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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Feb 16th 2008
Price: $10.99
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Tasting Notes:
This is bottle number one in my drive to understand Italian wine a little better. I've had both domestic and Italian Barbera in restaurants, but never at home. I broke this out to pair with spaghetti carbonara.
The wine is a translucent dark ruby. Very light bodied in appearance. The aromas are of fresh cranberries and sour red cherries. There is just a hint of smokey oakness as well. In the mouth the acid is the first thing you encounter. It's mouth watering and very pleasant with cranberry and other red fruit flavors. The finish is quite long with an interesting strawberry and citrus note.
This is a very good food wine. It would work with most pasta dishes and pizza. And at this price, it could be drunk every day.
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Vintage: 2001
Purchased: Jan 14th 2007
Price: $9.99
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Tasting Notes:
This one has been sitting in our basement for some time. I had orignally bought three of them and two were drunk over the past year. The last one worried me that there might not be much life left in this, so when I needed a red wine to go with a grilled t-bone, I pulled this out.
The color of the wine doesn't give away its age at all. It's still a very deep inky purple, almost black. The aroma is fruity with a touch of leather and spice. The first impression on the pallet is still fruit. It's not a fruit bomb and it's less fruity than much of what comes from Australia, but it is still very jammy. There is quite an intense acid backbone however that cuts through the blackberry jam flavors. There is an intense peppery spiciness to the finish, and very soft tannins. I actually think the wine could probably even age a bit more, though it would become unpleasant with much less fruit. About the only thing to give away the age of this wine is the sediment. There sure is a lot of it.
Also Tasted On:
Feb 21st 2007Comments(0)
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Vintage: 2006
Purchased: Apr 21st 2007
Price: $7.99
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Tasting Notes:
Kathrine and I brought this wine with us on
our trip to Rattlesnake Hills, to drink on a picnic between wineries. Unfortunately the picnic didn't happen due to the weather, but that doesn't mean we didn't drink it anyway.
This is a young fairly dry riesling with no sulfites added and completely organic. Sulfites work to preserve the wine, so don't try to cellar this one for that long.
In the glass, this wine was a dark golden color, almost an orange. I don't know if the color was due to the extra age it picks up by not having preservatives, or due to the tiny amount of muscat that is blended in. Either way this doesn't look like your normal riesling. It also had a fairly effervescent quality to it. You could see small bubbles collecting on the sides of the glass. The nose was fairly vibrant with peaches, apricots and honey. On the mouth, it was quite racy from the acidity with flavors of peach, pear, and melon. The fruit may have been a little more muted than I like, but the acid/sugar balance was pretty spot on. And the slight effervescence was quite welcoming.
At this price their are better dry rieslings out there. But the fact that this is organic from a small producer is a plus. It also has the ability to be a great picnic wine and the screw cap closure only enhances this.
Comments(1)
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Feb 10th 2007
Price: $11.99
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Tasting Notes:
In an attempt to find a cheaper alternative to the pinot gris from Alsace, I tried this wine from Oregon in a distinctive blue bottle.
Once poured, it was very pale green straw in the glass. The aromas were muted, but I got a slight smell of melon and lime rind. In my mouth I could taste citrus/lime, a bit of apple, and some tropical fruit (mainly passion fruit). The wine was fairly light bodied, though not as light as your standard pinot grigio.
This was good, but not something I think I will buy again. I felt that the acid was a little two much for the body and the fruit characteristics. I'd rather pay a few dollars more and get a more balanced wine. So far the Oregon pinot gris has not impressed me. I may try a few from Washington this summer.
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Vintage: 2001
Purchased: Jan 14th 2007
Price: $9.99
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Tasting Notes:
This was the wine for the second and third course of our Valentine's dinner. The second course was a Moroccan spiced roasted rack of lamb on top of a bed of couscous. The third course was a cheese course featuring aged cheddar, goat's milk gouda, and idiazabal. I needed a big wine that could stand up to the heavily spiced lamb and the three sharp cheeses.
When I first saw this wine at Trader Joes I was very curious. I knew Penfolds made quite a few high quality wines, and this one was from back in 2001. And it was only 9.99? I bought a bottle just for curiosities sake and put it into the basement. I decided to research it a little and found out that there was a mistake at the Penfolds warehouse that led to them uncovering a batch of wine that should have been 2001 Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz. The problem is that the 2002 and 2003 wines have already been released and releasing this under its proper name would hurt sales. So they slapped a different label on it, and you can get it for a big discount.
This wine is not as fruity as you might expect. In fact it's much more elegant and refined than I've ever had from an Australian Shiraz. The nose is a mixture of mild berry, leather, anise, and spice; nothing over powering. It tastes very balanced with blackberries and light oak. The finish is all black pepper and spices. It had more acidity then I was expecting, but this was a good thing. I would be curious to try this back to back with the younger vintage Shiraz and compare them. One thing to remember is that this wine has a fair amount of sediment. Be careful when you pour, or decant it first.
Also Tasted On:
Jan 9th 2008Comments(0)
