdam where their collection of German and French Gewürztraminers are exceptional.

2004 Ramsey Pinot Noir (North Coast California)

It's been almost two weeks since my last post but it's not for lack of drinking wine. I'm going to try and post notes on bottles over the previous couple weeks later.

However, the bottle I'm drinking now is a 2004 Ramsey Pinot Noir which I bought after tasting at Crush on 57th and Lexington which I bought for $13.99. At the tasting, I generally thought it was good and "tasted like a Pinot Noir" which isn't always an easy thing to find for under $20. I thought it would be a good weeknight wine which we opened on a Monday after work.

This time around, after having more than a minute to enjoy, my impressions are dark fruit with a slightly woody nose, slightly hot, with a medium finish. This wine isn't very complex and not as good as I remember. But, it is a fine weeknight wine and like I said, I think it exhibits the characteristics we all like in Pinots.

NV Sokel Bolsser - Evolution (Oregon)

The Evolution - NV (9th Edition - Lucky #9): is from Sokel Bolsser Winery in Dundee, Oregon. It's a blend nine unnamed white wine grapes. Where as this might sound to some as a cleaver way to utilize lower quality grapes in a creative (read: marketable) way, and it might be, this is a good solid white in my opinion and comes at a nice price. This bottle was bought at Garnet Wines (68th St. & Lexington) for $12.99 and I've seen it elsewhere around the city for between $12-$15. The wine is a pale straw yellow color with a tropical fruit nosemixedt in with a hint of yeast. The wine is crisp and round (which might be what you get when you mix 9 varietals together) and has a medium finish for a white.

I think this is a great value white for any casual weeknight occasion. I'm not great a food pairings but I can see this going well with most fish with the possible exception of shellfish or anything that might require a minerally white.

Castell Del Remei Vertical from '99-'02 (Spain)

As promised, here are the wine notes from our Castell del Remei vertical tasting. Before I get to what we thought of the wines, I have to say that getting a few friends together to talk about the wine and compare our impressions was more fun that I thought it would be. We Brian, Lisa, and I got into very spirited discussions of what we thought we tasted and smelled, noting how our opinions differed and also noting the different words and phrases we use to describe them.

So, we tasted the ’99, ’00, ’01, and ’02 Castell del Remei from the Costers Del Segre region of Spain. First off, all three were good to very good and at roughly $11 a bottle, all bargains. As noted in the blog from 2/16, the ’99 was purchased in Amsterdam where the European blend of the wine is different from the American blend we tasted for the ’00 to ’02 vintages. It was evident from the first sips that the ’00 to ’02 wines were more fruit up front and where less complex and dense. Is this what they think American’s like? That speculation lead to some lively discussion. Maybe we Americans are simple and less complex than our European counterparts?!?

Castell del Remei – 1999: That said, we all liked the ’99 better than any of the American blends. Visually, it was a dense brick red that Brian thought was radiant as well. The bouquet was very complex with dark fruit, spices, and hints of leather. The wine was dryer than the rest and had a medium long but lush finish.

Castell del Remei – 2000: The 2000, while still good, was ranked 4th overall by all of us. It was a lighter red with hints of spices and dark fruits (along with potato chips but not in an entirely bad way). It was the least complex of the four wines. The wine was a little thin on the palate with a short finish.

Castell del Remei – 2001: This was our 2nd favorite wine. Another brick red and much darker than the 2000 with an aroma of cedar and black fruit with a hint of cocoa all in balance. Slightly earthy overall. The texture was soft and lush with a long firm finish.

Castell del Remei – 2002: This was our 3rd favorite but not far behind the 2001. Appearance wise this was the darkest red aside from the 1999. It was more fruit forward than the rest which was balanced nicely with hints of earth and spice. Very lush and mouthwatering and not as dry as the others. It had a medium long finish.

Overall a great night of wine and I’d love to do another vertical as long as I can find affordable wines to do this with and not have to drop hundreds on the first growth verticals that always seem to get written up in Wine Spectator and such.

