Category Archives: Wine by Varietal

December 15, 2013 · 1:51 PM

2004 Piccini Sasso al Poggio IGT

98921

Piccini Sasso al Poggio Toscana IGT

Italy, Tuscany, Chianti

Wine Tasting Note:

Folks, this is some serious wine for the price. After 30 minutes open, more black fruit is peeking out. I will be buying more, if I can find it… Subdued gamey, black fruit nose. Black cherry is on the front of the palate, blackberry, black currant and vanilla on the mid-palate moving towards dark chocolate with an herbal medium length finish that includes a touch of spearmint. The mouth-feel is a bit watery, but is very soft. Medium acidity with medium high tannins. This is not a fruity wine, but for those who appreciate complexity… for $10/btl this is your value wine. I am wrestling with the idea of whether I have tasted a better $10 bottle of wine… Italy continues to provide the biggest surprises in fine wine value in the world! OK, IMHO…

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December 7, 2013 · 2:16 PM

2009 d’Arenberg The Laughing Magpie

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d’Arenberg The Laughing Magpie

Australia, McLaren Vale

Wine Tasting Note:

This is not a typical Aussie fruit bomb. 92% shiraz and 8% vognier. Northern Rhone in its way… grapey nose with creme brulee and cinammon. Definitely give this at least a 30 min decant. Directly out of the bottle, this is very smooth, but watery and the flavors are off-putting – like grape candy. As it opens, it becomes more complex. The palate hits you first with black table grapes and blackberry. The mid-palate has black-currant moving into a long bitter dark chocolate finish. I have tasted other syrah blends like this and the viognier (8% is too much?) had the same effect on the nose and palate. The acidity is medium-high, but the tannins are mostly hidden until decanted, then they reveal themselves in a fairly big way as chewy and medium-high. Has a little bit of that Northern Rhone oily, tar characteristic, but no olive tapenade and earthiness. The grapey fruit flavor begins to subside after an hour, but is still too much. At this stage of its life, this would not be much of a food wine, although it has the backbone for it. I enjoyed it as an aperitif (after decant) and for $20/btl, it was a good value. This may just be too young. I am thinking after 3-5 years, the fruit may subside a bit and allow other flavors to present. It certainly has the backbone to allow aging. Will tuck the others away for a few years and see if it has the potential to improve, as I hope.

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December 3, 2013 · 9:44 PM

2010 Caligiore Malbec Reserve

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Caligiore Malbec Reserve

Argentina, Mendoza, Lujan de Cuyo

Wine Tasting Note:

Nose of plum and blackberry with cooked green bell pepper vegetal undertones. Palate of blackberry, black currant and oak in front with a short finish of smokey tar. Medium acidity and medium-low tannins. The backbone is lacking. Texture becomes a bit watery. Not the big, textured, fruity malbec that I have come to equate with Mendoza, but interesting enough. Value is about right at $14/btl.

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November 27, 2013 · 9:54 PM

2009 Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon

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2009 Atlas Peak Cabernet Sauvignon

California, Napa Valley

Wine Tasting Note:

Blackberry, plum and vanilla on the nose. Simple palate of black fruit and a touch of bitter chocolate and oak on a medium-short finish. Medium tannins and medium-high acidity. The texture is a bit watery. Nice backbone here, but the structure is missing a mid-palate entirely. Enjoyable every day drinker from Napa Valley that represents a reasonable value. Unfortunately, there is no complexity to this wine. Other vintages have been better.

Wine Tasting Note – UPDATE 2/20/2014:

2nd Bottle of half case:

Second bottle after four months in storage has changed enough to be worthy of note. It is rare to see wine in this price range improve with age. The evaluation is essentially the same as above, but the texture is becoming more silky and the tannins more refined. At least for now, this is continuing to improve.  The same comment holds regarding simplicity, although a short aging window seems to have continued to soften the wine, making it more enjoyable. I wish this wine could magically become more interesting, but for the price, this is a very nice daily drinker.

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November 26, 2013 · 10:28 PM

2009 Domaine Drouhin Laurene Oregon Pinot Noir

264401

Domaine Drouhin Laurene Pinot Noir

Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills

Wine Tasting Note:

The nose has red fruit and earth, with a floral influence. The palate begins with fresh red cherry under-pinned with a delicate floral note. The mid-palate transitions to black cherry and spice, then a medium short finish of earth and bitter chocolate. Medium-high acidity with slightly dusty tannins. The texture was initially silky, but became watery quickly on the mid-palate. You notice the alcohol on the finish. This wine needs more time in the cellar to reach its potential. There was a lot more going on here than a simple, fruity new-world pinot. This was very feminine in character, with a solid backbone. Another 5 years of bottle-aging and I would expect this will be very elegant and composed. I can envision this as a 10 year old pinot reaching its drinking window… add a little barnyard on the nose and Burgundy comes to mind!

