Jul 29th 2008
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Vintage: 2006
Purchased: Jul 19th 2008
Price: $5.99
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Tasting Notes:
This wine is a bright, pale lemon color in the glass. You get aromas of green apple plus a slight herbal smell of fennel and a lot flinty minerality.
The taste is crisp, and refreshing, with absolutely no wood. The herbal notes were just perfect for the squash blossom frittata I was serving.
The finish was not very long and the acidity kind of puttered out leaving a flat almond taste behind. That kept the wine from being outstanding. But really, at $5.99 can you complain?
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Vintage: 2007
Purchased: Jul 19th 2008
Price: $11.99
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Tasting Notes:
This was wine number three for the night, served with a lemon and olive oil cake. This is just a fun wine. It's frizzante, so it sparkles but not a lot. It has a wonderful golden color, darker than you would expect. The aroma is a great mixture of vanilla, honey, and tropical fruits. In the mouth, the dominant flavor is one of pineapple. There is just a hint of vanilla creaminess and honey there as well. The finish is long. Not the most complex wine in the world, and perhaps a touch sweet. But it is a fun wine.
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Apr 16th 2008
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Vintage: 2004
Purchased: Dec 21st 2007
Price: $19.99
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Tasting Notes:
This is my first grand cru wine from Alsace, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I served it with a Vietnamese style braised pork shoulder salad.
In the glass it was a pale yellow, with just a hint of green in the color. The nose was a mixture of flowers, lemon peel, and green apple. On the first sip, I was surprised by the body. It was thicker than most riesling, however there was no perceptible sugar. The acid was nice, but it wasn't as racy as riesling can sometimes get. The fruit was muted, mostly lemon and green apple, but with a ton of minerals. I didn't detect and petrol notes that I sometimes get from riesling on the finish, but it was a long finish with an almost bitter grapefruit flavor mixed with a nutmegy spice and more minerals.
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Apr 7th 2008
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Feb 17th 2008
Price: $19.99
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Tasting Notes:
This isn't a real Barbaresco, but I thought it'd give me a good idea of what to expect from one. The problem with Barbaresco is that there simply isn't any cheap bottles of it. Burgundy is the most usual comparison, but there are budget bottles of Burgundy to at least let you know if you like the stuff; not to mention other bottles of Pinot Noir from around the world.
This wine was a very light red with almost a toasty brown tinge to it. It was darker than a rose, but I've had rose that was almost as dark. The nose was super apparent. The earth and tobacco tones dominated. In the mouth it was much heavier than the color would have indicated. There was a sour cherry fruit component, but the earthiness and mushroom flavors on the finish were what I remember most. It did have mild tannins that seemed rustic, but still very well integrated. I really loved this wine.
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Mar 7th 2008
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Vintage: 2006
Purchased: Feb 17th 2008
Price: $12.99
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Tasting Notes:
This is further education in Italian wine for me. I opened this to go with spaghetti carbonara. In the glass it was a straw color. Nothing stood out about the color. The nose was actually fairly intense for this varietal. There was a strong fruit component, but also a very floral note. Not quite the rose petals of gewurz, but closer to violets. On the first taste, I was surprised by its body. It was not quite the thick pinot gris from Alsace, but it was not the thing quaffer that I've come to expect from most pinot grigio. It also avoided all the tropical fruit notes that thin pinot grigio tends to have. It was mainly green apple and pear, with just a hint of citrus zest. The floral note was still there and I got a sense of clove on the finish. The finish was surprisingly long. All in all a very good wine.
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Feb 21st 2008
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Vintage: 2006
Purchased: Feb 2nd 2008
Price: $23.95
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Tasting Notes:
We first tasted this wine at a Christmas dinner at
Union. I was impressed that its sweetness was well balanced by the good acidity. This is an "ice wine", but one where the grapes are artificially frozen. But at this price, it's a very good deal.
It's a thick wine with a deep golden color. The nose is classic gewurz, though the floral component and lychee are joined with white peach and honey. In the mouth, the flavors are apricot and honey. It is sweet, but not cloying so. The acid kicks in and almost feels effervescent on the tongue. This is a dessert wine I could actually just sip on.
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Sep 5th 2007
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Vintage: 2004
Purchased: Mar 17th 2007
Price: $8.99
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Tasting Notes:
We were eating a frozen pizza, so why not a Chianti? Of course, a frozen pizza doesn't deserve anything expensive, so I picked this.
It's a very dark purple with an oaky nose. It also has an earthy truffle component and a hint of tobacco. Hardly any fruit on the nose. The wine is medium bodied on the palate with a sour cherry/cranberry taste and tons of acid. The tannins are mild and soft.
It's not terribly complex. But it's not a bad food wine. And at this price I don't feel ripped off.
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May 7th 2007
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Mar 17th 2007
Price: $10.99
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Tasting Notes:
Gewurztraminer from Alsace is expensive. I usually expect to pay around $20 to get a good bottle. I'm always searching for a reasonable version from somewhere else. I found the Valkenberg from Germany to be good, but a little cloying. Most of the domestics I've had have been overly sweet, lacked acidity, and not quite had the spice that I expect.
I had very high hopes for this wine as it was supposed to be in the Alsatian style. In the glass it was a golden color. Darker than most whites, but lighter than some other gewurz I have had. The nose was unmistakable: litchi, floral components, peach, with a surprising undercurrent of pineapple. In the mouth it had a very good body and the floral/litchi taste I expected with a touch of lemon and apple. No sugar at all, and not that acidic either. The finish was long but I didn't get a lot of the clove and nutmeg kind of tastes I expect. It was good, but not mind blowing. Kathrine really liked it because it was not as intense, but I kind of missed that over the top taste that you get from a great gewurz.
It's a common misconception that all the wines of Alsace are dry. Very often gewurztraminer and pinot gris are left with a slight bit of residual sugar. This tends to make the wines taste almost opulent. That's what was missing from this wine. It was good, it just didn't taste as expensive or complex.
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Apr 2nd 2007
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Mar 3rd 2007
Price: $8.99
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Tasting Notes:
This is the first pinot blanc I've ever tried, and if I can always find it at this price this would be a seriously good every day white.
In the glass is was a pale golden color. Much lighter than I expected. The nose was fairly muted; with pear, honey, and a strong mineral component. The very first sip was completely dominated by ripe pear. But then the tastes of peach and apple come forward and you are hit with a crisp acidity that balances out the thickness and fruit just perfectly.
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Mar 13th 2007
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Vintage: 2004
Purchased: Mar 3rd 2007
Price: $11.99
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Tasting Notes:
I went to Esquin Wine Merchants looking to stock up on Alsatian wines and this is one of the ones I left with. This is an edelzwicker, which is a blend of some of the different grapes grown in the region. This one happens to be pinot gris, sylvaner, and muscat.
On the nose I could detect scents of lemon, honey, grape, vanilla, the slightest hints of nutmeg, and a slight floral component. A very complex aroma for a wine of this price point. On the palate it was medium dry and medium bodied. The residual sugar was more than balanced by the superb acidity. The taste I got were honey, pear, and grapefruit. This is a perfect food wine.
I served this with my take on a meal from Alsace. Braised pork leg with choucroute and mashed potatoes. Very rich and creamy and it paired with the wine magnificently.
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