My First Vertical - Castel Del Remei (Spain)

As of right now, I'd say the number of people I know who love to drink literally numbers in the hundreds. The number of people I know who love to drink wine... lets say 10 to 15. The number of people who can get as nerdy as I can about it... two that I can think of and one of them isn't my wife. Lisa and Brian are coming over today to help me empty out some space in my wine fridge which is currently sitting in my closet. Lisa is one of of my two friends who can get as nerdy about wine as I can and because of that, I've chosen today as the day for my first vertical tasting. Its not a big one so I won't be popping the corks of '59 - '61 - '70 - '88 etc Lafite Rothschild. However, I will be opening '99 - '00 - '01 - '02 Castell del Remei from Costers Del Segre in Spain. It's a blend of Tempranillo, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. I think it's wonderful and a great value at approximately $10-$13 a bottle all depending on where you find it.

You'll typically only find the current vintages in stores and Garnet Wines on 68th and Lexington in New York is currently selling the 2002 for $10.99 a bottle. I had picked up a case of the 2001 last year and today's tasting will be my last bottle of that. The 2000 was bought in Syracuse and the 1999 was purchased in Amsterdam where they do keep older vintages of this around. It's blended differently in Europe but I'm not sure how. I've also had the 1997 which was so different from what is imported here. Not better. Just different. I'll have to find my notes but my memory tells my it was BIG and dense with very dark fruit and a very aromatic nose of underbrush (or something like that.)

I'm looking forward to tonight and I'll try and post our notes tomorrow.

Lazy Meadow Wine Tasting

What better scenario to taste nearly a dozen wines than to pack up the car for a weekend getaway with friends to the mountains, grill up some meat and fish, and start popping the corks. That’s exactly what I did with my wife Tahirih and our friends Brian and Lisa a couple weekends ago. Our destination was Lazy Meadow Inn, a renovated motel opened up within the past year by Kate Pierson of the B-52s. (www.lazymeadow.com) Check out the great kitschy décor for yourself.

The ten wines…. notes are below.

Reds
2002 Clos Senechal – Loire Valley (France)
$21 at Crush (www.crushwineco.com)
Lisa thought it was a Classic Cabernet Franc with a medium body and a nice nose, strong finish bit just a little heavy on the alcohol. Would go great with food from the grill.

2002 Sheldrake Point Cabernet Franc – Finger Lakes (New York State)
$15 at GCP (www.gcpliquors.com in Elmira Heights, NY)
We all thought this was a bit over-oaked, masking the cabernet franc flavor. Lisa thought that this made it taste even a bit like a Zinfandel. Tahirih found it round and soft in the mouth with a nice medium finish. 10% Merlot.

2002 Sheldrake Point Merlot – Finger Lakes (New York State)
$15 at GCP (www.gcpliquors.com in Elmira Heights, NY)
Strangely, we thought the Sheldrake Point Cabernet Franc was a better Merlot! Too much wood hiding a lack of fruit. Unbalanced.

2004 Vicien Malbec Reserva (Argentina)
$8 at Garnet (www.garnetwine.com) 68th and Lex.
I thought this was one of the best red wines of the weekend. Surprisingly lush and fruit forward and notes of oak but not too much. Lisa thought the alcohol was a bit heavy.

2003 Viticcio Chianti Classico – Tucany (Italy)
$12.50 at Garnet (www.garnetwine.com) 68th and Lex.
Very nice Chianti for the price. Brian thought it was crisp and food friendly. Medium finish but full bodied. A little oak to balance it out with the dark berry flavors.

Whites
2003 Peconic Steel Fermented Chardonnay – Long Island (New York State)
$14 at Vintage New York (www.vintagenewyork.com)
Full bodies even without the oak, zing of acidity. Lemony and complex. Would go well with a stout fish like a giant octopus or humpback whale. Could also go well with chicken.

2003 Atwater Vidal Blanc – Finger Lakes (New York State)
$9 at Vintage New York (www.vintagenewyork.com)
Brian thought this was “truth in advertising” as the back of the bottle says “good crisp summer drinking.” Obvious notes of apple and pear. Clear and clean. A Very nice light wine.

1997 Franz Kunstler Riesling Kabinett – Germany
$14 at Slope Cellars (www.slopecellars.com)
One of the best whites of the trip. Tahirih thought it had a mineraly quality, nice balance of tropical fruit, including touches of leeche and pear, and low acidity. Very complex.

1997 Franz Kunstler Rheingau Riesling Halbtrocken – Germany
$14 at Slope Cellars (www.slopecellars.com)
Very similar to the Kabinett but just a little less complex. More leeche but this also had hints of vanilla. Excellent and another favorite white of the trip.