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November 16, 2013 · 6:06 PM

2007 Geyser Peak Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Walking Tree Vineyard

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Geyser Peak Winery

California, Alexander Valley

Wine Tasting Note:

Powerful aromatic nose of black fruit, spice and vanilla. Fruit forward palate of blackberry, red plum and black currant. High acidity with medium tannins. Tasted this last year. Still the same big fruit, but the tannins are beginning to soften and it is developing some texture. Needed a little time for the alcohol to blow off. The complexity is improving with the addition of more bitter chocolate in the mid-palate and a short finish with some graphite coming through. The tannins are starting to moderate and I like a red wine with some backbone, so I am going to say this wine is in its optimum drinking window. Drink now and the next couple of years, at most. At $18/btl, this wine has my vote for the best value cab sauv in California. I would expect a wine of this caliber to be in the $30-35 range in Sonoma County. I prefer not to put a number to wines if I can, but in this case I will put that aside and give it an 89. It needs more minerality, the mid-palate and finish could be stronger and the texture wasn’t there to be rated higher, but for that kind of price… this is impressive!

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November 11, 2013 · 7:11 PM

2010 Robert Oatley Vineyards, James Oatley TIC TOK Cabernet Sauvignon

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Robert Oatley Vineyards

Australia, Western Australia

Wine Tasting Note:

Nose of alcohol, red raspberry and spice. High acidity and medium tannins. For a low alcohol cabernet, the alcohol is obvious. The palate is full of fresh red raspberry and strawberry up front with a subtle mid-palate that introduces faint elements of eucalyptus and vanilla. The wine has a short finish of bitter, sour cherry. I found the complexity of flavors interesting, but the texture was watery and the elements didn’t come together well. This seems like a low-priced attempt at an old-world style wine, from a new-world producer. For a $10/btl cab sauv pretty decent, but I would rather spend an extra few bucks and purchase something a bit more enjoyable for a daily drinker.

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November 9, 2013 · 2:02 PM

2007 Frank Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

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Frank Family Vineyards

California, Napa Valley

Wine Tasting Note:

Right out of the bottle, this wine was horribly disjointed. After a couple of hours, it started to come together. Maybe just a dead phase for the wine?. The nose is full of alcohol, vanilla and red plum. The texture is a bit thin. High acidity and medium high tannins. The palate is strange for a Napa cabernet. My first impression is of strawberry jam, but then in the mid-palate the traditional flavors show up of blackberry and plum and then leaves you with a medium length finish of lingering fruit and sweet vanilla. No minerality, or earthiness whatsoever. There has to be merlot mixed in this. The alcohol is less integrated than I would prefer. This wine had too much fruit and not enough complexity.

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November 7, 2013 · 8:59 PM

2010 Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec

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2010 Bodega Norton

Argentina, Lujan de Cuyo

Wine Tasting Note:

Lots of alcohol on the nose with black fruits. The most noticeable aspect is the texture. This a very soft, silky wine. The palate is not fruit forward. A bitter tar-like, smoky dark chocolate hits you first, then hints of vanilla and a brambly mid-palate. Not much finish. If there is fruit, perhaps black currant. Good acidity, with a minimum of tannins. A little disjointed. More tannins would add some balance and the virtual lack of fruit is a bit disconcerting. Drinkable and interesting, but not my preference for a daily drinker.

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November 6, 2013 · 5:50 PM

2008 Tenute Folonari Cabreo Il Borgo Toscana IGT

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Tenute Folonari

Italy, Tuscany

Wine Tasting Note:

Black cherry, blackberry, with a bit of vanilla and earthiness on the nose. Black fruit with a touch of prune on the palate initially, softening to a mid-palate of vanilla and a slightly bitter medium length chocolate finish. Good acidity with medium tannins. Nice silky texture initially, that turned a bit chewy after a few hours. Complex enough to make it interesting, but I really wish some of that earth on the nose would have come through on the palate. I enjoyed this wine… would be a good aperitif, or food wine paired with red meat, or red tomato sauce dishes.

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