Los Planos Syrah 2004

A French wine with a Spanish title ... sort of suspicious like the Japanese waitress bearing a fortune cookie. More to come.

$10 at Western.

2004 Tir Na N'og Old Vines Grenache (McLaren Vale)

This Australian red was recommended to us by the folks at Village Wine Market when we were there for a tasting. It's a nicely balanced wine with medium fruit - very tasty. We opened it last night after consuming the French Pinot Noir in the previous post.

The tasting notes from the website: "The 2004 harvest of these old vines yielded some of the most intensely flavored Grenache you are ever likely to taste. Beautiful fruit and spice notes waft from the glass, and on the palate the wine is lush and intense yet exhibits great balance and extraordinary mouthfeel. This is sexy wine that is sure to provide drinking pleasure for years to come."

Definitely worth a try! About $25.

2002 Bourgogne Pinot Noir, Jean-Luc Joillot

Our friends Tom and Tyler served this last night with sea scallops and risotto. I am used to drinking fruity American PNs and this has a very different character. Mary describes it as bright, perhaps a little thin with a hint of spice. We may have to get a bottle and do some additional research. Tom said it came from Western Supermarket.

Addendum: Mary picked up a bottle today ($20) so I'm trying it anew. I wouldn't call it bright, but not dull either. See Tom's comment. All in all, decent to drink but there are better wines for less money. I would like to try more of this type so please comment with suggestions if you have any.

CMS White by Hedges 2005

This is a Washington State wine from Columbia Valley that is 54% Sauvignon Blanc, 44% Chardonnay, and 2% Marsanne. Rearrange the first letters of those grapes and you get the name.

This wine has seen no oak and is consequently crisp and fruity. Easy drinking by itself or with food (the winemaker suggests shellfish). Excellent choice for summer drinking - more interesting than Pinot Grigio and lower end Sauvignon Blancs. I found it at Western when looking for something already cold. $10.99

Luce della Vite Toscano Lucente

We were celebrating 06/06/06 with Scott and Kay at Gianmarco's and I ordered a bottle of this Tuscan red blend after tasting Kay's glass. (It was much better than a Pinot Noir I tried.) This turned out to be very good and was reasonable by restaurant standards. I found out later that the 2003 scored a 90 from Wine Spectator.

From a web review: Big, rich aromas of crushed blackberries, licorice and minerals with just a hint of lemongrass. Full-bodied with thick, luscious tannins and a long, smoky tar and berry finish. A full-throttle wine. This is really excellent for the money. Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Interesting story behind this wine: In 1995, the Marchesi de' Frescobaldi family of Florence and the Robert Mondavi family of Napa Valley joined forces to achieve a common goal: to create a world class Italian wine. And thus Luce was created.

We'll look for it locally. Price range retail is low 20's.

Chateau Potelle 2004 Sauvignon Blanc

Here we go with a "nearly" realtime post! We are sitting at the Belsers after dinner finishing a bottle recommended by Scott at Overton & Vine. We brought it along to match up with shrimp scampi. This one is smooth - start to finish - and very balanced. I don't think it would conflict with any seafood dish and it also drinks nicely without any food. About $13.

William said "It's a white wine I don't mind drinking". (Apparently there's only one color in his Crayola box.)

Scary Oak World

Seriously, see the article The Oak Factor - By Heather Britton.

Cusumano Insolia 2004

The first of our purchases from last week's wine tasting at the Village Wine Market. This white comes from Sicily & its Insolia grape. It's an easy-drinking summer white with tastes of mint and apple.

The Wine Spectator said: A tight white, with fresh herb and peachy character. Medium-bodied, with bright lemon, apple character. Long, lively finish. Drink now. 25,000 cases made.

Shawn - I think you will like it. No scary oak. $12.99 locally.

House Wine

I never purchased this before because of the label. How good could it be if they don't take the time to produce a decent label? I had been told many times that this is a good wine and they were right. It is very drinkable and the price, around $10 cannot be ignored. House Wine is produced by the Magnificent Wine Company from Columbia Valley. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Syrah.

Village Wine Market

Hey, why not review a store? It was the first visit there for Mary and me. We attended the tasting tonight which features 25 different varietals for $10 a head. Good deal.

I like the layout of the store. Walls are painted a rusty red - definitely appropriate. The tall racks are around the outside walls. Each bin has a little shelf so that a representative bottle can sit upright for easy browsing. In the center are 3 or 4 groupings with waist-high shelves and boxes/bins of certain wines. They have lots of stock but there is also ample room to wander around.

There were 3 tasting tables in corners of the store so the crowd was spread out (I counted about 50 people when we left) and we didn't have trouble getting our pours. Sometimes there was a short line but no jostling or elbowing!

And did we buy? Yes:

2004 MontGras Carmenere Reserva, Chile $9.99 (red)
2004 Vina Godeval Godello, Spain $12.99 (white)
- refreshing
2004 Cusumano Insolia, Sicily, Italy $12.99 (white)
- slight mint taste, drinks easy
2004 Sancerre, Daniel Chotard, France $18.99 (white)
2004 Domain Felines Jourdan Picpoul de Pinet, France $11.99 (white)
- refreshing, good to serve for a group
2004 Tir Na Nog Grenache, Australia $24.99 (red)
- soft grapey finish, very good. The guy pouring said he thought it was the best of the night.

Stay tuned for the blogs.

Blackstone Merlot 2003

How many times have we had this California wine? Plenty - but it hasn't been blogged. This merlot strong on fruit in a cherry or blackberry way with a nice smoothness. Not expensive - $10 to $11. Also suitable for one's book club.