2004 Bedell Cellars Artist Series White – Long Island (New York State)
$25 at Vintage New York (www.vintagenewyork.com)
A blend of Viognier, Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer, this had citrisy aromas along with some melon and spice. Medium bodied and crisp with a lingering finish. Nice.

2003 Venta Mazzaron (Spain)

Even thought I haven’t fully formed my thoughts on the 100 point wine scoring system, as much as I try to be objective, my eye always pops when I see a 90 point wine (according to Robert Parker) for around $10.

This is what happened at Garnet (68th St. and Lexington) yesterday. The 2003 Venta Mazzaron is a Spanish Tempranillo which is a dark garnet wine with what I think are notes of strawberries at the beginning which turn into darker fruit with air. It has a perfumed nose and is medium bodied with a slightly sweet, plush finish. Notes of cedar also emerge as the wine airs out.

I think this is a terrific value if you can find it at the $10 price I bought it at. I think it’s probably also worth up to $15 but anyone who is charging more is price gouging.

1995 Chateau Lagrange (Bordeaux)

Deep ruby in color. This is a soft and lush wine with beautiful fruit and soft tannins to go along with a long lingering finish. Going back to the fruit, it’s blackberry first then cherry eemerges after a couple hours of decanting. The wood starts off with strong cedar notes but that also softens. The end result is a beautiful, balanced wine.

You can find this wine at Garnet on 68th and Lexington for $55 or at Park Avenue Wine and Liqours for $60.

2004 Mt. Difficulty – Roaring Meg (New Zealand)

I picked this up at Crush on 57th St near 3rd Avenue. Crush has a great tasting program and they always have about 5 wines to taste on hand in a nice side room, the staff is extremely knowledgeable, and they specialize in small production and hard to find wines.

In my never ending quest to find the perfect value for money pinot noir, I picked this up for $18 (minus the 10% new customer rebate). Although not exactly cheap, it’s less expensive than the majority of pinots yet priced that one-rung up where you should start to be paying for a quality drink. In addition, I had been wanting to try something from Mt. Difficulty every since Wine Spectator profiled them in an issue on New Zealand pinots.

As for the wine itself, the first thing I thought of when the aromas hit my nose was “smoky”, a smell I love, although not so much in pinots. The wine was “in barrel on full lees for nine-months”. The woodsiness of the wine dominates the fruit. The fruit itself is a mix of berries but it’s hard to differentiate which ones. The wine is medium bodied with a medium long finish. Overall, it tastes like a pinot but it lacks the finesse of most, even ones in the $20 range. A decent drink but not one to give too much thought too.

Vintage New York Wine Bar

One of our most recent NYC Wine excursions was a visit to the new Wine Bar at Vintage New York on 482 Broome Street at the corner of Wooster in Soho. Vintage New York is one of the few stores in New York City that carry New York State wines and in my opinion, it’s the only one in the city with a comprehensive sampling of what the state has to offer the wine world. Vintage New York carries approximately 200 New York State Wines from the Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, and Long Island and the new Wine Bar offers most, if not all of them, buy the glass along with a menu of light fare made from local product. The seating area is a comfortable two tier set-up which is a perfect casual place to hang out with friends.

The trip was made mostly to check out the space but also to sample some New York State wines, some of which are among my all time favorites having grown up in the Finger Lake region. Our tasting revolved mostly around Finger Lake Rieslings which are among my personal favorites. The panel of tasters included myself, my wife Tahirih Sadrieh, and friends Brian Cogan and Lisa Bochini, a college professor and graphic designer, respectively and all of us wine lovers. Below is a list of the wines we sampled that night along with our thoughts.

Reds

We started with the Long Island Schneider Cabernet Franc “le Breton” 2003. The bottle we bought was $32 or they sell it for $8 by the glass. You can walk out of the store with it for $18.99. We though this wine was balanced and smooth with hints of chocolate, an earthy aroma and a medium finish. Lisa thought it wasn’t quite as complex as it smelled but that it had enough acidity to go well with food. Brian thought it reminded him of a French film set on Long Island where everyone toasts all the ducks as they walk along on the beach and then these water fowl are then later collected and made into dinner where everyone then toasts the foie gras.

We all tried a flight of Bordeaux-style reds from Long Island beginning with the Pindar Pythagoras-NV, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec that we all thought had an ok fragrance but tasted flat and not very balanced. It sells for $8 a glass or $14.99 at the store.

The 2001 Macari Bergen Road is much more expensive at $12 a glass or $39.00 at the store. It was certainly better than the Pindar with an Earthy, fruit forward nose, a dark cherry taste, and a soft medium finish. This would probably pair perfectly with dark chocolate. However, its not very complex and probably not worth the price-tag.

Finally, the 2001 Paumanok Assemblage, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc, was much fuller bodies with notes of blackberry and smoke. It had a wonderful nose and nice long finish. This was our favorite red and would pair well with the classic steak. This also sells for $12 a glass or $39.00 at the store and is more worth the money compared to the Macari.

Whites

The 2003 Chateau Lafayette Reneau Johannisberg Riesling sells for $12.99 at the store or $7 a glass. This had a peach nose with strong acidity. It’s a slightly sweet, zingy wine that would probably be great with Chinese or other spicy food.

The 2003 Standing Stone Riesling sells for $13.99 a bottle at the store or $7 a glass at the bar. This is crisp, minerally wine which. Not overly complex but straight forward and well balanced. We thought this was a little close to the classic Reisling that you might find from Alsace.

The 2003 Ravines Riesling sells for $16.99 a bottle or $8 a glass. This wine was our favorite of the night, whites and reds. Apparently, according to my mom, the former winemaker at Dr. Konstantine Frank left a couple years ago to start his own winery. This is it. We thought the Ravines had a slight floral bouquet, drier than the others, smooth, and had good acidity. It had a medium finish that was still the longest of the ones we tasted.

Separately, I tasted the 2003 Standing Stone Chardonnay from the Finger Lakes which sells for $10.99 a bottle. This is one of my favorite everyday Chardonnays that might appeal more to fans of Chablis or the un-oaked variety rather than the bigger oaked California versions. This has a light taste that almost reminds me of a sauvignon blanc. Its crisp with lemon as the dominate flavor and medium bodied.
Overall, the Vintage New York Wine Bar is a hit in my book mostly for the fact that you can get turned on to New York State Wines by sampling the huge array they have on hand. Its one of the few places you can find a wide array of these wines and many are well worth seeking out. My only complaint (and this is the Upstate New Yorker in my talking and should be taken with a gain of salt) is that the Finger Lake wines are much much cheaper upstate. The best store for picking up these gems at bargin prices is GCP Wine and Liquors in Elmira Heights, a mere 5 hour drive from NYC but I’m sure they ship. There you can fine the Standing Stone Chardonnay for $6.99 ($10.99 at Vintage) or the Ravines Riesling for $12.99 ($16.99 at Vintage)

www.vintagenewyork.com
www.gcpliquors.com

1999 Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany)

Its been a little while since I’ve added a tasting note to the site between being on vacation (France and Italy) and weddings (my sister’s) but I’m back and I want to write about what I think is one of the best wine deals right now.

The 1999 Brunello di Montalcino vintage is rated 94 by Robert Parker and 97 by Wine Spectator and, along with the 1997 vintage, is the best in the past 10+ years.

Brunellos typically cost between $45 and $65 a bottle for the standard bottlings not accounting for Riserva or single-vineyard editions. However, right now Zachy’s in Scarsdale is selling the 1999 Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino for $29.99 a bottle and I think this is a great deal if you are willing to go to the $30 a bottle price point.

Tasting note: This wine has the classic Sangiovese nose, is dark cherry red in color with a rich and velvety texture. It’s full bodied with a fruity flavor which I think is led by cherry. It has a long, soft finish that I think also hints at candied cherries.

Where to Find It: Like I mentioned, this can be purchased at Zachy’s for $29.99 and I’ve also seen it elsewhere on the internet for the same price but not in the New York area (Woodland Hills Wine Co. in California). The next best price I’ve seen is at Italian Wine Merchants on 16th St. at $39.50. Other prices listed for the New York area include K&D on Madison and 95th for $50.99, PJ Liquor on Broadway and 207th for $53.99, and Columbus Circle Liquor on Broadway and 57th for $69.99. It can probably be found in various other stores in the NYC area as it’s a fairly common wine.