Cartlidge & Brown Chardonnay 2004

This is a nice wine that you would be happy to serve to your Pompous Literary Society on a Wednesday night. It has good fruit tones without much oak. Interesting observation that the flavors changed quite a bit as the temperature changed. Available locally for about $10-11.

This is my first try of the Chardonnay; they also make a Pinot Noir that I had several times about 2 months ago. I don't have any notes on it but we liked it. Price point is similar.

Latitude 46 N. 2003 Syrah-- The Power and the Glory

This is the wine we were talking about during dinner the other night. The Brewers, Olivers and my aunt and uncle shared this at a restaurant on Bainbridge Island, WA. The title sounded a little "unmodest" so we had to try it. It did not disappoint. I can't recall the specifics since I have not made any tasting notes, but it was great. I had a fish with a berry glaze and it went perfectly with it. Here's one online review I found: "A very deep and intense WA syrah. Dark and opaque colour, lots of intense blueberry and blackberry fruit -some herbal garrigue notes, but very fruit driven on the nose. Nicely balanced on the palate, intense fruit - more blueberry and currants, with decent currant acidity and soft dry tannins. Probably would have been better in a few years, but with a nice grilled rib eye, this was a very good match."


I have two bottles from a stash I found in a local store here. $35 per bottle, but worth it if you can find it. Web site is www.Latitude46.com. Nothing on there but contact info, though. I searched for a label to post, but had no luck.

Rully “Les St. Jacques”, Villaine 2003

I know very little about French wine. I generally don't purchase it since I don't know what I am buying. I had a glass of sancerre at Hot and Hot before we got down to the serious wine drinking and it was pretty good but I wanted something better. The waiter recommend the Rully as our white wine. What an excellent choice. We commented on how good it was, we turned the bottle around and noticed the importer was Kermit Lynch. One thing that stands out from a wine tasting class was always buy wines imported by Kermit Lynch. Many years later this has not disappointed.

MacRostie Pinot Noir 2002

I should let Rob review this since it was his call at dinner at Hot and Hot with our wives and the Olivers. I turned my nose up at a pinot noir but I couldn't stop drinking this. It was great. I took many small sips denying the beef eaters a chance to drink red wine with their meal. I always find Pinot a little light but this one stood out. The winery web site describes the 2003 as "A bit darker than the average Pinot, the wine shows bright cherry and ripe cranberry aromas, with hints of sandalwood and menthol. On the palate there’s more juicy red fruit, like a good strawberry/rhubarb pie. The lingering finish is crisp and refreshing. While quite soft and enjoyable now, it will repay cellaring for several years." Whatever. I just know I need to find this wine locally.

www.macrostiewinery.com

Wine Tip

Wineloverspage.com's top cheap wines

This article from Wineloverspage.com has a list of top 2005 wines for $12 or less and $12 to $25. http://www.wineloverspage.com/qpr/index.phtml

From the cheapie list we have had the Laurel Glen "Reds" (see 12/23/05) and Cartlidge & Browne 2003 California Pinot Noir.

Alexander Valley Vineyards Chardonnay 2004

Here's one that's a definite cut above the average weeknight wine without jumping to the league of the Cakebread previously posted. It's described as having a "nose filled with green apple, citrus and ripe pear framed by creamy oak". What we liked about it was that the fruit and oak were present without overwhelming at all. Very nice balance of flavors here. About $15.

Shawn probably won't like (see 2/24/06) it because of the oak presence but would do well to try it to see what restrained oak is like in a chardonnay.

A Pair of Frenchies

We recently enjoyed a nice dinner out with another couple to celebrate my birthday. Mary brought a couple of bottles she picked up at Overton & Vine: a Sancerre and a Chateauneuf du Pape.

Sancerre 2004 Hippolyte Reverdy



Sancerre is a fine French white made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes. (I had to look this up but did guess the grape correctly.) It comes from the upper Loire Valley region. The style of this wine is crisp and acidic with various fruit flavors such as pear. It is said to complement seafood very nicely. I would definitely agree with this but should note it did well with all of our appetizers.

Vieux Mas des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape 2003



This is a lighter bodied CdP made by the same producer of Vieux Télégraphe. The vines here are 65% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah and 10% Cinsault and other grapes. Vieux Mas des Papes is a 2nd wine made from the youngest vines (about 20 years) and the part of the harvest which is not found good enough for Vieux Télégraphe. This means that the amount of production varies from year to year. The vinification is done in the same way for these two wines. Maturing at first takes place in concrete tanks for around 8-9 months and then in foudres (oak barrels) for 8-12 months. For the second wine in foudres for a shorter time.

We found it smooth and agreeable for all our entrees (pasta, scallops, shrimp, and pork). This is definitely more suitable to drinking young.

Peirano Estate Petite Syrah, 2003 Lodi

Excellent wine from the first tastes. Ordered this last night at Fire restaurant. It went well with all of our entrees: 1 lamb and 3 fishes. In looking through this blog's archives I was surprised not to find any other syrah entries. Mary and I have been drinking more of it in the last year but I guess not any lately. I looked in our wine rack to jog my memory and found a Novy ($17.99) and a Wild Horse. The Novy we have had and it is excellent. Grab yourself a bottle from a local store.

Winemaker's site says: "Ripe, dark fruits tempt the senses. The palate is filled with ripe blackberry, dark cherry and firm tannins."

I wonder about the availability of some restaurant wines in local stores. Do they order directly for their cellars? Will have to look for this one stores.